The Sociology of Disability Both Harriet McBryde Johnson and John Hockenberry memoirs offer deep understanding about living with a disability. Harriet McBryde’s book Too Late to Die Young shatters the mold of living a tragic life that so many others believe disabled people are limited to. She was born with a congenital neuromuscular disease which requires her to get help with many daily activities such as eating, bathing, and moving around. Despite her disadvantages, Johnson became an accomplished attorney and a disability rights activist. John Hockenberry’s book Moving Violations explores his life as a paraplegic. He suffered a spinal cord injury in a lethal car accident while in college that confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his
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Each author offers different perspectives of how people have treated them due to their disability. John Hockenberry shares his adventures, describes different accounts he has had with people across the world, and how they have treated him due to his disability. I was shocked to read how different people treated Hockenberry in New York versus Iran. At one point, Hockenberry is in a restaurant in Iran telling a waiter that he was worried that he was going to be attacked by the crowd. The waiter responded by telling him that anything like that would not have happened because “Iran is a religious country. It is not like in New York” (Hockenberry, 1995). However, in New York Hockenberry is treated with less dignity. He articulates countless experiences with cab drivers ignoring him completely because he is in a wheelchair. His experiences opened my eyes to the realization that not everyone views disability the same way. I admire that both Johnson and Hockenberry do not let their challenges limit them. After reading both their stories, I have come to realize that there are many misconceptions about disability. I believe that these misconceptions are often …show more content…
In her chapter “Believing in Dreams,” Johnson points out some major differences she notices between the U.S. and Cuba. She states that “organizations in the United States use government, media, and business for varied and sometimes competing goals” (Johnson, 2005). Media plays a huge role in the U.S. when it comes to health and disability. When Johnson was a young child she talks about how from an early age she knew she was going to die after watching a muscular dystrophy commercial featuring a dying young boy. “In Cuba power is centralized - the economy, politics, law, and information are all controlled by the socialist state” (Johnson, 2005). Media does not play a role in Cuba. When change happens in their socialist system, it happens fast. She describes how in Cuba “everyone is included in these changes and she feels that Cuba, unlike the United States, does not discriminate or segregate” (Johnson, 2005). How she was treated in Cuba contrasts greatly to how Hockenberry was treated in New York. Johnson states that she got the strong sense in that “being a crip is no big deal in Cuba however, remembers a time on a family trip to Mexico, when people were afraid to look at her and they sometimes made the sign of the cross, to protect themselves against the evil eye” (Johnson,2005). Again, this example displays how different attitudes towards
Each author offers different perspectives of how people have treated them due to their disability. John Hockenberry shares his adventures, describes different accounts he has had with people across the world, and how they have treated him due to his disability. I was shocked to read how different people treated Hockenberry in New York versus Iran. At one point, Hockenberry is in a restaurant in Iran telling a waiter that he was worried that he was going to be attacked by the crowd. The waiter responded by telling him that anything like that would not have happened because “Iran is a religious country. It is not like in New York” (Hockenberry, 1995). However, in New York Hockenberry is treated with less dignity. He articulates countless experiences with cab drivers ignoring him completely because he is in a wheelchair. His experiences opened my eyes to the realization that not everyone views disability the same way. I admire that both Johnson and Hockenberry do not let their challenges limit them. After reading both their stories, I have come to realize that there are many misconceptions about disability. I believe that these misconceptions are often …show more content…
In her chapter “Believing in Dreams,” Johnson points out some major differences she notices between the U.S. and Cuba. She states that “organizations in the United States use government, media, and business for varied and sometimes competing goals” (Johnson, 2005). Media plays a huge role in the U.S. when it comes to health and disability. When Johnson was a young child she talks about how from an early age she knew she was going to die after watching a muscular dystrophy commercial featuring a dying young boy. “In Cuba power is centralized - the economy, politics, law, and information are all controlled by the socialist state” (Johnson, 2005). Media does not play a role in Cuba. When change happens in their socialist system, it happens fast. She describes how in Cuba “everyone is included in these changes and she feels that Cuba, unlike the United States, does not discriminate or segregate” (Johnson, 2005). How she was treated in Cuba contrasts greatly to how Hockenberry was treated in New York. Johnson states that she got the strong sense in that “being a crip is no big deal in Cuba however, remembers a time on a family trip to Mexico, when people were afraid to look at her and they sometimes made the sign of the cross, to protect themselves against the evil eye” (Johnson,2005). Again, this example displays how different attitudes towards