What Is The Overvaluation Of Disability

In Nancy Mairs’ article for The New York Times, “Disability”, published in 1987, she expresses her distaste with the media's representation of handicapped people. Mairs, who struggled with multiple sclerosis herself, clearly and sharply conveys this disgust by stating, “I’m not, for instance, Ms. MS, a walking, talking embodiment of a chronic incurable degenerative disease.” (Mairs 13), and that she is actually, “the advertisers’ dream: Ms. Great American Consumer. And yet the advertisers, who determine nowadays who will get represented publicly and who will not, deny the existence of me and my kind absolutely”(Mairs 14). Mairs is greatly upset that disabled people are defined by their disabilities and, therefore, are underrepresented in public media. This might lead to one asking themselves, but why are they? And the answer, according to Mairs, is quite simple, “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of daily life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anybody’s life”(Mairs 14). Mairs concludes by pointing out how this effacement could have dangerous consequences for both disabled people and, as she called everyone else, TAPs (Temporarily Abled Persons) alike. Treating disabilities as an abnormal characteristic (as opposed to viewing them “as a normal characteristic, one that complicates but does not ruin human existence” (Mairs 15)) can cause one of these repercussions, as it makes the

“The social model of disability sees the issue of "disability" as a socially created problem and a matter of the full integration of individuals into society. In this model, disability is not the problem of the individual, but rather a complex collection of conditions, many of which are created by the social environment. Hence, the management of the problem requires social action and is the collective responsibility of society at large to make the environmental modifications necessary for the full

In the book, The Short Bus, Jonathan Mooney’s thesis is that there is more to people than their disabilities, it is not restricting nor is it shameful but infact it is beautiful in its own way. With a plan to travel the United States, Mooney decides to travel in a Short bus with intentions of collecting experiences from people who have overcome--or not overcome--being labeled disabled or abnormal. In this Mooney reinvents this concept that normal people suck; that a simple small message of “you’re not normal” could have a destructive and deteriorating effect. With an idea of what disabilities are, Mooney’s trip gives light to disabilities even he was not prepared to face, that he feared.

I have been around some people who were some sort of handicap and they all told me the worst thing anyone could do to towards a handicap is feel sympathetic towards them. For example, when I was at a store a man had fall off his wheel chair I was going to help him and he told me not to help him because he could do it on his own. There are parts in the article where I thought were amusing. Like when he mentioned his girlfriend was out of town and it was a letdown because he had lost a pair of arms for shucking oysters. He stated that even though shucking the oysters would be a challenge for him he look forward to the fact that he was not allergic to them. In my opinion “Single-Handed Cooking” is a good lesson about overcoming difficulties, and I think that the point he is trying to get across is if a handicap could overcome his/her difficulties of losing a limb or limbs you can overcome your difficulties and not try to avoid

3.1 Describe environmental and social barriers that can have a disabling effect on an individual with a physical disability

The moment she got trampled under the stomps and shoves of others, one could identify what she’d been feeling like previously - a witness to her own inconvenience. This incident not only exemplifies but also symbolizes the burden she feels having been born handicapped, unable to provide assistance or gain to the world. These feelings Adahs has for her life are later rebutted by her longstanding dreams of attending medical school and improving science. By achieving her academic potential, she finally recognized herself as an important asset to the world- no longer being seen as handicapped, physically or mentally.

This essay highlights and discusses models of disability reflected in two separate articles (Appendices A and B). I will identify the models of disability they represent. Both have been recently featured in the Guardian newspaper and are stories on disabled people.

Those with disabilities have to accept their lives as being deprived of some joyful instances that may never happen. Individuals with handicaps may not be able to be active with their (or other’s) children, dream jobs may not be within grasp, memories may not be accessible while other’s take them for granted and shun those who desire that which they’ve already acquired (“People With Disabilities”). Provided, life is hard with a disability but additionally, those with handicaps must suffer isolation which is unfavorable in multiple ways. With isolation the person has no help, no support, no companionship, and feel ultimately rejected shutting them down in a social manner (“People With Disabilities”).

The article Redefining Normal: A Critical Analysis of (Dis)ability in Young Adult Literature by Jen Scott Curwood discusses the importance of proper disability representation in young adult literature for the benefit of school children. Curwood writes "young adult literature should not only provide accurate portrayals of individuals with disabilities, but must offer themes that are not 'didactic, condescending, or pedantic" (Curwood, 18) because " 'literature about disabilities and differences can be a powerful tool to heighten the achievement of all students by broadening attitudes and perceptions of self and other '" (18). She also argues that if schools don 't include diverse characters and topics, then that "effectively condones prejudice and stereotypes" and continues to further the "othering" aspect. In contrast to Me Before You, the book Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson is a book that provides readers with both a positive representation of life with disability as well as showing a wide range of disabilities. Accidents of Nature is set in the year 1970 and is about a seventeen year old girl named Jean who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get around. Despite her condition, Jean has always thought of herself as the same as everyone else as she goes to a "normal", abled-bodied school and has "normal" abled-bodied friends. She has never even known another disabled person before going to Camp Courage for a week, a camp solely for disabled youths.

It also gets hard for Mairs and she gets angry when she feels like society makes people with disabilities seem that they aren’t normal. In the essay Mairs mentions how in today's’ society the ideal woman is a beautiful physically attractive woman with no disabilities. “She is trim and deeply tanned; she jogs, swims, plays tennis, rides a bicycle, sails, but does not bowl . . “(57). Mairs says this to say that in today's society you’ll never see a crippled person in a magazine because it isn’t attractive or amusing to others and when society sees people with disabilities; they automatically think that they should feel sorry for them.

Physical disabilities can be crippling. Some disabilities can be overcome, but no matter what effect they leave physically, they have lasting effects on character. Sundiata

Wendell’s article relates to intersectionality; she says, “Disabled women often do not feel seen (because they are often not seen) by others as whole people, especially not as sexual people. Thus, part of their struggle against oppression is a much harder version of the struggle able-bodied women have for a realistic and positive image.” (p.10) Disabled people is closely linked to the cultural oppression of the body. We look at disabled people as if they are not people, as if they are not a part of the “norm.” The ideal image, in our society, shapes the way that people think and glorifies the beauty “norm.” We are shaped to believe that there is a certain type of beauty, we see it on TV and we are framed to believe if you don’t look that way then we not beautiful. This perception can cause people to be uneducated about the disabled. The disabled are looked at as weak, dependent, unhealthy, and more. This explains the issue of the intersectionality that women experience and the different perspectives that we think and that we learn

Despite the response to disability varying greatly between times, places and cultures (Barnes, 2012), there is no doubt that disability has an immeasurable impact on people’s lives. Disability affects an individual’s identity and their ability to work, socialise and be involved in society. In this essay I will discuss how approaches to disability have changed over time, specifically how approaches to disability have developed in recent centuries. I will start by discussing the medical model before moving on to its direct challenge in the social model. Finally I will discuss responses to the social model, in particular the biopsychosocial model.

In this report, the Medical and Social Models of disability are explained, the relevance of both and their importance in society. My own personal views on both are contained throughout and within the conclusion, based on research, referenced and listed in the bibliography.

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.