Analysis Of Passing My Disability On To My Children

Decent Essays
The general argument made by the author, Shelia Black in her September 2016 article “Passing My Disability On to My Children,” is that having an infirmity does not have any influence on a person’s aspiration’s nor objective’s in life. More specifically, Black argues that individuals with disabilities are more than able to have a not only jovial, but fulfilled life. She writes, “but it has taught me empathy” suggesting that being disabled has taught not only her but also her disabled daughter how to identify and be in connection with others during their hardships. In conclusion, Blacks belief is that there is nothing that a debilitated person is incapable

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Unfortunately, a variety of deadly diseases exist, leaving people to battle for their lives every day. Many people feel helpless and lose hope at a certain stage in their disease, whereas others, fight back and continue to live their life to its fullest potential. In the personal essays “On Being a Cripple” written by Nancy Mairs and “Living Under Circe’s Spell” written by Matthew Soyster, both authors have Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a severe disease in which they approach differently. Through a very negative tone, Soyster addresses those who do not have MS, by sharing the limitations and restrictions the terrible disease has on his life. On the other hand, Mairs uses a motivating persona to argue that nothing should stop a person from doing what…

    • 1328 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the reading Disability by Nancy Mairs, author talks about the american society and her life struggle with multiple sclerosis. Mairs starts her essay, by describing herself as a crippled woman, and her reaction about the media and people with disability. She speaks about her conditions and states how she never noticed a cripple woman like her in the media. Not even for advertisement of products. Mair writes that “I once asked a local advertiser why he didn’t include disabled people in his spots.…

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Living Under Circe's Spell

    • 1248 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the short essays “On Being a Cripple,” by Nancy Mairs, and “Living Under Circe’s Spell,” by Matthew Soyster, two different authors expose what their life was like after being diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis). The first essay is a piece that discusses years of dealing with this chronic degenerative disease, reflecting on what it has taught the author, how it has made her a better person, and also talks a lot about how society should treat the disabled as normal people. The second is a much shorter narrative where the author talks about his briefer experience with MS and the immediate emotions felt when he first faced challenges of the disease that ruined the course his future had been set on, focusing mainly on himself rather than the broad perspective of society. Both of these stories incorporate specific tone to make their stories more interesting and drive their opinions on how disabled people should be viewed. Using tone is one of the easiest ways an author can portray how they feel about a subject aside from flat out stating it.…

    • 1248 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A majority of authors use a lot of the lessons and values they got from their life experiences to write a compelling essay. In both Nancy Mairs’s “On Being a Cripple” and David Sedaris’s “A Plague of Tics,” the authors had written essays that related to their disabilities and ways they coped with it. These two essay might be similar in more ways than one, but the overall message that they give to readers are completely different. Mairs uses her experience and disability to convey a specific message that is inspirational to her readers. This is completely different from Sedaris because for his essay he is recollecting his experience on how he lives with his disorder and shares this with his readers.…

    • 1327 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the Essay developed by Nancy Mairs, Mairs analyzes her perception on what the word “crippled” means to her and what she feels serves its purpose. She defines the word in her own words stating that it is straightforward, precise, and holds history. She also gives her take on what the other words such as “handicapped” and “disabled mean to her stating that they are words that demean those who are not capable of doing things a certain way. She differentiates the levels of demeanor that the terms hold and how they serve different purposes. Mairs goes on defining what these words mean to her and as she defines “crippled” she embraces it showing that it is a word that expresses her self pride and self conscious.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Disability In A Family

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages

    1. In coping with the demands of a disability in a family, how should the emotional resources be allocated? Financial resources?…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lanier mentions that since her daughter’s diagnosis she has heard a cultural voice saying that her daughter was flawed, imperfect, and in need of fixing. She says that she sees when people describe a child’s features as birth defects and in our language how words that were once used in the same context as “intellectually impaired”, like moron and retarded, became insults. She hears it when people say that people with disabilities shouldn’t have children and can ethically be killed as babies. She says she saw it when Donald Trump when running for the office of the President made fun of a disabled reporter. The message she hears is that the disabled body is less than.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People with disabilities get more than just an article, and some snapshots of themselves in the paper, so Riley gives the reader some insight to what the media gives people with disabilities: “… the financial rewards of sponsorships, motivational speaking gigs, and her modeling contract…” (Riley 528). He states in this article there can be good things that come out of an inspirational story. These three things give’s people who are struggling with their disabilities that there more to life. There can also be a negative downside to the media.…

    • 1320 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When she went to media and watch television, she never saw a woman who also have sclerosis like her on media and television. She went to ask a local advertiser why didn’t he include disabled people in his spots. And he answer that because they don’t want someone who have disabled, it will ride the product that they selling. Maris said “ In extreme, you might feel as though you don’t exist, in any meaningful social sense” (218).…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are a lot of people who have experienced what it is like to live with someone who has a disability. Being around someone who has a disability makes a person realize some of their behavior patterns or how they can communicate in other ways. Some people may face everyday obstacles and struggle when someone they know has a disability. Down syndrome and autism are two types of disabilities that are becoming more and more common in today’s society. There have been test done that says, “… children with Down syndrome may be at increased risk of having an autism spectrum disorder” (Hepburn).…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An intrinsic bad according to Barnes does not affect a disabled person’s wellbeing, but is a separate aspect of their personality. The contrasting theory to Barnes’ argument is the social model. The social model of mere-difference describes that there are no intrinsic differences between disabled and abled persons. Differences are solely a result of social pressures as the disabled are looked at as inferior.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Wendell explains that disability is not easily deconstructed, despite efforts of accommodation to some of the needs of people with disabilities because everyone with a disability experienced space and time differently. She begins to describe how one’s environment can be an obstacle for people with disabilities, however people with disabilities may not view them as obstacles. Lastly, she begins to describe obstacles of disability. Susan Wendell argues that “the distinction between the biological reality of a disability and the social construction of a disability cannot be made sharply, because the biological and the social are interactive in creating disability.” She goes on to explain how disability is socially constructed and how it is relative to one’s environment and standards of normality.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Analyzing Including Samuel I watched the film “Including Samuel” in class a few weeks ago. During the film it discussed many topics about the lives and families of people with disabilities. The film explains the struggles of inclusion of people with disabilities. The film shows real life examples of this and how these people try their best to fit in but really can’t. The film also talks about how these people with disabilities are being segregated and simply forgotten about like they don’t even exist.…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stephen Hawking once said, “My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit as well as physically.” Stephen Hawking is one of the smartest humans in the world and also has ALS. ALS is a debilitating disease that has no known cure, but Hawking doesn’t let that stop him. Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime also has somewhat of a disability, Christopher's spectrum disorder creates a roadblock by making it harder for him to communicate with others and benefits him by increasing his intellect in math.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Disability Movement Essay

    • 1472 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Throughout many years of history, those with disabilities were not always treated fairly or given equal opportunity. Activists around the world have worked together to achieve goals such as increased access to all types of transportation and a safer day to day environment. Equal opportunities in employment and education have been a big part of their efforts too. For many years, children with disabilities were many times segregated and not given an equal opportunity for a chance to learn and succeed in school. A disability should not limit a person’s choice to improve themselves and their intellectual capabilities.…

    • 1472 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays