Background The principle investigator of this proposed study lives with congenital muscular dystrophy and uses power wheelchair to support her mobility in daily life. She has been experiencing various degree of oppression by the inaccessibility in the built environment every day since she was a child. She has to keep asking people for help or being highly vigilant to figure out wheelchair-accessible routes (if any) while she is navigating the built environment. Such continual negotiation makes her seriously frustrated and loses agency of her daily life. She hopes to enjoy a social life freely as her peers do. People usually try to comfort her by saying that she still got other choices and just go to those places that are accessible for you; and it will be fine. Sometimes people may even want to persuade her to be satisfied with the current situations as it is seemingly impossible to make the environment totally barrier-free. However, in response to the recurrent experiences of spatial oppression and other people’s lack of awareness of the significance of a barrier-free society, she aspires to examine the close connections of architectural inaccessibility and stigmatization of people with physical disabilities (PWPD). As to the general public, actually an “unfriendly” environment would also deprive them of the opportunity to appreciate the …show more content…
PWPD), but also other people associated with them (e.g. parents, caregivers) through stigma-by-association (Goffman, 1963) or affiliated stigma (i.e. self-stigma among associates) (Mak & Cheung, 2008). When PWPD perceive that the stigmatizing experiences and emotions felt by them would also be affecting their caregivers/ companions during the process of negotiating with architectural inaccessibility, they might blame themselves and intensify their psychological pain (Yoshioka & Schustack,
In “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs, she describes her eventful life as a cripple and her journey to adjusting to a new way of life. “I am not a disease” is something the author says to tell readers that disabled people should not be looked at any differently. It is very clear throughout this piece that Mairs wants the readers to be more informed about cripples and possibly understand what one is going through. Anyone that is a cripple would most likely enjoy this piece and be able to relate to her feelings and experiences. Nancy Mairs is successful in the purpose of her piece by using a sad but humorous tone.
Claim: Beyond conventional sense, there is pride and beauty to be found in disabled bodies despite traditional societal contempt for such bodies. In conversation with Waldemar Januszcak: Indeed, the timeless artistic style that was used in sculpting Allison Lapper is criticism of long-standing exaltation of impossible physical ideals. It is the contrast in Lapper’s form and the idea of misrepresentation that exemplify the desperate human struggle towards a certain notion of beauty, and an equally subjective notion of ugliness. The irony is that in a sense, both types of bodies are exceptional: one because it can never be achieved, and one because it will never be desired, leaving humankind caught in the middle.
The government in their society has caused everyone to have no individuality with handicaps. In “The Pedestrian” censorship is shown by how people use technology. Everyone besides Leonard Mead just sits inside and watches TV all night. Leonard Mead is just walking outside and he gets put in jail for it. This shows that just for doing a simple thing, like walking, you will get punished
In the article, “When Wheelchairs Are Cool”, the author, Ben Mattlin discusses why he believes it is okay for able bodied people to ride around in wheelchairs and take on the look of a disabled person, but it is not okay if you are making fun of disabled people. It is also not acceptable for people that are bound to wheelchairs to take advantage of able bodied people’s sympathy for their situation whether it be through accepting free things or getting a discount. The main strategy Mattlin uses to persuade his reader is pathos, particularly humor which creates a light tone throughout the article. Also, Mattlin proves his credibility and proves his point by planning the time at which he published his article. Mattlin’s main claim in his article is that being in a wheelchair is not as bad as it seems.
Today in the present, we as well have handicaps in our society, but as mentioned before, they are ‘hidden in plain sight’. An example
“2.2 million people in the United States depend on a wheelchair for day-to-day tasks and mobility. 6.5 million people use a cane, a walker, or crutches to assist with their mobility”. Every single day, people varying in ages, struggle to live their lives due to conditions out of their control. Whether it be life threatening or not, it can have effects that are both socially and emotionally harming. Although some of them may change appearances on the outside, other people cannot forget that all people, not matter the disability, have brains and personalities of their own that may not be seen to the human eye.
Waist High In the World is a novel that focuses on the importance of accepting everyone with dignity and respect despite their disabilities and differences. The author of the book, Nancy Mairs purpose when writing the book was to create awareness and share her experience as a “cripple” in order to create consciousness and understanding of those who are going through the same process. Mairs uses different persuasive strategies to convince readers to want a world with people like her in it, this includes the use of pathos, logos and ethos.
Murphy lacks mobility and sensation in his lower body other than the feeling of occasional muscle spasms, and has limited movement in his upper body below the neck including his arms. Murphy writes the story as it recounts events throughout his entire life, from childhood onwards. He was sixty-two when he wrote the novel. The story provides Murphy’s anthropological commentary on the life of a person with a disability and how society views and treats people with disabilities (Murphy, 1990). Murphy’s performance patterns both support and inhibit his occupational engagement.
In the essay, “On Being a Cripple,” Nancy Mairs uses humorous diction and a positive tone to educate people about life as a cripple and struggles of people with disabilities. She does this to show how hard it is to be disabled and how it differs from the life of someone without a disability. She talks about the struggles and the fears that disabled people must deal with on a daily basis. Mairs use of rhetoric creates a strong sense of connection and understanding for the reader. Nancy Mairs is successful in using detailed imagery, diction, and tone to educate her readers about the difficulties of living with a disability.
Nancy Mairs forces a sharp-witted and blunt tone on the reader in her essay, “On Being A Cripple.” A new perspective is explored, on being disabled as well as the word “crippled” which is found offensive by most of society. While keeping the piece light and relatable, she shines a light on the guilty pity thrown on the disabled, treatment no one asks for. Although it is a generally light piece, Mairs uses humor, anecdotes, and diction to improve the treatment of physically disabled. Humor- Mairs lives with multiple sclerosis, and when the reader realizes this it immediately makes them feel sympathy for her.
People with disabilities and their caretakers are stigmatized for not being able to keep up, but they are not viewed as not having a “real” disability if they are too productive. Instead of viewing this as a symptom for their disease or disability, Hillyer believes this is a healthier way of living, and she encourages her readers to adopt similar techniques for managing their responsibilities. She especially criticizes the unrealistic, fast-paced speed that women are expected to maintain, despite personal obstacles. Hillyer, having lived in the intersection between the feminist and disability communities for most of her life, emphasizes the importance of allowing women to abandon the traditional concept of a highly productive “superwoman” and instead replace it with the knowledge that every woman dealing with a disease or disability, in themselves or loved ones, is a
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.
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
Disability is defined by World Health Organisation as “an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. Impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations”. Disability remains a major challenge throughout the world with disabled people facing hostile socioeconomic outcomes than people without disabilities, such as less education, worse health outcomes, less employment, and higher poverty rates (1). Physical disability is defined as: “an acquired or congenital physical and/or motor impairment
And a disabled person’s ambition is like all other human beings, the looks of pity and compassion negatively affect that ambition. People should embrace the disabled person and give them a helping hand, and they should have laws, which defend their rights, which should be respected. However, most societies do not have laws that ensure an equal life for the disabled population. It is a shame that the rights of the disabled people has turned many times to mere slogans.