Yesterday was the end of National Disability Awareness month. I’m sure we all know someone who has some kind of disability. Disabilities can range from being hearing impaired and having glasses to being paralyzed from the waist down sitting in a wheelchair all day. It’s not something people choose to have but deal with because they have to.
Some people refer to a person with a disability as “disabled”. Yes, it makes sense to call someone that, but that’s the farthest thing to what they are. Everyone has different abilities but by calling someone “disabled” is such an offensive term to so many people, whether they have disabilities or know someone who does. It affects people in ways that other people don’t understand. People with disabilities are different but that doesn’t stop them from being human like everyone else. In fact, it makes them special, in a way that they are stronger and more determined than a person without a disability would be. Every day is a challenge for many people with disabilities, but it only pushes them harder. In many cases, the disability has changed their lives, but it doesn’t stop them from living it. We all want to grow up being special, but no one wants to have “special needs”.
In 1990, the Americans With Disabilities Act was passed and "prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications and government activities." This allows people with disabilities the same opportunities as people who don’t have any. This act grants people with disabilities or special needs to have the same rights, however, it doesn’t change how our society treats them. People continue to look down on them and treat as them as though they’re different. We’re all human and just like people want homosexuals to have the same rights and sense of respect, people with disabilities want that too. Every day is a hardship and they fight through it with positive attitudes. Give them a helping hand and stop calling people with disabilities “disabled”. You wouldn’t want someone calling someone you love that offensive term.
A different way to view this issue is to realize that most people are just "temporarily abled." They are only one accident away, or 60 years away, from being on crutches. Or losing eyesight. Or having their mental faculties decline.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, wheelchair accessibility benefits everyone who is pushing a toddler around in a stroller.
I worked in a camp and school setting this summer for children with special needs, and was pretty sick of the looks I got from people when I told them where I worked. This was not only from peers, but from neighbors, and professionals like doctors and dentists, who had a surprised look when I told them I absolutely loved working there.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this post, and think it would be great if people could not use the terms "disabled" and "special needs", but I am not sure what a better word would be when referring to their differing abilities.I guess that then again, it is more of a matter of how people treat each other, rather than what they refer to others as, but it would still be nice if the term "disabled" could be done away with.
I wholeheartedly agree. So often people act like handicapped or "disabled" people have the same opportunities as you or I. Legally, they may because of the American with Disabilities Act, but that doesn't change how people treat and think about them. It IS illegal for a person to say "I'm not hiring you because you are disabled and I do not like disabled people", when that "disabled" person is the best candidate for the job. But what is to stop someone from lying and saying, "I'm not hiring you because I need someone with more experience"? There's a loophole legally and I'm sure this isn't an irregular occurrence in the world we currently live in.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the word "disabled" has a negative connotation. It's right up there with "pathetic" and "helpless" in my opinion. It is unfortunate that we see people with disabilities this way, because the few people I know who are mentally or physically handicapped are anything but incapable and helpless. It's an endless cycle that probably won't end anytime soon, but talking about it like this does bring about awareness on a small scale.