Cultural Differences And Disabilities

Ultimately Americans’ view disabilities as something that needs medical treatment and educational intervention. Other cultures views toward individuals with disabilities are both similar and different in some ways. Pacific Islanders believing that disabilities are a result of their ancestors wrong doing, individuals from the Philippines believing that that a disability is a curse and reject the individuals, and the Chamorro culture believes that individuals with disabilities should be protected because disabilities are a gift from good.

In the video “Inclusion, belonging, and the disability revolution” (TEDTalks, 2014), speaker Jennie Fenton opens with describing situations where people with disabilities are segregated and excluded from their communities, sent to live together away from society, or even treated as lesser humans. She then proceeds to introduce her family, including her six-year-old daughter that was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Jennie admits to previously having negative or frightened thoughts about having a child with a disability, but with her “seven realizations,” she learned that her daughter was merely on a different path than others, but that no one should ever feel broken or not a whole person (TEDTalks, 2014). After she explains that there are roughly one billion people with a disability throughout the world, Jennie states that she believes in possibility over disability. If a person’s

In her essay “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs presents her audience with an honest inside view of her life and perspective as a cripple, a word she openly uses to define herself. She brings her world to us by discussing a wide variety of things including language, family, and humor, and how these all relate to her life. Through various stories and insights, she allows her readers to gain an understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities. She examines the public’s view of the disabled, as well as the views they have of themselves, and compares them to her own. She makes it clear that she is not to be defined solely by her disability. In discussing honestly her views, as well as

Humans are social creatures. We identify ourselves through our community, loved ones, and those who genuinely appreciate our presence. Our identity defines our personality traits, highlight social roles. Those with disabilities are often confused about their identity because they are misunderstood and stigmatized. Through the use of literature, one can empathize better with other people especially those who are misunderstood by society. Disabled people are more likely to be neglected and subjected to prejudice or discrimination. In “Delusion of Grandeur”, Terry Ann Thaxton, talks about the struggle between Adam and his mother because of his disability. Adam struggles to cope with his environment and finds himself isolated and misunderstood. Families ultimately suffer but through their experience, they can learn some amazing lessons.

In the world today many people undergo personal challenges that impact their lives negatively. Two short stories exhibit how personal challenges affects our relationships with others. Initiation, a short story by Slyvia Plath demonstrates a stereotypical high school life and how it influences a teenagers life. As well as, Reaction-Interaction, a personal essay by Diane Kenyon, explains the struggles of a deaf person. By analysing the similarities and differences between the stories, you can gain crucial life lessons.

People with disabilities are not completely gone. They are still there and have a mind of their own. They feel emotions and sometimes have a more complex mind than others. Two authors help enlighten this idea that disabled people are much more than helpless bodies. Both Christy Brown and Jean-Dominique Bauby perfectly illustrate their lives and what it is like to be disabled, and they prove by their stories that they think and feel, and can even develop enough to share what they feel with the world. My Left Foot is about the journey of a boy suffering from cerebral palsy. His entire life he was labeled as a loss cause by doctor after doctor, but his mom never gave up hope. Slowly, he started showing signs of development by random movements responding to certain situations. In the end he ends up being able to communicate with his left foot. The next story, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, is about an individual who suffered a stroke at the age of 43, leaving him paralyzed, only able to blink his left eye as communication. He develops his own alphabet inspired by the French language in order to exchange conversations with others. His thoughts in the story jump from the present, him currently disabled, and the past, when he was not. Both memoirs, with very different stories, show the lives of two individuals that are not like others. One who had their disability since birth, and the other who obtained one after a tragic event. In My Left Foot by Christy Brown and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby, both authors use characterization to show readers the struggles of disabled people and help them understand that just because they can’t use motions such as hand gestures to express how they feel, doesn’t mean that they don’t think and feel.

an American Indian male with diabetes who receives care at a non-tribal clinic. He reports that he does not feel much of a connection with his provider or his clinic, and says that he feels misunderstood when he tells his provider about his traditional healing practices.  He struggles to remember to take his medications and sometimes does not take them because he feels that they don’t work.

Stella Young has lived with a disability all of her life, but has never let that stand in her way. While speaking at a TED conference in 2014 Young wanted to address an issue that most individuals overlook. This issue is about people with disabilities and the struggle they face every day to feel equal and part of a social norm. Stella speaks from experience and tries to make her audience see a new perspective of how individuals look at others with disabilities. Stella makes it clear that most individuals see people with disabilities as an inspiration which is widely propagated. In order for her audience to understand this view she shows a series of images to appeal both to logos and pathos. Stella wanted to show that we view these images logically

In the 1991 film The Doctor, we are led through the life journey of a heart surgeon, Jack McKee. After being faced with terrible news regarding a malignant tumor on his vocal cords, Jack 's experiences as a patient for the first time changes his perspective of how he views the world, as well as treating patients as a whole. Through this journey we see a huge transition in Jack 's demeanor as the roles are switched and he sees through the lives of his patients.

Disabilities within the characters of “The Life You Save May be Your Own” by Flanner O’Connor

What socio-historical factors play into the social construction of disabilities? Please be specific and provide examples to support your answers.

Both of them had different ideas or different people helping them to complete their journey to overcoming or coping with them. In “Finding Her Way” it talks about how Angela was a Korean immigrant who moved here in 1968. She had to adapt to a new school and was sometime teased by other people. It says, “She and I got a lot of teasing, especially on the playground.”

People with disabilities encounter various structural and cultural barriers that are self-reflexive and self-reinforcing. The Thompson "Personal Cultural Structural" (PCS) model offers a framework for analyzing and assessing the variables associated with specific types of discrimination. Personal, cultural, and structural variables interact with, and often reinforce one another to create barriers to equality for individuals with disabilities.

When people are growing up, being normal was the way to be cool. Everyone wants to be like everybody else and that’s the way it goes. What children and many adults still don’t understand is that being different and having diversity is a good thing. It is ok to be different, especially in today 's society. Being able to acknowledge that diversity and disability in everyday life and seeing the good in it will help bring together our society. For my next three paragraphs i 'm going to discuss what it was like to be an outsider, when I experienced diversity and an experience I have had with disability

In my essay you will learn about Jamaican and Haitian culture and their outlooks on disability. Laster on you will see the comparisons between those two cultures and the American culture. I selected the Jamaican culture because it has always been a dream of mine to visit Jamaica. I selected Haiti because I am not well educated on their culture.