People with disabilities are vital to our world today. Most non-disabled people are not aware of the capabilities they possess. Throughout this introductory course of Disability Studies, it became clear that the word, normal is not a suitable word to use when describing people. It seems as if this word was a major part of the course. What is normal? Multiple people and characters have been introduced that challenge the meaning of this word. For example, Stella Young, Ellen Forney, characters from Susan Nussbaum’s novel, Maysoon Zayid, as well as the clip Not Hearing Loss, Deaf Gain, have all shown the struggles of people with disabilities defending their rights, due to their status of non-normalcy in the eyes of others.
Initially, the main …show more content…
Stella Young was the first, of the semester, to teach this fact. Young makes very clear that she is more than a disability; she is a human being. Likely, Bobby is more than a disability. Young states, “I really want to live in a world where disability is not the exception, but the norm.” From Young’s statement, it is concluded that only people without disabilities are considered to be normal. This is how society has defined normal since the beginning of time. Stella Young has taught people to challenge this definition in terms of disability. Under society’s definition, Bobby is not normal. Young also discusses living in an ableist society. Returning to the definition of normal, ableism plays a major role in how the word, normal is used today. Before the introduction to disabilities course, ableism was not in my vocabulary. I now know that ableism is discrimination against the disabled and defining them by their disability. Young specifically reviews, inspiration porn: objectifying people with disabilities for the benefit of the non-disabled. The importance of inspiration porn is that it makes a statement of, ‘a disabled person can do it, and so you can too’. It is confusing how non-disabled people can use the disabled for inspiration when people with disabilities are attempting to find inspiration themselves. It is not fair for …show more content…
Banding together for one cause will make noise that some do not want, leading to a likeable change in the case of Yessie and her friends. Yessie and her friends were not even asking for much, they were asking for basic and humane care. Although I knew this before taking the course, it was imprinted in our brains that mistreatment of any person is never justifiable. Group homes and mental institutions have a bad reputation for being inhumane, and for good reason. An example inhumanity “Good Kings Bad Kings” is of the multiple times Mia was raped by a caretaker. Additionally, lack of attention from a caretaker resulted in the death of Teddy. In doing what she could do, Yessie formed a protest with a sign that stated “THIS PLACE ABUSE AND KILL CHILDREN” (Nussbaum pg. 249). As people with disabilities fight for themselves, we, as non-disabled people, need to listen and turn their requests into realities. I believe non-disabled people need to fulfill these requests now, because we are the ones who have made them feel insignificant in this
Initially, the main …show more content…
Stella Young was the first, of the semester, to teach this fact. Young makes very clear that she is more than a disability; she is a human being. Likely, Bobby is more than a disability. Young states, “I really want to live in a world where disability is not the exception, but the norm.” From Young’s statement, it is concluded that only people without disabilities are considered to be normal. This is how society has defined normal since the beginning of time. Stella Young has taught people to challenge this definition in terms of disability. Under society’s definition, Bobby is not normal. Young also discusses living in an ableist society. Returning to the definition of normal, ableism plays a major role in how the word, normal is used today. Before the introduction to disabilities course, ableism was not in my vocabulary. I now know that ableism is discrimination against the disabled and defining them by their disability. Young specifically reviews, inspiration porn: objectifying people with disabilities for the benefit of the non-disabled. The importance of inspiration porn is that it makes a statement of, ‘a disabled person can do it, and so you can too’. It is confusing how non-disabled people can use the disabled for inspiration when people with disabilities are attempting to find inspiration themselves. It is not fair for …show more content…
Banding together for one cause will make noise that some do not want, leading to a likeable change in the case of Yessie and her friends. Yessie and her friends were not even asking for much, they were asking for basic and humane care. Although I knew this before taking the course, it was imprinted in our brains that mistreatment of any person is never justifiable. Group homes and mental institutions have a bad reputation for being inhumane, and for good reason. An example inhumanity “Good Kings Bad Kings” is of the multiple times Mia was raped by a caretaker. Additionally, lack of attention from a caretaker resulted in the death of Teddy. In doing what she could do, Yessie formed a protest with a sign that stated “THIS PLACE ABUSE AND KILL CHILDREN” (Nussbaum pg. 249). As people with disabilities fight for themselves, we, as non-disabled people, need to listen and turn their requests into realities. I believe non-disabled people need to fulfill these requests now, because we are the ones who have made them feel insignificant in this