The Theme Of Intellectual Disability In I Am Sam

In the video “Inclusion, belonging, and the disability revolution” (TEDTalks, 2014), speaker Jennie Fenton opens with describing situations where people with disabilities are segregated and excluded from their communities, sent to live together away from society, or even treated as lesser humans. She then proceeds to introduce her family, including her six-year-old daughter that was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Jennie admits to previously having negative or frightened thoughts about having a child with a disability, but with her “seven realizations,” she learned that her daughter was merely on a different path than others, but that no one should ever feel broken or not a whole person (TEDTalks, 2014). After she explains that there are roughly one billion people with a disability throughout the world, Jennie states that she believes in possibility over disability. If a person’s

Diversity is vital in today's workplace. Having a diverse workforce opens up a wealth of possibilities and helps to encourage creativity and innovation.

Making sure equality and diversity procedures are followed in a business environment will impacts on overall success of organisation. By recognising the strengths of differences between individuals company can get a great advantage in terms of employee motivation and clients satisfaction.

Diversity should be respected and valued because everyone is different and can offer an alternative perspective. Everyone should be treated equally because everyone has something to offer and everyone has a strong factor/skill that they can contribute to the company.

I chose the movie I am Sam to challenge my own opinion on how people with disabilities should be treated under certain circumstances. I am Sam is a movie about a mentally challenged man, named Sam, striving to raise his daughter, Lucy, alone. Diagnosed with Autism, Sam’s intellectual capacity cannot exceed the age of 7. As we watch Lucy grow up under Sam’s roof, we are able to see the love they have for each other. When Lucy reaches the age of 8, social workers see this as an issue, so they place Lucy in a temporary home while Sam goes to court to try to win Lucy back. Sam’s lawyer, Rita, took this “pro bono” case to impress her coworkers. At first, Rita doesn’t believe Sam is capable of raising Lucy along with the social workers who

Having workers with disabilities can be beneficial to organizations. Sotoa & Kleiner, 2013, recommend to incorporate disability into the agency’s diversity statement, increase supervisor knowledge of the employment of people with

I am Sam is a 2001 American drama film written and directed by Jessie Nelson, starring Sean Penn as Sam who has an intellectual disability that had sole care for his daughter Lucy Diamond played by Dakota Fanning. The two of them encounter problems with the Department of Child and Family Services as they believe the presence of Sam’s intellectual disability negates his ability to parent. A lawyer Rita Harrison played by Michelle Pfeiffer plays an important role in this film as she is the only one to have belief in Sam’s ability to parent. This M rated film has won awards such as the Stanley Kramer award for their ability to place an emphasis on social concerns. People with disabilities are often discriminated against the rest of society as a result of their impairments. Jessie Nelson’s use of mis-en-scene and semiotic elements engage the members of the audience to position them to have their own perspective of Sam’s situation as presented.

The difficulties faced today in society by those with serious intellectual disabilities are very large hurdles faced by many in today 's world. These disabilities along with the pressure to remain independent question how we deal with those intellectually challenged individuals. The film, I Am Sam details the struggle of Sam Dawson- a man living with mild intellectual disabilities- and his fight to maintain custody of his young daughter. This film details many different important psychological principles that are taught and studied in modern psychology. These principles are brought up and make us question the validity and extent of principles that are held sacred in the psychological world today.

The topic of minorities in the workforce and how the struggle to accomplish equal treatment in today’s workforce is nothing new to our society. For centuries we have been concerned that by bringing together our different backgrounds, skills, and experiences, as well as the many businesses of this great

Diversity is what makes people different, not just culturally but in human differences. Having a multitude of differences in the workforce gives an organization the ability to use many ideas to reach a common goal. A person could say that a diverse group of people together in one room can accomplish greater achievements than a room filled with the same types of individuals. Managers understand the concept of diversity, and how important diversity is to the success of a company’s ability to implement programs that continue to develop a harmonious and diverse workplace. The recognition that diversity is a reality in the workforce has generated an enormous amount of activity over the years among leaders in business, government, and civil

I Am Sam is the compelling story of Sam Dawson (Sean Penn), a mentally-challenged father raising his daughter Lucy (Dakota Fanning) with the help of an extraordinary group of friends. As Lucy turns seven and begins to intellectually surpass her father, their close bond is threatened when their situation comes under the scrutiny of a social worker who wants Lucy placed in foster care.

“I am Sam” is a great movie to watch in diversity class. It focuses on a diversity issue that is overlooked in society today. The main issue of the movie was that the main character Sam has an Intellectual disability and he is struggling to take care of his daughter. Intellectual disability is a disability that interferes with a person’s cognitive abilities and the functions they use in everyday life. This includes everything from their social skills to the way they behave (Chadwick, Wesson, & Fullwood, 2013).

Managing diversity and equality effectively in the workplace is the core responsibility of any organization in the contemporary business world. Shen, Chanda, D’Netto and Monga (2009) conducted a survey whose results revealed the massive diversity within the British society in terms of ethnicity, nationality and religion. As a result, the Equality Act of 2010 was formulated and became law whose provisions focus on legal protection against discrimination based on gender re-assignment, marriage, civil partnership, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, pregnancy and maternity, sex and beliefs (Monks, 2007). Therefore, managing diversity in the workplace is critical towards the achievement of equality and discrimination free working environment. Bhatia (2008) observed that the ability to understand, accept, value, acknowledge and celebrate differences among people with respect to race, sexual orientation, religion, age, ethnicity and mental ability within an organization is crucial in eliminating discrimination. Discrimination refers to the tendency of denying equal treatment to people believed to be members of the same social group (Ozbilgin, 2009). In other words, discrimination in the work place is related to denial of equal treatment in terms of promotion, compensation, career development, training and empowerment. Therefore, managing diversity in the work place is crucial towards the achievement of a discrimination free working environment and the

The discrimination-and-fairness paradigm is considered the “dominant way” of understanding diversity by most organizations. It attempts to remove discrimination and create employment equality by seeking to increase diversity among employees. Progress is measured by how well the company is able to meet its diversity number goals but avoids looking deeper at the reality behind the numbers. (Thomas & Ely p. 81)

Diversity in workforce “include, but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience”(Thomas 1992). Diversity in the workforce is initially perceived as a response toward the increasing diversity of the consumers in the market (Agocs & Burr, 1996). From there, it has been observed that capitalizing on existing differences among the employees provide benefits to the organization. Diversity in workforce fosters and encourages