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Societal attitudes towards people with disabilities
Societal attitudes towards people with disabilities
Public perception of disability
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Lindsay Palsgrove Pei-Chun Hsieh Disability Identity: Sec 02 November 8, 2015 Media Representation of Disability: The Ringer In today’s world, the main source of exposure for The movie The Ringer, starring Johnny Knoxville as Steve Barker, is posing as someone with a mental disability to participate in the Special Olympics. He is trying to get money from rigging the Special Olympics and using the money to help his friend Stavi receive surgery to attach his fingers back due to a landscaping accident. Steve is completely surpassed by the fellow athletes, which they are not only better athletes; they're just better people. Shortly after arriving, they're on to him, but instead of ratting him out, they help him beat Jimmy, the arrogant champion …show more content…
A common character that faced prejudice was Jimmy, the arrogant champion. Steve and his uncle only decided to rig the Special Olympics because they were positive Steve could beat Jimmy because Jimmy has a mental disability. It was wrong to express that prejudice due to the misconception that people without disabilities can do everything better and faster than people with disabilities. Which it clearly showed that Jimmy was actually the better athlete, but his cockiness got the best of him not his disability. Another case of prejudice was when Lynn’s boyfriend was caught cheating by some of the athletes. When they tried to tell Lynn what happened, he just kept saying that they don’t really know what they are talking about, meaning due to their disabilities, they aren’t reliable sources and don’t know the full story. Unfortunately, The Ringer does disappoint in the aspect of ableism as displaying people with disabilities the source of all the jokes featured in the movie. So they rely on stereotypes of disabilities to be their jokes for the people without disabilities to find funny. Though Steve relies on exhibiting stereotypical behaviors in his failed imitation, but learns from his experience how wrong many stereotypes relating to people with disabilities
Before watching the movie the “The Hammer” I didn’t know what to expect. I had never seen a deaf movie before and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to understand the movie completely. Watching the movie wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be, and I enjoyed it. The best part about it was that it’s based on the true story about Matthew “The Hammer” Hamill.
Eloise, a supervisor at the Federal Administration Agency (FAA), was faced with trying to ensure productivity when one of her workers became ill, and was not maintaining her level of work. Brenda, who had been a computer programmer for the Management Information Systems Support Division of the FAA for nine years, was diagnosed with breast cancer in January of 1991. She left work immediately to have an operation and to start treatments. Brenda was supposed to return to work after the medical procedure so Eloise reached out to her in February. Brenda stated that she did not feel up to it, that she would continue to use her sick leave and would return in March. Seeing that Brenda would not be back in the near future, Eloise asked the other workers in the office to “pitch in” and help pick up the slack in work due to her absence. To entice one employee to pitch in, she upgraded his work status from a GS7 to a GS9 (which is what Brenda’s status was) until Brenda returned. In March, Brenda could not return to work on her scheduled date and had her medical leave extended until she became better accustomed to the chemotherapy treatments.
Different types of prejudice are evident in this chapter. For instance, Scout refers to Walter as a “Cunningham”, and this automatically places him in the poor class (Lee 20). Miss Caroline displays prejudice towards Scout because she can read. Scout is singled out after she reads to the class, and Miss Caroline accuses her of her father teaching her how to read (Lee 17). It seems as though more serious types and instances of prejudice will develop as the story progresses.
One form of prejudice is rumors, it can cause harm to that individual who is being targeted and affect their future based on the rumor actually is and whether people would actually believe it or not. Rumors can easily hide the truth about that person’s personality because they are basically lies, opinions, and made up stories about that individual. Some people might start passing around judgments based on that rumor and that can a lot of trouble and conflict between the people. That person might not even be able to show their face to other people because they are so ashamed of themselves. This can also caused them to take a wrong step and end their live there. Rumors have destroyed many homes. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley is an example of whom has been through prejudice for almost his entire life. As young children, Jem and Scout Finch are led to believe that Boo Radley is a horrifying man. People have set his image as a horrifying guy who likes to eat dead animals and is cruel. Unfortunately, their opinion of him has been influenced all the people that live in maycomb to believe he is a cruel man and he is nothing but scary. A examples of these...
Disability Rights Case Review Jonathan is a tenth grade student with multiple disabilities which include: profound mental disability, spastic quadriplegia, and seizure disorder. Jonathan’s mother approached the high school principal, Debbie Young, to request educational placement for Jonathan in the high school. Debbie Young, who also served as a Special Education teacher before she became a principal, denied the request.
As stated by C.Dave Hingsberg “For hundreds of years, western society regarded the mentally retarded as sad accidents of nature to be closeted behind walls of secrecy and silence. Thousands were forcibility sterilized in an attempt to erase the genetic stain of their misfortune. But scientists now know that barely 10%of mental retardation is passed on genetically” (Hingsberg, Dave C.2001). This section came directly from the video “Is Love Enough”. Throughout history, there was the belief that the disabled would produce offspring that would be burdensome to society. Policies were put into place that forced sterilization of 60,000 American citizens, some as young as ten years old (Reilly 1991).
The Special Olympics date back all the way to the year 1968. Many see these Games as a time to honor someone who is able to “overcome” a task, but author William Peace sees this as an insulting portrayal of people with disabilities. Peace is a multidisciplinary school teacher and scholar that uses a wheel chair and writes about the science behind disabilities and handicaps. As a physically handicapped individual, Peace is able to observe a negative portrayal of disabled persons. In his article titled, “Slippery Slopes: Media, Disability, and Adaptive Sports,” William Peace offers his own personal insight, utilizes several statistics regarding handicaps, as well as numerous rhetorical appeals in order to communicate to the “common man”
Prejudice is an issue that cannot be easily avoided in today's society. It has and always will have a huge impact on the discrimination that some people face based on religion, appearance, background, mental/physical disabilities and etc.
In 1972, Geraldo Rivera with the help of Dr. Michael Wilkin of Staten Island's Willowbrook State School gained access to the institution and filmed the deplorable conditions the residents were living in. Now 25 years later the documentary reflects on four survivors of Staten Island's Willowbrook State School and their families. The family members give testimonials on how it felt to discover that their child had a disability, leave their loved ones in an institution, and the quality of care and services provided. The film also focuses on the progress made by the members that now live in group homes and the quality of their lives.
The social model defines disability as a social construct that creates unwanted barriers for individuals, and a public concern, (Smart & Smart, 2006). Examples of these barriers include “inaccessible education systems, working environments, inadequate disability benefits, discriminatory health and social support services, inaccessible transport, houses and public buildings and amenities, and the devaluing of disabled people through negative images in the media, (Thomas, 2007, p. 13). Swain, et al (1993), states that “disability is not a condition of the individual. The experiences of disabled people are of social restrictions in the world around them, not being a person with a ‘disabling condition,’” (as cited by Lutz & Bowers, 2003).
The word “disability” is an efficacious one, as far as words go. It manages to convey both a technical definition (“lack of adequate potency, vigor, or physical or mental capacity; incapacity”) as well as a general sense of the lack of glamour or romanticism found in the world of disabilities (Wai Au and Man David, 2006). Maybe it is because we as a society are preoccupied with both body image, expeditious fine-tunes, and disabilities are an affront to both (Wai Au and Man David, 2006). People with disabilities incline to survive in the world that is largely made for the “able-bodied” and it is perceive that they still want to live a life which is no more different from ordinary people (Rao, 2004). However, society has viewed this population
In middle school I was diagnosed with a disability with the way I expressed myself through writing. Ever since, I have gained multiple values and learned several lessons about self confidence. I was taught to push past my limits, in order to be successful in reaching my goals along with my dreams. Today I am a senior in high school who was once thought to struggle, but was able to succeed beyond expectations. To some, a disability may seem like a setback from achieving goals, but to me I used it as a challenge for myself. I accepted myself for who I was and looked at my disability as a unique trait of mine. I was able to provide a message to others that anything you set your mind to is possible with dedication and hard work. It might take
On many occasions teachers have asked, "Is the volume high enough for you?" while my class watches a television documentary. Many teachers in middle school imposed strict rules about where in the classroom I could sit. I've had coaches ask if I know sign language. And during my elementary years, the school insisted I meet with a learning specialist once a week to discuss my "feelings" about being hearing-impaired. All these restrictions were placed on me despite the fact that I was an above-average student and an aggressive athlete.
Disability is an topic that has produced conflict, and is viewed very differently from either side. For able-bodied people to truly understand what disabled people go through they need to see disabled people more; see their lives. If seeing disabled people more often became reality, they would be viewed as normal more, and it would make interacting easier for both sides. Disabled people have a hard life, but it does not mean it is not worth living. Nancy Mairs, Andre Dubus, and Harriet McBryde Johnson all have physical disabilities, and have written about their experiences and views. In their writings, they touch upon both similar and different points. A very present similarity between the authors is they all play to the same audience. In their messages, both Mairs and Johnson agree that able-bodied people automatically assume that disabled people have a lower quality of life or are unhappy. The strategies used by each author plays to their message, and aids them in getting across their position. Disability isn’t always easy to understand, and these authors help illustrate that.
People with disabilities are still people, they are people with hearts and they are actual physical beings; people with disabilities do their best to live every day to their fullest, yet that is still not enough for others. I feel like as a whole, humans are generally uncomfortable with people who have disabilities. Let’s think of it this way, people live their life every day in their normal lives and then they come across a person with a disability and suddenly their life is interrupted, like it is such a barrier in their flow of life to come across someone different from themselves.