My Reflection Of Education : My Understanding Of A Disability

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.

Individuals with disabilities have a long, hard history. In early times children born with disabilities were seen as weak and helpless, often resulting in them being hidden away or even killed. Due to not having the knowledge on the level of which we have today about disabilities in the past, people did not know what caused it. Sometimes giving birth to a child with a disability would be blamed on sins of family members, often leading to feelings of shame and guilt by the parents and/or other family members. The view on people with disabilities progressed positively into the 1900’s, but society was still not informed on how to treat those with disabilities. Instead of treating them like people, feelings of pity were commonly evoked in others. The arrival of disabled veterans after World War II and the civil rights fights of women and racial minorities had an immense impact on the changing perspectives on disability in the United States. With this changing perspective came the view of how inaccessible environments and the attitudes of others affected the disabled, bringing forth that access to programs and services was a civil right. This led to legislation which included the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (later updated and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). These and other laws entitle people

More than fifty-six million Americans have one or more physical disabilities. Many of these individuals are physically able to partake in everyday activities, yet they are excluded from these opportunities (Crockett). People with disabilities are intentionally isolated by society due to a stereotypical assumption of their lack of abilities to participate and contribute (Harris 368). They are viewed as objects of pity, who are unable to work, go to school, or live on their own”(Crockett). Ed Roberts, an individual with a disability, clearly states, [we] “are considered the weakest, the most helpless people in our society, [but] are the strongest, and will not tolerate segregation, [and] will not tolerate a society which sees us as less than whole people” (Laney 21). He wants to “reshape the image that society” has on them and prove that people with disabilities are just as capable as everyone else. George H.W. Bush signed the American with Disabilities Act into law on July 26, 1990. (The Americans with Disabilities Act: A Brief overview). Bush knew that the act was “powerful in its simplicity” and that it would “ensure that people with disabilities [were] given the basic guarantees for which they have worked so long and hard” (Americans with Disabilities Act, Medicine 3). The goal was to help people with disabilities live the “American Dream” and be identified by their potential and not their inadequacies (Rodgers 2). Since the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into

Disability in a socio-cultural context can be defined as "a barrier to participation of people with impairments or chronic illnesses arising from an interaction of the impairment or illness with discriminatory attitudes, cultures, policies or institutional practices" (Booth, 2000). The traditional view of disability often focuses on the individual, highlighting incapacities or failings, a defect, or impairment. This focus creates obstacles to participation on equal terms since an individual who seems to lack certain capacities may not be able to attain autonomy.

I had not thought much about people with a disability. But, once I read Cycle of Hope, I realized my life can change in an instance. People with a disability are very determined and strong-minded. People with a disability that are confided to a wheelchair can carry out anything that they put their mind too. Just because someone has a disability, it doesn’t mean they can’t leave their life to the fullest. They can live a normal life just like me, even though they are in a wheelchair. With today’s technology, they can drive a car, live own their own and enjoy their everyday life. Disability people can hold down a full-time job and live on their own. I think someone with a disability is very strong-minded and they are determined to carry

When you think of the term disability do you get uncomfortable? Do you shy away from people with physical or mental disabilities? Sadly, this is the opinion that a majority of people in society has; however, I completely disagree. To me, everyone has disabilities, whether that is a severe disorder or not varies from person to person. Disabilities can occur from several different events, including: birth defects, car accidents, battles, etc. The term disability gives the connotation that a person is unable to do something based on their intellectual or physical state of being, but to me it means so much more. We all have things that we are not as good at as others, or things that we struggle with, so to categorize people because of the things they can and cannot do is completely ignorant.

Many people with disabilities have long faced discrimination and it seems that they are not fully accepted without stigma. Those living with a disability have been given many labels by society such as, being less than others, unfortunate, deserving of compassion, even pity. However, I feel that those living with a disability can turn their weaknesses into a special strength making them unique and perfectly able. My whole life I heard the term “disabled” as if they are incapable of doing what others can do. Instead, we should stop and consider they are people first and their disability does not define who they are. There are many mental disabilities as well that society is very ignorant to for example, Depression.

Disability is a blessing. Disorder is a blessing. Since I was a young girl, there is one famous person who has inspired me throughout my life. She was an amazing woman who had fought throughout her life to fulfill her dreams despite being blind and deaf. She is known as Helen Keller. I have always read books about her. I have watched the movie about her. It is pretty incredible. She has shown me that people with disabilities can do great things in life too. Helen Keller had never given up and continued to learn under her great teacher named Anne Sullivan. There are few incidents which I really liked from the book, “The Story of My Life”. Anne Sullivan reminisced a memory of her student “She helped me unpack my trunk when it came, and was delighted

Disability people learned to deal with problem that we normally can do.In school their a person that come up too you and say something stereotypical about you but in a few days it’s gone. For disabled people it happens a lot and with a lot of people.This is shown at www.cdc.gov when it said,”People often stereotype those with disabilities, assuming their quality of life is poor or that they are unhealthy because of their impairments.”This shows that they can have to learn not to let things get under their skin and bother than all day.

This article discussed what it really means to be disabled, different words people use when referring to people with disability and their negative connotation, and what is the correct way to address people with disabilities. The part of the article that I found to be the most interesting was the first paragraph about the disabled as a group. I had never really thought about or considered how unique the group of people with disabilities is. It is the most inclusive and diverse group within our society. People with a disability do not have to be a certain age, gender, or race, but instead it’s a group of people that anyone can join. The only thing that all of these people have in common is how society views them.

I’d like to tell you a little history about people with disabilities. I know that you were never exposed or able to interact with those people whom had differences from yourself. Well there is a reason for that. As a society, we created the segregation, which is why when you grew up, you probably never saw people with disabilities in your everyday life. Physicians and medical personnel saw people with disabilities as defective. The medical personnel just wanted to “fix” those with disabilities. What they told parents of a child with a disability was to put them in an institution because it will be the best environment for them, and themselves. Since they were the professionals, the families listened to

There are all different types of people with different types of disabilities. No one particular type of person is exempt from any type of disability. These people are leading a normal life to the highest degree possible in their sight. Their daily routine may differ from “normal” people or people without disabilities, but they are leading what seems to be an exciting life regardless of what others may think or endure. A disability is not always physical or can be seen by the naked eye, but rather it can also be a mental issue or invisible to the eye. People have a tendency to be more sympathetic to a visual disability rather than an invisible disability. As an educator, I also find myself being more empathetic towards students who have a visible disability in a self-contained classroom than to students who tend not to have a less severe or invisible disability in a regular classroom. In this video it also shows us hoew the language has changed om saying “handicapped” to saying a person has a “disability”.

I begin the interview by introduced myself, and explaining the purpose of the interview, I informed the narrator that this interview will be recorded, transcribed and both the disability and interview experience will be presented in the class. I asked if she was comfortable with these conditions, and letting her know if at any time she feel uncomfortable to answer any type of questions, she is under no obligations to answer them. I started the recording and the interview by asking her a brief basic personal information, including her age, where does she live and if she considered herself as disable. Once we established that she considered her slight disable, to better understand why she considered herself disable, and why only slightly, I asked her if she can describe on what she meant. She implied that her learning disability affects her workforce, and her mental disability effects mostly on her social participations. She would make mistakes at work, and having bipolar disorder mean she was easily overwhelmed and may cause her coworkers to avoid her, and when she is depressed, she would avoid interact with her coworkers.

One of the main barrier that the disabled people face is the way they are perceived in the society. They are viewed as less productive than non-disabled people. This perception has resulted low employment rates and less earnings and high poverty risks among disabled population.

Someone’s disability does not define them and I think that’s something people need to realize. In society today, people with disabilities are treated as social outcasts. Disabled individuals are more vulnerable to crime, they aren’t treated the best in public, and they get discriminated against in the workplace. Although there are laws against discrimination in regards to the disabled, that doesn’t stop it from happening.