Keenan's Disability Analysis

The amount of people who live with disabilities is a controversial number. Depending on what law and diagnostic tools used, a person may have a visible disability, or one that may lie beneath the surface of his or her appearance. Some people believe that the term “disability” is merely a label use to hold back, or prescribe helplessness. Meanwhile, individuals who have been properly diagnosed with disabilities struggle to maintain respect and acceptance every day. In plain language, there is a lot of misunderstanding between people with disabilities and those without. It is firstly important to get everyone on the same page regarding the definition of disability.

I was hooked.” The audience can feel the same excitement, and sense of accomplishment, they can feel the energized thrum that must have run rampant through her veins as that girl walked away from Kay. She continued performing, going to bars, (with her parents), to see other performers and hear their stories. The audience can see how enthralled Kay is to share her stories and to hear other people’s stories. That is why with Phil Kaye’s help she founded Project Voice, to teach other’s how to express themselves with spoken word.

The human voice is a powerful instrument that can be played by all and can spread a message, if not verbally, then demonstrated through our actions. What we say can be used to encourage as well as destroy. But, while seemingly ironic, being aware and listening to someone’s silence and to what isn’t said can be even more beneficial than what is. Through compassion and consideration, bettering one another’s lives is the most important ability we have in life. To improve lives, awareness is one of the first steps.

Danticat uses her Uncles loss of voice, to show us how different and hard it can be to not have a voice at all. When Danticat was 9 years old, her uncle was diagnosed with throat cancer and the doctors told him that he would need a radical laryngectomy to save his life. Danticat recalls her uncle, a bishop, having a grand voice, a voice that would invoke people to listen when she states, “he would model Fignolé’s forceful and direct Creole diction and speak in a clear, powerful bass, allowing only a few well-chosen pauses” (Danticat p.31) However, as a bishop, her father recalls a time when he’d watched his brother give a

Disability is a definition of a physical or mental condition which impacts on a person’s movements, activities and senses. People with disabilities were informed of bias and disadvantages compared to an ordinary person. There are many biases and prejudices contributed to the discrimination of individuals with a disability. Partly because of social connotations the disabled people are useless, cannot work. In fact, these extraordinary people always bring and do incredible things. They not only overcome their grim fate, but also bring good things to life, especially those who are perfectly considering better than an ordinary person, they are not aware of the capacity of individuals disabilities with them characteristics such as loyalty, dedication, and hard work.

For ten years of her life, Melody never spoke a single sentence, but “words have always swirled around [her] like snowflakes—each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in [her] hands. (Draper 1). Most people have the ability to immediately say what comes to their mind and express their feelings, but Melody does not have that luxury. Before she received her Medi-Talker, it was extremely difficult to convey complete thoughts through her small communication board that was placed on her wheelchair tray. Melody cannot speak a single sentence and “[she] bets most people don’t realize the power of words. But [she] does” because “thoughts need words. Words need a voice.” (Draper 8). When Melody received her computer, new opportunities sprung up everywhere. She was finally able to have a voice and be a part of her community. She tells her parents for the first time that she loves them and can now interact more with her family. Furthermore, she is able to prove how intelligent she truly is and join the school Whiz Kids team. For the first time in her life, she is able to truly be part of discussions and speak for herself. Melody is finally able to live because to her, language is

Looking back in the past, there have been many features, and true definitions of the word disability. In the 1970s a group called the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation defined disability as the disadvantage or restriction of activity cased by social organizations. U.S disability activists made efforts during the 1970s to form different alliances with the disability community, that protested for the inclusion of disability discrimination under the Rehabilitation act. Thereafter there was a medial model at looking at disability, that views disability as an individual shortfall. In

Language is beautiful and wondrous phenomenon. Not only is it a crucial component in everyday communication, but it also accentuates the culture of those that speak it. As a student pursuing a career in speech-language pathology, the aspects of communication, such as language, are the pillars of my future profession and will be deeply embedded into my daily life. There are many reasons I have chosen this path, but my childhood friend, Jasmine, can be accredited with my finishing decision to become a speech-language pathologist. When I was in elementary school, Jasmine was one of my closest friends, but I did not always get to play with her at recess because she frequently had to see an audiologist, or go to speech therapy. Jasmine had a congenital

At twenty one years old, while others my age explored life, I was examining mine. Sue, assisting me in the process, was my co-pilot covering as the therapist and played the part well because she represented everything you 'd imagine a therapist to be: the soft voice becoming stern if need be, the sympathetic look yet retaining an air of detachment and the clothes: pastel colours, beads, turtle neck. However, the therapy itself was not exclusive to self-exploration, I was there to sing but not to Sue; this wasn’t drama therapy. The dominant reason I initiated therapy was to free up the unconscious repressions I believed or was convinced were holding my voice back. In relation to the repressions, there could have been a few reasons but it was why Sue got paid; her job was to locate and release my repressions because my job was to make music.

There are many things that people in the hearing world take for granted every day, such as verbal communication, using a telephone or something as simple as the feeling you get when your favorite song comes on the radio. To a person that has been completely immersed in the deaf community, it may be easy to view the sense of sound as unnecessary. As a member of the haring community it would seem nearly impossible to live a day without sound. Cochlear implants are devices that help a person who is deaf gain hearing to some degree, and in some cases nearly full hearing. This new technology has become very controversial throughout both the hearing, and the deaf world.

If we were to eliminate the word disability, it would eliminate the sense of community that these individuals have due to their limitations. In the article, On the Possibility and Desirability of Constructing a Neutral Conception of Disability” by Anita Silvers, Silvers stated, “The disability label also has been used to mark kinds of people who are eligible for special compensations and protections, including protection against these aforementioned exclusions from work, education, and play” (Silver 472). As Silver mentions, filing for disability is a type of security system that ensures individuals that they will not suffer or be forgotten at expense to their disability. Therefore, it is imperative to keep using the word “disabled”. For example, individuals who suffer from a serious injury, such as losing a leg, may have to file for disability because they are unable to work. By filing for disability, this individual is ensured, by law, that he or she will receive payment from the government to

In this essay I will attempt to explain people’s attitudes towards the person with disability, also about the causes due to which our society discriminates against them. Few of these reasons are stereotyping, psychological discomfort, lack of accommodation, paternalization & pity.

Over the years, perceptions towards disability have been significantly changing as result of the long pathway the disable community has taken fighting for Civil Rights, inclusion and against discrimination. Unfortunately, this last one has not been totally accomplished yet. Barriers to social integration still exist in the society. Perhaps the greatest barrier is not the disability itself; is the attitude of people.

Disability is a human reality that has been perceived differently by diverse cultures and historical periods.  For most of the 20th century, disability was defined according to a medical model. In the medical model, disability is assumed to be a way to characterize a particular set of largely static, functional limitations. This led to stereotyping and defining people by condition or limitations.

This week’s discussion dealt with Individuals and Disabilities. Over the years, people who have a “disability" have been subjected to prejudice and more. And the first way to diminish someone is through language, by using words or labels to identify a person as "less-than," as "the others—not like us," and so forth. Once a person has been identified this way, it makes