Essay about The Language of Disabilities

Medical professionals, educational psychologists and other suitably qualified specialists can diagnose the conditions usually associated with disability (including diseases, sight and hearing impairments, significant mobility difficulty, and mental health conditions or learning difficulties), but ultimately it is only a court who can decide if an individual is defined as disabled under UK law (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2014).

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.

Up until the mid 1970's it was actually illegal to be disabled in a sort. It was the 'Ugly Law' which many with Cerebral Palsy suffered greatly from. If anyone was reported ugly due to a deformity of any kind, they would be arrested and taken back home. While not many things like that still happen today, there are situations that happen that are still Ableistic in their own ways. Many crimes that happen against disabled people won't get televised or any awareness raised at all. Parents with disabilities are more likely lose custody of their child, a lot of times for no reason besides being disabled. For intellectually challenged parents there's up to an 80% chance of them losing their child. There are businesses that will refuse to let a handicapped worker to any jobs where they might be visible, some refuse designated parking spaces. The disabled are often paid less, in many places they are paid below minimum wage. Which might be overlooked, if the disability benefits had any help to offer. Unfortunately, disability only offers anywhere from $5k-$7k a year, and the recipient and family they are living with cannot earn more than around $20k a year. The average middle class person is expected to make around $30k a year. Not only must the disabled live off such mediocre wages, but the necessities are ridiculously priced. Manual

Since they are not able to move on their own, people with these disabilities often rely upon devices such as wheelchairs, crutches, canes, and artificial limbs. A physical disability may either be hereditary or a side-effect of an injury. Diseases can also cause physical disability: muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, amputation, heart disease, pulmonary disease and many more There are some disabilities that cause people to not function normally, but that other people cannot see. Some examples of these “invisible” diseases include pulmonary disease, respiratory disorders, epilepsy and other limiting conditions. While we may not know how we can help these people, there are certainly many different ways to makes physically disabled people welcome.

Disabled people are found in all communities. Ableism has no boundaries of class, race or gender; anyone can be disabled. Some people are born disabled while others fall ill, mentally and physically. Others suffer debilitating injuries that have life altering impact. Some examples of disabled people are

A disability is a condition of impairment--a physical or mental condition--that limits a person’s activities or functioning. Handicap is used when legally specifying life processes or social activities that adversely affect a person’s functioning. A handicap is much more limiting than a disability.

If a new toaster doesn't work we say it is, “defective” or “damaged “and either return it or throw it away. Many places are inaccessible to people with a physical handicap, I took a class where we actually went into a building and tried to maneuver, using my client's wheelchair, crutches, etc. The bathroom didn't meet most of the standards and a wheelchair wouldn't even fit in a handicap stall. In some, high schools and middle class school they had classes for disabilities for slow learning kids, and some of the kids thought that it was really unfair. Two examples of how a “problem” can actually be rephrased into a need for a person whose disability employed in the field would realize they are dependent on people with disabilities for, their live hoods, and would, therefore, treat people with disabilities with greater respect. If the setting is accessible people with disabilities can usually get around fine. For example, if a person is struggling to put a wheelchair into a car, or having some bright light in some building? Physical sensory, cognitive, disabilities affect far more clients than many treatment providers realize. Why Kathie Snow chose to call her company Disability is Natural is because it's redefined as a body part that works

Despite many crucial developments surrounding acceptance of others there is still a long and arduous path ahead of our society. People with disabilities, whatever a given disability may be and mean for the individual, are frequently stigmatized. They are not always offered equal opportunities, nor are they always offered the proper support to fortify their capabilities so that the individual may be the best they can be. Because of this there are many people who never go or return to college, are unemployed, or are isolated from the community.

An individual with a disability is defined by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment (para. 3).

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

    A person with a disability, or handicap, can be defined as someone with a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial or long-term adverse affect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities (Employment 2). Handicap workers face many challenges in the work place that the average person overlooks. Also, many special arrangements and alterations have been made to the workplace for people with handicaps. Accessibility, transportation, workload, and salary are just some of the many issues that must be considered with the prospect of employing the handicap.

Disabled people are those whose impairments, physical or mental, restrict them, affecting their daily lives, ability to cope and employment prospects. (Madden, D, 1999).

Disability is ‘any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being’.

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.

“For purposes of nondiscrimination laws (e.g. the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act), a person with a disability is generally defined as someone who (1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more "major life activities," (2) has a record of such an impairment, or (3) is regarded as having such an