Jaziah Shipp
“Disabilities”
I have experienced being under many labels. With all of these labels the excruciating painful times were harder when I was just finding out that I was adopted wondering “do my birth parents even love me”, “who is my real parent”, and “why didn’t she want me”. When I was in elementary school I was labeled with a speech disability. School became a big issue in my life. I was so hurt when I had to present in front of the class. Students would make fun of me but what left a laceration on my heart, mind, and soul was when my teachers would say “you will never make it” and “you are retarded”. Teachers would exclude me from activities because they thought I wasn’t smart enough. Have you ever been lost and hurt at the same time? I was hurt and lost at the same time. Their words
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I have been in this group for 5 years now and when I perform no one would ever know that I had a “speech difficulty”. I have performed not only all around Cleveland, not only have I performed all across America but I have also performed all the way in France for students, ambassadors, and even delegates. I am not trying to boast, I am trying to say that only you can label yourself. Last year I had the opportunity to be a part of the FBI’s FAIT (Future Agents In Training) program, I have been in the newspaper and even on the news multiple times. I created my own group where I teach youth who has been labeled with a “disability” how to dance. My dance group is going on its second year and we have already been on America’s Got Talent. I am apart of many groups such as QUAAD (quality urban alliance approaching destiny), CADCA (community anti-drug coalitions of America), anti-bullying groups and so much more. I want to leave a mark on the world to show that “the only disability that one might have is the one that makes them think they have one”-Jaziah
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
In the essay “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs has multiple sclerosis and describes her life being a cripple. She talks about how the disabled is not accepted to society. She doesn’t want to be identified because she is disabled; she doesn’t want to be called “handicapped” or “disabled”. She wants to be named cripple but would never use it to call others. She feels as the cripple describes her the best, she doesn’t see herself as disabled or handicapped because she believe she is able to do things even though she have disease.
He shared the stories of a wide variety of people while he embarked on a journey across the country in a short bus. By revealing the common issues and judgment within society, Jonathon’s book advocated for the people who have any sort of disability, and he brought to light the beauty of each difference. For those who would want to learn about the thoughts and feelings of people who have experienced rejection because of a label, Jonathon Mooney’s book would be an excellent selection because of the real accounts and stories. The book offered an emotional connection that other texts could not provide. Therefore, The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal should be a common read for everyone in order to learn about the real accounts of people labeled as having learning
There are a various people prejudicially placed into classrooms for students with disabilities because of their race, gender culture/ethnicity, social class, gender and sexual orientation. The way a person identifies occasionally determines if they will be assigned in a class for students with disabilities. David J. Conner discusses Michael’s story, a participant researcher who was placed in a class for students with disabilities; some factors that contributed to the Michael being labeled as disabled is his race and class. Connor came to a realization that there appears to be a high number black and Latino students in classrooms for students with disabilities and he explores some of the reasons through Michael’s story.
A disability can make someone look at a "disabled" person in a specific way, even though they are just as capable as others of doing things. Some people don't realize the impact someone with a disability can have on the world because they are limited and criticized for their issues. People without disabilities can show what they have, and those with disabilities will never even get past the starting line because of people's biased views on disabilities. After listening to the Ted Talk by Keith Nolan, a private cadet, he established ethos, logos, and pathos through his educational speech on the deaf in the military. In the Ted Talk, Keith Nolan backs up his story with emotion, statistics, credible information, and real-life experience.
“We are extremely competitive,” explained Erin, a great hockey player and leader, “But we are a family. That is my favorite part of Philadelphia Power Play.” Philadelphia Power Play is an organization that provides a community based hockey environment for people who use power wheelchairs in their daily lives. The Philadelphia Power Play invites all people from anywhere in Pennsylvania to play hockey several times a year. People come from all over Pennsylvania, some from 4 hours or more away.
And if “Had anyone been there with her, she’d have been still and faint and hot with chagrin, (Mairs 259).” Instead of pitying herself, Mairs is able joke about her hardships in her day-to-day life despite having physical incapabilities. She then continues with a steady, yet uplifting tone as she explains the reasoning behind why she labels herself as a “cripple”, stating that it is a “clean word, straightforward, and precise, (Mairs 260).” She believes that words like “disabled” or “handicapped” are words that are “moving [her] away from her condition, to be widening the gap between word and reality, (Mairs 260).” By using these euphemisms for her condition, people tend to view her as something she isn 't.
An example would be what I just explained up above; being a woman. I was labelled as weak because of my gender but would end up surprising others when they could see that I can do the same things as any other male. Another example of a time when I felt that I was being labelled was when I would buy a drink at Starbucks and be called a “white girl” based on the place I had bought my drink. But if I had bought that coffee at Tim Hortons, nobody would have said anything. This is an odd example to use for this topic but when you get judged constantly because the brand of your coffee can magically match your skin colour, it gets a little annoying.
Leaving people who have a disability out of things and forgetting about them hurts their feelings. For instance, in Mairs’ essay she says “…you might feel as though you don’t exist, in any meaningful social sense, at all” (14). No one wants to feel that way, but people who have a disability go through it all the time. The media’s influence may convince people who have a disability to feel as if they’re an outsider since they have a “shameful” part of
Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. Evans, H. D. (2017). Un/covering: Making Disability Identity Legible. Disability Studies Quarterly, 37(1). Finley, S. (2008).
In addition, 96% of people surveyed said they would be willing to help people with disabilities stay active. If even half of those people would be willing to volunteer with an organization like South East Consortium, a huge difference would be made. Some people even said they have already
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.
This book shows how labels can affect almost everyone and shows how you can be judged on almost anything. You can be judged on how you look, skin color, the people you associate with, and much more. Even though Tom Robinson lost to Bob he should have won and he would 've if it wasn 't for his skin color. . Labels affect everyone different and usually negatively, Causing them to feel Hurt, Anger, and Negatively.
Imagine receiving a task of writing simple alphabets with your toes, and being expected to complete it without any help rendered. Does it not seem like an impossible feat? This is exactly how it feels like for people who suffer from mental disabilities to write out letters A to Z using their hands. Just thinking about it, I can already imagine the frustration. Looking at the bigger picture, imagine the anxiety and anger that they face everyday, having to wake up daily to try and complete a series of tasks that society expects of you, although it is much harder for you to.
Identity of oneself is different than the identity that other may see. I wish to see in the hope near future that labels are not used for means of discrimination but as a way of to accept the different types of people. What need to happen to accomplish this is acception. We need to acknowledge the facts. No need for pointing fingers at each other when no action is being done.