I have used a wheelchair my entire life, but it wasn’t until Friday Night Lights premiered on NBC in 2008 that I ever saw a character who looked like me on television. Jason Street, whose accident precipitates the plot of the show, was the first disabled main character I had ever seen on TV. He was paralyzed, and I am not, but for the first time there was a character who reflected the daily idiosyncrasies that come from being in a wheelchair. In the past, all of the disabled characters that I had seen in movies and tv shows, were more plot devices than people. They were the main character’s disabled son, who was merely the struggle for the main character to overcome. They were the lesson for every character who thought they had a difficult life, just to show the …show more content…
Beyond the first season, much of Street’s storylines had nothing to do with his disability. He had a kid, failed at flipping houses, and became a sports agent, because ultimately sports were what he loved. This lack of depiction is perhaps the most accurate depiction of disability possible. Most of the time, I never think about my disability. Sure, it make my life a little different, but for the most part life as a disabled person is exceedingly normal. I loved that Friday Night Lights made Street a character who was so much more than his accident and his disability. Just like me, Street’s disability was simply a small portion of who he was. So while Street’s disability was what made me take note of the show initially, what made me passionate about that character and that show was everything else. Friday Night Lights never reduced Street to a stereotype or made one aspect of him the entire character. As with all of the other characters on that show, Street was complex and imperfect, but he was never just the person in the wheelchair. Just like
As human beings, we like to make sure never to offend or judge anyone. We even have sayings like “never judge a book by its cover”. A metaphor that is often said whenever trying not to judge someone based on their outward appearance; however, it is not often that people practice what they preach. We judge people based on external factors within seconds. Even though we know what people see on the outside is not a defining factor or who we are as people. Nancy Mairs, author of On Being a Cripple, has to live through this every day. She knows this truth very well, and lives proudly with the fact that as she is disabled. Mairs is admirable for choosing to call herself a “cripple” and not be ashamed of it. Though the word is derogatory and a word that is avoided by society, Mairs identifies herself as a cripple because that is what she is. In explaining her disability, she says, “I haven’t always been crippled, ... to be whole of limb is ... infinitely more pleasant and useful. and if that knowledge leaves me open to bitterness … the physical soundness I once enjoyed is well worth the occasional stab of regret” (Mairs 186). What really
Then there is the physically crippled who know what happens if they outlive their usefulness. Next to that there's the physical barrier of being a black person in a racial, conscious society. All in all, being crippled physically, socially or emotionally was just a way of life back in the thirty's. Lennie is the major cause of George being crippled socially and emotionally.
The author writes, "People–crippled or not–wince at the world "cripple", as they do not at "handicapped" or "disabled." (Perhaps I want them to wince. I want them to see me as a tough customer, one whom the fates/gods/viruses have not been kind, but who can face the brutal truth of her existence squarely. As a cripple, I swagger." (194) This quote shows the author's strength and sense of humor. These are the two things which allow her to honestly face the truth of her situation as well as how other people react to it. She does not want pity from people who see her limping down the street with her cane, nor does she want them to shy away as though she is some ...
This model defines disability as a complication with an individual’s body structure or function, which affects the individual’s ability to carry out everyday tasks thus resulting in ‘restricted participation in the environment’ (Alperstein et al., 2009: 239). Dylan’s disability explains this model, as he has no function in his legs, which affects his ability to carry out everyday tasks e.g. being in an environment, which is not suitable for wheelchairs hence restricting his participation in those
I remember a friend casually describing my cousin Michael as broken because he was in a wheel chair and could not move his legs. I remember thinking, “He is not broken; he just cannot walk.” I was disappointed that someone would even label him that way. I do not think of Michael as disabled or broken, he just cannot walk. Michael is tall, funny, and always has a joke to tell me.
Nancy Mairs, born in 1943, described herself as a radical feminist, pacifist, and cripple. She is crippled because she has multiple sclerosis (MS), which is a chronic disease involving damage to the nerve cells and spinal cord. In her essay Disability, Mairs’ focus is on how disabled people are portrayed, or rather un-portrayed in the media. There is more than one audience that Mairs could have been trying to reach out to with this piece. The less-obvious audience would be disabled people who can connect to her writing because they can relate to it. The more obvious audience would be physically-able people who have yet to notice the lack of disabled people being portrayed by the media. Her purpose is to persuade the audience that disabled people should be shown in the media more often, to help society better cope with and realize the presence of handicapped people. Mairs starts off by saying “For months now I’ve been consciously searching for representation of myself in the media, especially television. I know I’d recognize this self becaus...
There are many ways that Mike is similar to someone who doesn’t have a disability. Like thousands of students a year, Mike went to college and earned his degree, and is going on to earn his masters degree. While Mike had to take a break in-between his bachelors and going to get his masters, he went back, just like thousands of Americans do. He was also planning for his future ahead of time. In American culture we are very future time oriented, we like to know what we are doing weeks, months, and sometimes up to a year in advance. Likewise, now that Mike is on his medication and thinking clearly, he is beginning to plan for the future. He is also having a similar outlook on life similar to those who don’t have a disability. There are also several ways that a person like Mike, who suffers from bipolar disorder, is different from someone who doesn’t have a disability. With bipolar disorder you suffer from severe mood swings, which is something that a person without a disability don’t have to suffer through. While everyone has different moods that they feel, they are in no way similar to how a person who suffers from bipolar disorder has them and how they affect their decisions and mental state. A person who has bipolar disorder will often live in fear, which is also something that people without disabilities don’t suffer from. If you are suffering from bipolar
Most people feel relatively uncomfortable when they meet someone with an obvious physical disability. Usually, the disability seems to stand out in ones mind so much that they often forget the person is still a person. In turn, their discomfort is likely to betray their actions, making the other person uncomfortable too. People with disabilities have goals, dreams, wants and desires similar to people without disabilities. Andre Dubus points out very clearly in his article, "Why the Able-bodied Still Don't Get It," how people's attitudes toward "cripples" effect them. It's is evident that although our society has come a long way with excepting those with physical disabilities, people do not understand that those with physical disabilities are as much human as the next person
Disability is like a bruise on an apple; sometimes it is evident, sometimes it is hidden. Consider Claire Hovey; she has arthritis – a hidden disability affecting one’s joints. Claire used to think of “pain as a hurdle” (Hovey, 2015); thus when diagnosed, she expected to tackle pain “with grace and poise” (Hovey, 2015) managing it silently (Hovey, 2015). However, self-doubt and fictional comparison brought negative psychological effects (Hovey, 2015) and she soon realized that neither were beneficial for her daily rehabilitation (Hovey, 2015). In contrast, Robert Ward lives with learning disabilities and a speech impediment – also hidden. For him, there was no diagnostic point; instead the learning curve came as he realized
Nearby resident Stephen Sweetman provides examples of making and remaking on City Road, in relation to connections and disconnections between people. Disconnected with disabled people, until a severe disablement of his own, Stephen soon became further disconnected, this time with people from the outside world. Family members connected with Stephen by introducing him to the use of a wheelchair. This action enabled Stephen to connect with fellow wheelchair users yet, after experiencing ‘discrimination’ (Havard, 2014, p.77) held against disabled people; he remained disconnected with the rest of society. While acknowledging how far society has travelled, along the road to securing acceptable disabled rights, Stephen stated,
In 1987, Nancy Mairs argued that physical disabilities are not represented correctly in the media and television. And recently, Rosie Anaya disagrees by explaining that mental disability is suffering worse representation than physical disability. People with mental disabilities are not realistically portrayed on television. Thus, this unrealistic portrayal results in a negative stigma on mental disability and can further isolate those with disabilities.
People that are seen as having a disability are often passed through the majority of their classes or are not properly taught. In other words, teachers and professors may expect less from them. This does not benefit the student nor does it show that the teacher is interested in trying to help students with such disorders. In what possible way does it make sense to send someone out into the world without teaching them to the best of their capabilities? The lack of effort in the teacher’s work ethic comes off quite arrogant and selfish. It is the responsibility of a teacher to prepare the student for the real world and give them every piece of knowledge they can
Life for the disabled can be difficult physically, emotionally, and financially. Donley Jones talked about his hardships as a disabled American worker in a personal interview on November 25, 2004. However, there have been several legislative changes in the United States, which have put forth the opportunities that many poverty and lower level families have needed to move to higher grounds financially. Cleaver states that there have been many laws and acts put forth by congress to make this move easier for disabled Americans. Donley, a 37 year old janitor at the Johnson City Mall, is legally blind. Donley talks of the prejudices that left him and his family in poverty. He talks of his struggle to provide for his family and how hard it was to get out of poverty. Donley remembers not knowing how he would ever be able to provide opportunities for his children, such as putting them through college, with his income. Donley tells of how he believes the government had a lot to do with his ability to move his family out of poverty.
Persons with disabilities encounter countless environmental and societal barriers which affect their daily lives. There is numerous definitions worldwide and in Canada for the term “disability”, and debates about who is considered a person with a disability. Winkler gives an elaborate definition of this term which will be used to define disability throughout this paper. Above and beyond the general definition, Winkler states “Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others” (2009, p. 329). Winkler mentions that in addition
The first thought that crosses the mind of an able-bodied individual upon seeing a disabled person will undoubtedly pertain to their disability. This is for the most part because that is the first thing that a person would notice, as it could be perceived from a distance. However, due to the way that disability is portrayed in the media, and in our minds, your analysis of a disabled person rarely proceeds beyond that initial observation. This is the underlying problem behind why disabled people feel so under appreciated and discriminated against. Society compartmentalizes, and in doing so places the disabled in an entirely different category than fully able human beings. This is the underlying theme in the essays “Disability” by Nancy Mairs, “Why the Able-Bodied Just Don’t Get it” by Andre Dubus, and “Should I Have Been Killed at Birth?” by Harriet Johnson.