Definition Of Disability And The Society 's Definition On Disability

Introducing her topic, Mullins demonstrates her argument with a word-for-word definition of “disabled,” from a 1980’s thesaurus, which she believes perfectly represents how a vast number of people from today’s society view those with disability. To further support the idea, she pulls a far more recent definition

These are all very bleak images of disability. Especially, I thought, since it was 2006. They painted a very meager, maybe worthless, existence. Although I had not heard of the term until just recently, it was very clear to me that night that to those in the room, to be someone with a disability meant to be a Tiny Tim. That is the term (named after the character in Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol) disability advocates coined to articulate society 's view that people with disabilities (PWDs) are "childlike, dependant, and in need of charity or pity" (Shapiro, 1994 p. 14).

People with disabilities are recognized as one of the largest minority groups within in our nation. Evidently, this is why our society needs to recognize people of disability and in the ways in which we can justly view them. As a community, we need to spread awareness about the growing number of people with disabilities. According to “Disabilities Studies: A New Normal,” the vast number of people with disabilities are growing in significant numbers; this is an imperative reason why our nation needs to be more educated about this minority group (Simon 1).

According to the Center for Disease Control, a disability is any condition or impairment of the body or mind that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities and interact with the world around them. Disability affects 56.7 million or nearly 1 in 5 (18.7%) people in the United States living in communities (www.cdc.com, 2015).

Historically, society has relied heavily on institutions to care for individuals with disabilities. The idea that individuals with disabilities could not -- and should not -- be cared for in their communities perpetuated the stigma

People with disabilities are constantly overcoming obstacles only to encounter more. According to the United Nations, “the term ‘persons with disabilities’ is used to apply to all persons with disabilities including those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various attitudinal and environmental barriers, hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others” (United Nations, 2007). The prevalence of persons living with a disability nationwide is unknown, due to

conditions namely (1) Total absence of sight (2)Visual acuity not exceeding 6/60 or 20/200 in

Inspired by the writings of various disabled activists and scholars the 1980’s and the 1990’s,disability studies has taken on an emancipatory turn because of the paradigm shift by sociologists and activists from explaining disability in terms of individual pathology or biomedical to the ways in which environmental and cultural barriers exclude disabled people from mainstream society and everyday life.

Under the medical model, disability is defined as any restriction or lack of ability, resulting from an impairment, to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being (World Health Organization, 1980). The medical model views disability as the problem of the person that is caused by disease, trauma, or other health conditions which requires treatment by professionals who manage the disability by trying to find a cure or to make the disabled person more “normal”. This typically doesn’t work because many disabled people are not necessarily sick or they cannot be improved by remedial medical treatment. The only solution left under this model is to work towards an effective cure by accepting the disability and providing the necessary care needed for the disabled individual to make adjustments to be as “normal” as they can be.

It would appear that there are “Starkly contrasting approaches to disability” (Thomas, 2004, p. 569) over the years which have changed dramatically. There are several models of disability which have been well-defined over the last thirty years. The most often mentioned are the ‘social’ and ‘medical’ models of disability. These two models in particular are usually the first starting point of discussion around the topic of disability. In addition to these two models are many others, for instance, the tragedy and/or charity model, the moral model of disability, the empowering model of disability, the spectrum model of disability (Disabled World, 2015).

The biological model, also known as the medical model and the social constructionist model are often shown as divided, however disability should be viewed neither as purely medical nor social: people with disabilities can often experience issues arising from their health condition (Thomas, 1999).

It is widely commented on in literature that previously and even in society today, those living with disabilities are subject to inequalities in daily life. Like other categories of identity disability is multidimensional, society has shifted from seeing disability as ‘evil and abnormal’ in medieval history to a more ‘inclusive social model of disability’ (Baker, 2009). However, there are still massive inequalities endured by those with disabilities, we can still see that disabled people are excluded from many aspects of economic, social, political and cultural life. Many of these people feel they are being forced into the ‘margins of society’ (Morris, 1991). There is a misrepresentation of disabled people in the media

Throughout history, attitudes and perceptions towards people with physical disabilities have differed greatly from place to place. While all over the world many changes have taken place in status and treatment of persons with disabilities, the remnants of tradition and past belief influence present-day practices affecting those with disabilities (Wright 1973).

While reading Mona’s article, it got my attention right away. One of the first issues that she brings up that caught my attention is “...it is difficult to live in the given environment and function under social standards that do not include disabled persons...” She writes about how disabled people could be “mad at the world,” but it made me realize we don’t live in a world that accommodates to disabled people. If I had to live in a world that has the opportunity to change but wouldn’t, I would be upset too. It is very interesting to think about how simple it could be to make small changes for disabled people, yet we do not. If we implicated more options for disabled people, I believe that it would society start viewing disabilities as

Approximately 15% of the world’s population is, in a way, disabled. Whether it is a physical disability or a serious chronic disease, we have about one billion people in the world that live with a disability every day of their lives. It often occurs that these people are seen as an outcast of society; people that cannot live normal lives. It is important to realize that this is not true at all. People with disabilities are completely able to be part of the world. It is just the world’s duty to accept them.