Down syndrome

One of the most callous attributes of the American society over the past two centuries would be the mistreatment and judgment of “freaks” or people with disabilities. While this cruel treatment and hatred for disabled people has almost entirely vanished, it used to be a very common social norm as these freaks were treated as second-class citizens. Tod Browning’s notorious film “Freaks” accurately depicted these common ideologies of the early twentieth century, in addition to provoking new…

Some people are born with great strengths in education, cognitive skills, and independency, but there are many that are born with lower IQ and lower skills in adaptive behavior. These individuals are diagnosed with an intellectual disability. This disability doesn’t make their lives different from others in the sense that they still desire the same things in life that others without this disability attempt to achieve. Numerous times however, people will look at the intellectually disabled with a…

Personal Values and Attitudes Every person is unique and has a different set of personal values, attitudes and beliefs that shaped their way of living. As a Disability Support Professional (DSP), I am going to support individuals with mental, physical and intellectual disabilities, who may have a different set of values and beliefs as compared to my values and beliefs. As a DSP, I should keep in mind that the person I am going to support has his/her own values and beliefs and I should respect…

Ethics is defined as “a body of moral principles or values” (Saskatchewan Polytechnic, 2016). It provides direction in terms of distinguishing right behaviours from the wrong ones. Code of ethics is important in businesses or organizations because it acts as a tool to achieve the desirable results and to succeed while holding its members accountable. I have witnessed firsthand the importance of code of ethics in the disability services sector as I worked in its field, and it can impact…

The Washington Ice Dogs is an organization that gives young people with developmental disabilities the opportunity to play ice hockey. Not only does it give them the opportunity to play ice hockey, but the opportunity to learn skills that can help carry them through their lives. Run by volunteers, the Washington Ice Dogs need the support of others to help anchor the organization and allow them to make a difference in lives of these young players. With sacrifice, compassion, and dedication, lives…

Atrial septal defect (ASD) is an abnormal communication between the atria (McCance, Huether, Brashers, & Rote, 2010, p. 1219). It is considered as the fourth most common congenital heart defect, comprising about 5% to 10% of all congenital cardiac defects. The causes of ASD remains unknown, but it was thought that genetics play a role. A person with no other heart defect, or a small defect (less than 5 millimeters) may remain asymptomatic, or manifest symptoms later in life ("MedlinePlus," 2014)…

Introduction The Disability Act 2005 defines disability in relation to a person entails a restriction in the capacity of a person to undertake a profession, business or occupation in the state or to engage in social or cultural life because of physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual impairment (National Disability Authority, 2014). To further elaborate intellectual disability is described as a disability identified by vital limitations both in intellectual functioning (reasoning,…

Published in 2015, the Retinitis Pigmentosa article, provided by The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, defines retinitis pigmentosa as a disease that “refers to a group of inherited disorders that slowly lead to blindness due to abnormalities of the photoreceptors (primarily in the rods) in the retina.”. The article explained what happens throughout the eye of a retinitis pigmentosa or a RP patient. In the article readers were told how RP only affects the eye. However since most of human…

In the study done by Phenix and Sreenivasan (2009) they reviewed risk models as applied to mentally retarded sex offenders who are under sexually violent predator (SVP) or sexually dangerous person (SDP) civil commitment evaluations. They used a conceptual model for sexual offender recidivism risk when dealing with those who are considered to have an intellectual disorder (ID) which they have deficits for example, social skills deficits for example masturbating in public and impulsivity rather…

The term “mental retardation” was first used in 1862. The treatment and care of individuals with mental retardation varied from kindness to even death. Over time, the term “mental retardation” became a derogatory remark used to replace words, such as idiot, imbecile, moron, and feeble-minded. Throughout history, individuals with mental retards were looked upon to as defiant and dangerous members of society. Between 1920s to 1960s, individuals with mental retardation were confined to hospitals…