People may consider it as what might bring peace upon societies, but on the other hand it can truly be destructive. According to the writer’s opinion, people with natural disabilities should be provided with help to aspire for them to reach the level of those exceptional people who improve society. Without inspiration, such a society will have a great
The article “Reflections on the Latimer Case: The Rationale for a Disability Rights Lens” written by Yvonne Peters analyses the murder of Tracy Latimer by her father, Robert Latimer. A summary of the historical context and implications of the rights of disabled people and how they impact the Latimer case is discussed, as well as an analysis of the author’s claims. Additionally, a critique of Peters’ disability rights approach to the Latimer case will be offered. Also, Peter’s arguments will be assessed to determine if any counter arguments can be made opposing her position.
n Nancy Mairs essay, “Disability”, she illustrates the lack of representation of people with disabilities in the media. While disability plays a major role in Mairs’ life, she points out the various ways her everyday life is ordinary and even mundane. Despite the normalcy of the lives of citizens with disabilities Mairs argues the media’s effacement of this population, is fear driven. She claims, “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of daily life is to admit that there is something ordinary about the disability itself, that it may enter anybody’s life” (Mairs 14). Able bodied people worry about the prospect of eventually becoming physically impaired.
More recently than ever, the treatment and the representation of the disabled has become an important topic of discussion, with many disabled persons speaking out on the stereotypes of disability and lack of proper portrayal in the media. In her essay “Disability,” author Nancy Mairs describes her life as a woman living with multiple sclerosis, and she examens the lack of accurate portrayal of disability, especially in the media. Similarly, Andre Dubus adds to Mairs’ argument in his essay “Why the Able-Bodied Still Don’t Get It” by elaborating on how his life changed after becoming disabled, an experience that allowed him to understand why the disabled are still stereotyped and how this causes the abled-bodied to not fully understand what it’s
“Only 50 years ago persons with intellectual disabilities were scorned, isolated and neglected. Today, they are able to attend school, become employed and assimilate into their local community” (Nelson Mandela). Prior to the later part of the 20th century people with intellectual disabilities were often ridiculed, treated unfairly, feared, and locked away in institutions. According to Rhonda Nauhaus and Cindy Smith in their article Disability Rights through the Mid-20th Century, The laws of any nation reflect its societal values. The real life issue of discrimination towards people with intellectual disabilities in the United States and Australia is demonstrated in the novel, Of Mice and Men by showing how this issue affects one of the main characters, Lennie Smalls.
As Baynton discusses disability as a justification for inequality, I view it in the sense of a social concept of disability that sets the platform for discrimination and violence against the minority groups. This concept has been implemented in U.S. history to allow discriminatory practices against the minorities to occur. Basically, women, individuals from different races, and ethnic minorities were labeled as disabled as well to interpret inequality as a positive concept. For example, there was justification for slavery in which African Americans did not have the required intelligence which made them incapable of equality with other Americans. This assumption was ascribed to physical causes and differences that were visible in their race.
One of the strongest and detrimental effects of disability portrayal in literature on society is how it carries the capability to create stereotypes regarding the disabled community. The direct effect of the portrayal of disabilities in literature on society (or in this case young children) is shown in the article “Is Lennie a monster? A reconsideration of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men in a 21st century inclusive classroom context” by Clare Lawrence. In this article, Lawrence quoted a research done by Heather Garrison where several adolescents were asked of their thoughts on disabilities after reading Of Mice and Men. In their responses, they “described disability as being ‘abnormal’ or ‘inferior’ and indicated that they were less likely
World Health Organization (WHO) has defined disability as an umbrella term for impairments. Disability is an individual with a health condition such as Down syndrome cerebral palsy and depression, body functioning or structure on activity limitation. WHO, (2016) supported that people with learning difficulties they deserve privacy and dignity like everyone The Health and community Care Act 1990 protect people service users from abuse or neglect so that deterioration can be prevented or to promote physical or mental health and to allow independence and social inclusion. It also to improve opportunities and life chances, to help families and to protect human rights around people in need of the services. It has been argued Department of health, (2015) state that “people are living longer, which means there are likely to be more people with complex
In “The Social Construction of Disability,” Susan Wendell briefly discusses how the fast pace of American life impacts the social construction of disability through an inability for people with “disabilities” to maintain expectations of a high-performance level. Wendell also claims that the pace of life causes disability in many people’s lives, but quickly moves on to another topic, referencing chapter four of Barbara Hillyer’s Feminism and Disability in the footnotes as a place for more information on this argument. In Hillyer’s chapter “Productivity and Pace,” she writes to the feminist and disability communities, analyzing how the pace of life affects them both in similar ways. Through an analysis of how people with disabilities are forced to set their own daily pace, Hillyer hopes to encourage others to learn about the necessity of slowing down.
Portrayal of people who are somehow different from the established norms of a society, be it representatives of other race or people with disabilities, can take various approaches. When it comes to depicting a disabled person, one of the ways which is rather wide-spread in the media is to stereotype him or her, focusing on the individual’s impairment rather than society’s disabling agenda (Paul Darke quoted in Rodan et al.). In this case depicting disabled people would involve some if not all features of “othering” – the idea that our identity, perceived as the norm, is shaped by opposing ourselves to the other, someone different from us with regard to race, class or national difference (Fuersich 57). Examples of such portrayal can be found
A Foucauldian conceptualization allows an in depth analysis of territory in the 21st century, highlighting how the definition has changed. A practical example of this is the discourse of intellectual disabilities in the education system. Individuals with mental disabilities have been subject to various terms throughout history (McSherry, 2013, pg.ii). In order to understand what factors brought upon these changes it is important to first explore the events that brought upon change. One notable event is professionals "identifying the emergence of a 'new kind' of people"( McSherry, 2013, pg.12).
1. Introduction According to Singer (1998: 6) culture is made of “verbal and non-verbal language, attitudes, values, belief and disbelief systems and behaviors” which are “accepted and expected by an identity group”. While the Hearing always belonged to a culture that was accepted and deemed relevant by the majority, the Deaf did not have that. Within a predominately hearing culture the d/Deaf were viewed as disabled who were unable to perform well in society.
In this report I will discuss both the Social and Medical Models, define their pros and cons and give a short reflection on my own opinion of the two models in everyday use today. Both the medical and the social models of disability describe how they see disability and how they feel disabilities and those suffering should be treated. Both models have very different views on the causes of, how disabilities should be taken care of and by whom and both have their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to caring for those with disabilities. Medical Model
As previously stated within history many programs and institutions have been put into place in order to further assimilate the mentally disabled into society. An example of this change in today's society can be illustrated within an interview between Sara Oliver-Carter, Highmark vice president of diversity and inclusion, and Halle Stockton in which Carter states, “Employing people with disabilities is not only the right thing to do, it’s the best thing you can do for the business,’ she said. ‘It has an absolute impact on the bottom line. ”(Stockton, H. 2014). Individuals such as Carter believe that those with mental disabilities can only improve society and deserve the same chances as someone else.
The media would seemingly be an excellent position to initiate social change and break down social problems, Yet, the media has failed to do so, It has served to reinforce social problems by the language it chooses to use. In terms of describing individuals with disabilities, the language used in the media is mostly negative such as seeing them as “incapable”, “pitiable or pathetic” and “a burden” (Hunt, 1991). Therefore, media in relation to labelling is seen to be a useful way of understanding social problems and can explain the development of relevant policies as they depend on how the social problem is constructed. Analysis of policies have focused on how language is used to shape perceptions of a social problem. (Lister, 2010).
