No Pity Joseph P Shapiro Analysis

Chapter two of No Pity, written by Joseph P. Shapiro, focused on the Edward Roberts, a pioneering leader of the disability rights movements. The chapter starts with a look into Roberts’ life and how he struggled to find normalcy after becoming disabled. At the young age of fourteen Roberts fell ill with Polio and his life changed in a dramatic way. He went from being a star on his high school football team to being paralyzed from the neck down, unable to breath on his own. Because he was unable to breath on his own, Roberts spent roughly eighteen hours a day in the iron lung. The iron lung was a pressure ventilator which helped patient’s breath on their own. Between the long hours in the iron lung and the laying helpless in the bed, Roberts became depressed. He hated feeling so out of control and helpless, so in defiance of his nurse and the depression Roberts tried to commit suicide. He lost about seventy pounds because of his refusal to eat and he did so until the nurse quit. This was his way of being in control of his body and deciding for himself. About twenty months later, Edward, moved back into his childhood home and began attending school by telephone. It wasn’t until he was a senior that he would return to school and soon learn how to accept his new identity …show more content…
The sit in was a demonstration against Section 504 which was to prohibit discrimination based on disability. The reason for the demonstration was to remove regulations to segregate those with a disability from the rest of the world. For example, making new building for just those with a disability verses making old buildings handicap accessible. Four years later, lawmakers signed the regulations of the Education of All Handicap Children Act in addition to Section 504. Upon signing the two, schools were forced to require the best education for those with a