What Does Nobody Mean To Me Essay

I was diagnosed with dyslexia in elementary school. My parents believed in my academic abilities, and strengths, including determination, perseverance, and organization. I have worked hard to earn a high GPA in college. Many things are possible when given an equal chance in life, and everyone deserves an opportunity. My experiences with a disability and diversity shaped my personality. Advocating for my academic needs taught me to speak up in a respectful way, and strengthened my interest in assisting others in communicating their needs. I am passionate about working with people that have disabilities, injuries, and deficiencies so that I can help them to achieve as much independence as possible, while improving their health and quality of

“The curious incident of the dog in the night time” written by Mark Haddon demonstrates that disabilities also come with advantages, as shown by Christopher Boone.

In her essay, “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs, an essayist with multiple sclerosis, writes about her experiences with her disease. She wants her audience of able-bodied people to stop pitying towards disabled people and instead show acceptance. Mairs achieves her purpose by presenting herself as similar and relatable to her able-bodied audience with many anecdotes and a blunt tone. This discussion of her condition removes the discomfort about disabilities felt by her audience and allows for them to accept disabled people. While Maris’s primary audience is an able-bodied person who supports disabled people, other readers, like someone with her condition, may be drawn towards this essay as well. Unlike an able-bodied person, a disabled person

Humans are social creatures. We identify ourselves through our community, loved ones, and those who genuinely appreciate our presence. Our identity defines our personality traits, highlight social roles. Those with disabilities are often confused about their identity because they are misunderstood and stigmatized. Through the use of literature, one can empathize better with other people especially those who are misunderstood by society. Disabled people are more likely to be neglected and subjected to prejudice or discrimination. In “Delusion of Grandeur”, Terry Ann Thaxton, talks about the struggle between Adam and his mother because of his disability. Adam struggles to cope with his environment and finds himself isolated and misunderstood. Families ultimately suffer but through their experience, they can learn some amazing lessons.

Who else can there be? Helen Keller, the amazing author who was both blind and dead at 19 months old. She lives most of her life struggling and stressing out, not being able to do much. She was the first disable person to graduate school and even received a Bachelor of Art Degree. But she didn’t do it all alone. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, contributed to her success. She taught Helen the manual alphabet, hand writing, and other forms of communication and understanding,"I learned to spell in this uncomprehending way a great many words, among them pin, hat, cup and a few verbs like sit, stand and walk. But my teacher had been with me several weeks before I understood that everything has a name.” Anne and her husband helped Keller with her first book, the autobiography, “The Story of My Life”. After her success, she wrote more books and inspired other disabled people to do things in life and paved a path for

“Only as I age have I begun to realize that I have spent all my life among the non-disabled trying to measure up.” – Narrator

It became very clear to me the role of Occupational Therapist in changing people’s mind about people with disabilities. There are many people with severe disabilities, however I feel as if, the society also chose to see what they can’t do and miss to see how capable they truly are. People often give up right away and most of the time hopelessness tend to takes over and blinds us from the possibilities of getting back into our feet and live the life we want. Julia Tavalaro’s story taught me that patience and persistence can a long way. Both occupational therapists on these short stories did not give up on helping their patients improve their daily lives. They work harder than their patients to find practical and realistic approaches to not only enhance the quality of their patients life, but also to boost self-worth and dignity. Reading success stories just like these fuels my desire to become occupational therapist. As a person who has so much love and passion for life, I want others to love theirs as

The writer of “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs, describes her life as difficult, but not entirely worth the cure. The writer struggles with multiple sclerosis, a chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system, in which had weakened the left side of her body into wearing a cane. She experiences society pressures, false interactions, and many hard situations of having a body that hardly works. However, she carefully names herself as a “cripple”, and remains proud with being just that. The author never had any control over receiving this disease, however she had enough control in order to keep living with it.

I have always been energized by the opportunity to make a positive and tangible impact on my community. During my time at Georgetown, such excitement came from involvement in multiple activities ranging from student government to fellowships, and from on-campus advocacy to community service. Since graduating from Georgetown, I have continued my commitment to service through extensive involvement as a SERVE Leader at Fannie Mae. Still, I miss the opportunity to organize events and engage members of my community to the extent I did when I was in school. What’s more, I have found it difficult to continue involvement in the disability space since graduation, as my current employer has limited avenues for employees with disabilities to network.

If I could work, things might be easier but after suffering a severe injury, it limited my ability to support myself. For these reasons, I need all the support I can get. I am on a different career path now; one that won’t require strenuous physical challenges but will allow me to return to gainful employment. My short term academic goals include the completion of my AS, and my long range goals include the development of a multi-faceted business that will aid individuals with physical disabilities (Assisted Living Facility) and that will also help facilitate the needs of our city’s homeless population. Being disabled myself helps me to understand how hard it is for these individuals and how important it is for them to receive help. Because I have a strong background as a Certified Nursing Assistant, I will be able to readily identify the needs of my patients, and to maintain highly professional staff who will provide adequate and professional nursing

When I was initially diagnosed with my brain injury and the various disabilities it caused, I was not expected to live a typical life. Many years of my childhood were spent in weekly occupational therapy where I would learn how to overcome or compensate

I was born into a world of diversity, although not in the way that most people might think. My world is the world of medical disabilities. This may seem like a sad and scary world, but it’s a world full of amazing, unique people who have faced adversity. I was born with Caudal Regression syndrome, a congenital disorder in which there is an abnormal development in my spine. This disorder brings along many issues, including a solitary kidney, issues with the function of my colon and bladder, and deformation in the feet. Facing these issues meant I would spend a lot of time in the hospital. There I met magnificent people who changed my perspective on life, and pushed me towards positivity.

In this weeks reading, I read the narrative essay “Disability: There is more than meets the I” by Katie Cooper. Prior to the reading the essay, I expected being paired with similar essays that might have expressed mental disabilities and the struggle with them. Similarly to my expectations, Cooper delves into her experience at nine years old of learning she was dyslexic. Cooper goes into detail about how unsettling it was learning she had a disability and discovering the definition of disability had made her doubt herself. It is important to critically assess Cooper’s narrative in order to understand the role of narratives and how it helps with the acceptance of the identity of being disabled.

In these two life descriptions dealing with their disabilities, “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs and “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self” by Alice Walker, they both have had some similar difficulties, but each one handled their disability differently.

"Nobody." A controversial word because it is associated with being nothing; being unimportant, being less than. "Somebody." A word that is sought after because of what it holds, what it lets those who are defined by it become. "I'm Nobody! Who are You?" A poem written by Emily Dickinson, is a writing that compares the value between being a nobody and somebody. Nobodies define real life and how to live it, they are the majority; while somebodies are just a handful.