A task or skill is seen as ordinary only when someone who is classified as “normal” is performing it. That same exact task or skill is then seen as extraordinary when someone who is “different” or disabled is performing it. In the article “False Positive” by Beth Haller, she claims that, “Society holds few expectations for people with disabilities - so anything they do becomes amazing”. Haller strongly believes that in today’s society a person who is disabled is set to be amazing no matter what they do, even if it is the most simple or ordinary of tasks. The film, 23 Blast, portrays that a person who is disabled is seen differently than a normal person because of his or her inabilities performing a task.…
Murderball An inspiring documentary Called Murderball focuses on the life of paraplegic athletes. They are in the rugby US team and played in the 2004 Paralympics. This sport is a very aggressive game, in which players in a modified wheelchair clang into each other making the other player to fall out of his chair. The main purpose of the game is to take the ball to one of the extremes of the court in order to score.…
Out-of-Class Speech Critique For my out of class speech critique, I went to listen to Josh Birnbaum talk about his experiences as photographer for Illinois’ wheelchair basketball team. In his speech, he talked about the struggles that the team faced on the way to reaching their goal of winning a college national championship. Furthermore, Josh documented the lives of the players and showed the audience the struggles they faced every day, but showed us how each of them overcame the obstacles. Additionally, he talked about the life long relationships he made with the player by going out with them and practically being a member of the team.…
In the video by Doug Dietz, we see a problem most people overlook being seen and fixed because of one thing: empathy. Doug showed empathy to the family that came to get an MRI scan in the Scanner he designed, so he was able to feel the anxiety and stress faced by the parents and the children. They are the ones the hospital would use the machine on. Hence it is their satisfaction that is important to him. As a designer, I know that a designer feels the most satisfaction when their design serves its purpose in the best way it can and touches the lives of others in the process.…
1. Brad Cohen is an individual who experienced numerous challenges as a result of his disability and somehow managed to find the positive all throughout his journey. The challenges started at a very young age when he was put in a box and labeled as a trouble maker by his friends, some family members and teachers (p. 26). These are people who were supposed to be the foundation and support in his early years. Brad was cut short on may occasions due to a legitimate disability that was poorly diagnosed on several occasions.…
This book is extremely relevant to my major, and it opened my eyes to how some students with disabilities are treated. This book was written in 2007, and I believe as a whole, future educators are being taught more about inclusiveness, and hopefully there aren’t many teachers that treat their students like Jonathan or Brent or Kent or Miles this way as a result of this. The school system does seem to struggle with disabilities though as a whole, and that is evident by the stories the kids of these parents…
Do you know someone with a disability? As a class, we have been learning about different types of disabilities. First we read a book called Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman which was a book about a fictional character named Shawn McDaniel who has Cerebral Palsy. Then after we read this book, we watched a movie called Radio. This movie is a true story about a man with a developmental disability who became a valuable member of a high school football team.…
As my second level 1 Fieldwork, I chose to volunteer for the Raleigh County Special Olympics Cheerleading team. There were four cheerleaders whose deficits ranged from Down syndrome, psychological, speech, low muscle tone, also across the autism spectrum. In which, Cheerleading enhances the following: attention span, comprehension, organization, sequencing, increased endurance, postural control, and increases social skills. Over a course of a month we gathered to participate in the learning of cheers and a competition dance. The support the athlete’s family had showed during practices and competition was influential to not only their child or family member but to me, as a volunteer and as an Occupational Therapy Assistant Student.…
Sara Benaim Engl 101 11/24/15 Essay 3 rough draft- Murderball Disabled people have often carried the burden of a heavy misconception. Society tends to believe that people with disabilities are different from able bodied people; that they ‘lesser’ people, not at the same ‘human rank’ as the rest of society. The film Murderball, by Dana Shapira and Alex Rubin, has managed to combat this stereotype, making paraplegics look like gladiators and seem totally above the realm of disability . This move isn't "endearing", "inspiring", or "charming", it's ass-kicking. It portrayed the successful "handicapped" person as a leader, triumphing over adversity in a way which serves as an example to others; their impairment gives disabled people a chance…
Johnathon Bennett Rhetorical Analysis Disability and the Media: Prescription for Change In today’s media people who have disabilities are often defined by their disability and not by who they are. They are glamorized, objectified and put on a pedal stool to a fault based solely on their disability. Charles A Riley II’s article “Disability and the Media: Prescription for Change” challenges the current state of how disabilities are portrayed in the media using a persuasive argument. Mr. Riley II uses ethical and emotional appeals as well as several logic based exerts to make the audience face this shocking revelation.…
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.…
At first, I attempted to keep my medical issues secret, to feel "normal" and to not place myself in a situation where I could be teased. I've since realized I need to not hide these anomalies which make me who I am, but to embrace them and show everyone that these differences and challenges make me the strong person I am today. During my sophomore year of high school, I was a three-sport athlete. Despite my disability I made it on to the Varsity Tennis, JV Basketball, and JV Softball teams.…
My life journey created the individual I am today, thus producing an aspiration to construct environments where all ability levels are embraced. The work embedded within this study is enriched through my personal experiences and life journeys. As a young child I was not exposed to individuals with disabilities. Attending public elementary school proved to foster limited exposure to other students with disabilities, as they were often kept separate from the general education population. My lack of exposure to individuals with disabilities created a sense of apprehension, as I was unsure how to interact and engage with this particular population.…
Robert M. Hensel, a Guinness World Record holder with a disability, once said, “There is no greater disability in society, than the inability to see a person as more,” (Langtree). When thinking of people with disabilities, many individuals think of the things they cannot do rather than the achievements that they have made or the contribution that they have on humanity. Why is this the perspective that so many humans have? After reading Rosie Anaya’s “Mental Illness on television” and comparing it to Nancy Mairs’ “Disability,” despite these two essays conveying very similar ideas on the topic of how media negatively affects their reader or viewer’s outlook, each composition’s unique situation deserves closer examination. “Mental Illness on…
Refuge. A simple word yet what a powerful it can have on one’s life. The dictionary definition for refuge is a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble. Refuge is needed for different reasons and is found in many different places. It can be found in either a relationship, location, or activity.…