Stop Making Degrading Assumptions About People With Disabilities

In order to share my personal philosophy of special education, the first priority is to explain the definition of disability that I am working from. In their book, Exceptional Learners, authors Hallahan, Kaufman, and Pullen define disability as an inability to do something, a diminished capacity to perform in a specific way; an impairment (2015, p.4). This definition is important because of the objective nature it presents for those with disabilities. Nowhere in the definition does it say how to treat people with disabilities, whether it is rude to stare, or to what degree a person should be pitied. The definition explains how a disability simply is an inability to do something. People with disabilities are people. They are normal. They simply have challenges

Most of society does not see the challenges that people with disabilities go through. I also think that if the world had more resources for those with disabilities we could erase prejudice. For example, more hospitals should provide an ASL interpreter for the patients who cannot understand what the doctors are saying and can’t express their issues to their doctors. All in all, society just needs a better understanding of what people with disabilities go through on a day to day basis.

When I see a person with a disability, either physically or mentally, I end up taking a second look. The first idea that pops in my head is what is wrong with the person. I know it sounds very rude of me, but it is an instinct. Modern day society has shaped us to be weird around others who have disabilities. It saddens me to see people in the world judge those who are disabled, however I tend to do the same thing at times.

People with disabilities have varying levels of independence. We should never assume someone with a disability has a low-level. If someone looks like they’re struggling, we should always ask before we help. A person may welcome our help, or they may ask that you let him or her be independent; but even if they looks like they are struggling, they may just want to become more independent, which requires practice in everyday situations. Sometimes it might be an eye-opening experience to see someone with a disability in public.  However, we should try to understand that people with disabilities have lives just like everyone else. We are certainly allowed to look, but we should never stare at a person with a disability.  We should just simply view them the way we view others. People with disabilities have a right to privacy. They are not obligated to tell us about their disability.  If someone does tell us about his or her disability, we should never assume that he or she is comfortable with us telling other people about his or her disability. First we should always ask permission to discuss the disability before we do

In the past, having a disability was seen as a physical imperfection. People with disabilities were treated as moral and social subordinates. We were trained that if a person had a disability they were not able to perform a task with the same ability as a normal person. They have been denied jobs for which they are highly qualified because they have been considered incompetent, or because employers were not comfortable with their presence in the workplace. Occasionally people with certain disabilities have been committed to institutions and facilities because people believed they were incapable of making decisions or caring for themselves or because people did not want to interact with them (Blanck, 2004).

Most students would rather keep it invisible given the negative perception associated with it. Often students with these disabilities feel awkward about them during conversation because of receiving the stereotype as “dumb” (Frymier). Once a student reaches out for help and receives accommodations for their disability, their once invisible disability, becomes visible. Researchers show that they receive discriminatory reaction from teachers and soother students

Some can't even eat on their own. Instead of people putting themselves in their shoes, they want to point fingers and make fun. Those who are disabled are stronger than anyone. They have been through things that we could never imagine about. Instead of a helping a person out in a store who is disabled, people stare at them like they are some type of alien. How do people think that makes them feel? It certainly doesn't make them feel equal or make them feel like they fit in. We want to judge someone when we have never spoken a word to them. They could be the sweetest person ever but we don't give them a chance because they are different than us. Discrimination occurs in America every day. It is out of control. In America, we think that we are too good and that people who are different are less than us. We don’t understand the concepts of treating everyone equal and being nice to everyone. The reality of it is , we never know what someone is going through or what has happened to make them who they are. Until we realize that we need to be nice to everyone, the problem is not going to get fixed. People are hateful and America is going to serve the consequence for its peoples

First, let's look at the reasons that some people are uncomfortable with people with disabilities. One reason is that some people feel sorry for people with disabilities, and assume that they are bitter about their disabilities. This is untrue in many cases. Lots of people with disabilities feel that their lives are enriched by their experiences with disability, and even if given the chance to erase their disability would choose not to. Another reason that some people are uncomfortable around people with disabilities is that they're afraid that they will "say the wrong thing". However, that's not a big deal to most people with disabilities. What's important is that you respect the person and see them beyond their

Why is someone being disabled so shocking that people actually have to ask them what is wrong with their looks? Molly was questioned about her disability in front of the class by a student. She confirms that” one boy puts up a hand and asks, utterly guileless: So, what is it that’s wrong with you?”

Many people with disability shortage consciousness and understanding of the rights they have or where they would go to if they did recognise that their rights have been rejected. For people with awareness damage like developmental disability, granted and essential brain damage, psychosocial disability, dementia, neurological damage such as ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder’, this is an appropriate problem.

Merely from knowing that a person is disabled they form wrong opinions about other unrelated characteristics of that person. Like people treat one who is mute as in they are deaf by talking in a high-pitch tone.

Reflecting on this weeks discussion I have came to realize that I too draw in stereotypes on disabilities, woman/gender, and older adults without realizing it. I think that it is easy to draw stereotypes towards these populations due to the significant influence society has. It gave great insight to me to see how others also drew the same stenotype to the other population such as being grumpy, or moving at a slower pace. When I saw that others thought this as well I began to realize that its just a stereotype that has been created about the older population. Now, having awareness of the self generated stereotypes of the presented population I am now able to pick them out and try to turn my perspective to the idea that not everyone is the same.

It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, but our society today lacks to understand that. In today’s time different is not accepted, people that are different are discriminated, looked down upon and usually picked on. People with disabilities are seen as different creatures by most people, the disabled don’t choose to be the way they are, but still our society alienates them. There are different types of disabilities, some type of disabilities are; mental disability, physical disability, learning disability and socializing disability. These disabilities are seen as weakness in our society that hence contribute to the stereotype that leads to the discrimination against the disabled.

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.

Because I am a person born with Spina Bifida, I have experienced the stereotypes or biases which can cause some to ridicule persons with physical and/or mental disabilities. Many children and young adults like myself have experienced this type of ridicule based on prejudice.. This should not occur. All persons should experience life without prejudice, and for those affected by disabilities this is especially significant.