Disability And Disability

The medical model of disability was started around the early 19th century, when physicians and doctors started to have a more prevalent influence on society. Modern medicine was beginning to make advances and priests were no longer seen as the only place people could go to for help.

Individuals with disability have had a long history of maltreatment in America. From being thought of as possessed individuals in need of exorcism, targeted for heinous experiments, unknowingly sterilized, being labeled imbecile, feeble minded, and retarded, to being shipped off to state schools or mental asylums, those with disabilities were given no consideration as a valuable and able to contribute member of society. In a speech to congress, Frank Bowe, a highly educated deaf-man highlighted this claim by stating, “we are not even second-class citizens, we are third-class citizens” (Bowe, F. 1977--need citation), and Jim Cherry (2001) furthered the ideal in his words, that prior to “1970 we [disabled citizens] had no right to education, to employment, to transportation, to housing, or to voting. There were no civil rights laws for us, no federal advocacy grants. Few people looked beyond our medical needs” (Cherry, J.L, 2001 http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/0701/0701cov.htm). Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 attempted to fundamentally change how disabled people were reguarded.

Each time period had people with different views of disability and ways of treating those with disabilities. For example, early European colonists in 1492-1700 had a definition for disability that discussed productivity in regards to things such as class and gender. For children who were born with disabilities, the women were always blamed. For the time period of 1700-1776, slaves who had "undesirable bodies" were left to die. After that until 1865, African and indigenous women compared to white women were compared to animals and viewed negatively due to their features. Each time period had people who viewed disabilities in different capacities and took

Unlike people who had experienced discrimination against the civil rights act of 1964, the ones who had experienced it on the basis of disability didn’t have any legal recourse to redress it. Therefore, with a very strong influence from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids discrimination on the foundation of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which set people with disabilities as a legitimate minority, the ADA became the "equal opportunity" law that has set an example for the rest of the world. This act finally defined what non-discrimination was in the context of disability. The 1990 ADA added the specifications of a new conduct that should be undertaken, for instance, architectural and communication barriers should be removed by providing reasonable accommodation to disabled workers, and finally, it also imposed accessibility requirements for public spaces.

Expansion of the disability programs and the poor employment rates of adults with disabilities have become major concerns for Social Security and disability policy makers across the country. Disability law, culture, and policy, as reflected most directly by the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), has undergone a dramatic shift toward the equal employment of persons with disabilities. The ADA prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, governmental, and local services, public accommodations, insurance, telecommunications, and public transportation. Dramatic, positive changes affecting the lives of persons with disabilities are occurring in public attitudes and behavior toward individuals

How does this social construction of disabilities impact institutional policies, and societal and individual behaviors regarding disabilities? In other words, how have people with disabilities been marginalized in the past and present at those three levels? Please be specific and provide examples to support your answers.

After the world wars and Vietnam War, there were many disabled American veterans who faced challenges and prejudice they had not experienced before. Alongside those fighting in the Civil Rights Movement were disabled veterans and other people with disabilities. They too were fighting against inequalities and discrimination. The Disability Rights Movement occurred due to several issues rooted in structured inequalities. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an example of inequality built into legislation as it prohibited discrimination based on “race, color, religion, or national origin”(Cornell), but did not address discrimination based on disabilities. Inaccessibility and negative societal views excluded those with disabilities from their rights. There was a need for a policy written specifically for the protection of persons with disabilities.

“The medical model is presented as viewing disability as a problem of the person, directly caused by disease, trauma, or other health condition which therefore requires sustained medical care provided in the form of individual treatment by professionals. In the medical model, management of the disability is aimed at a "cure," or the individual's adjustment and behavioral change that would lead to an "almost-cure" or effective cure.” (Langtree, 2012)

There are some misconceptions with ADA and most people believe that ADA has become a history on the day it was signed on July 26, 1990 which it was not the case. It started by the people all over the United States in Urban and rural areas fighting for their rights in other word people started to notice the wrongdoing and determine to advocate to help push people with disability to conquer the barrier by speaking up for their rights. Before 1900’s people with disability were afraid to speak up because of public’s poor ideology toward people with disability. However it changed after World War I when veterans returned home from war most of them end up became disabled. Therefore Veterans expected to receive rehabilitation service from the government in exchange for their service to the country. Rehabilitation service improved moderately in the 1930’s such as providing service such as government assistance for people with disability. Also during this time period one very important person, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was U.S. President, served from 1933 to 1945, and was disabled; Roosevelt is one of the huge rehabilitation supporter advocate for people with disability. Ironically during Roosevelt’s presidency people’s attitude with disability remains the same-negative. As World War II begun in 1940’s and as predicted to World War I when World War II ended many Veterans returned home disabled and put on high demands on government to provide the rehabilitation and vocational services and make sure that their disability are shown in public to make the change. Meanwhile government assistance made some change but people with disability do not have a suffice access to public transpirations and lacks of gain a job due to their physical appearance. It was 1960’s when the civil rights movement began to notice in

As African Americans had once fought for desegregation, people with disabilities mirrored African Americans when they protested injustice through the streets. Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act offered some protection as it banned discrimination on the basis of disability (https://dredf.org/news/publications/the-history-of-the-ada/). Section 504 was a historical moment because it was the first time people with disabilities were seen as a class. The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund states that “Section 504 recognized that while there are major physical and mental variations in different disabilities, people with disabilities as a group faced similar discrimination in employment, education and access to society,” but there was still the question of how Section 504 regulations would be publicized (https://dredf.org/news/publications/the-history-of-the-ada/). The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare became responsible for broadcasting these regulations, which would serve as guidelines for all federal agencies. Section 504 regulations, which were issued on May 4, 1977, helped form the foundation for the ADA and helped further the disability rights movement

In 1990, Congress enacted the Equal Opportunity for Individuals with Disabilities Act, more commonly known as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, “to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities.” This followed four years of work by the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency charged with advising the President, Congress, and other federal agencies on disability policies, programs, procedures, and practices. In 1986, the National Council on Disability recommended that the U.S. Congress enact a comprehensive equal opportunity law for individuals with disabilities. In 1988, the National Council on Disability drafted the first version of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was introduced by Sen. Weicker and Rep. Coelho in the 100th Congress.

All they want is to take part of society as a normal individual. The disability-movement has fought for the disabilities rights throughout the years and has achieved goals such as accommodation of architectural infrastructures to serve better people who are physical impairments. The public policies have been great accomplishments because it has helped people with disabilities to be part of society. The disability-movement points out the healthcare finance policies have taken freedom away from the disability community, “ Health-care financing policies force disabled people into Institutions and nursing homes rather than funding independent living. Income-maintenance and public health-insurance policies include “disincentives” that penalize disabled individuals for trying to work productively.”(p.4). The government has done a great job on protecting disabled individuals’ rights. However, the health-care system has isolated this group even more by restricting the level of productivity that they have within the system, as a result this medical model marginalizes this group of people and this program available for this community does not fully address their issues.

Each and everyone have a different perception and ideas related to the issues that concern disability. There are number of models of disability, which have been defined over the last five years: Medical Model, Social Model, Tragic / Charity Model and Religious / Moral Model. However, the most frequently mentioned are the Social and the Medical Models.

One concept that I found to be very important comes from the reading over Privilege, Power, and Difference. The part that stuck out most was when Johnson said, “Reducing people to a single dimension of who they are separates and excludes them, marks them as “other”, as different from “normal” (white, heterosexual, male, nondisabled) people and therefore as inferior” (19). After reading this particular quote, I realized that I tend to do this a lot. When I see people around me with some sort of disability, I begin to call them by that disability. For example, there was a girl at my high school who was a quadriplegic, so she was restricted to a manual wheelchair throughout the school day. I, along with many of my classmates, would often refer to her as “the girl in the wheelchair” so she was easy to find in a crowd. Another example of a time that I found myself referring to someone by their disability is when I used to watch my best friend’s autistic cousin. I used to refer to him as the “autistic kid”, and this made it a lot easier for people to know who I was talking about because he was the only autistic boy in his grade. Although referring to these people by some sort of disability makes it easier for people to recognize who they are, it also makes it easier for others to recognize their disability.

Prior to the course, Perspectives on disability, my understanding of disability was a fundamental, concept of disability, in which I knew it existed, and also have seen and interacted with people considered to have a disability. I never took a deep look at all the social and political factors that exist within the spectrum of disability. This course has allowed me to examine all aspects of disability, which has changed my view and approach of what a disability is and how it is viewed. "Historically, disability has been viewed fundamentally as a persoal tragedy, which has resulted in diasbled people being seen as objects of pity or in need of charity. They have been subject to descriminatory policies and practices in which the predominant images of passivity and helplesness reinforced their inferior status"(Barton 4). Uncovering the framework of disability, by studying the historical, soicial political and educational standpoint, I see the intricacies in which gives me a greater understanding and awareness of the topic.