The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat

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Recommended: Understand models of disability

A person with visible disabilities can sometimes be treated differently than others. People may look down at them. They can be stared at, avoided, and ridiculed. Occasionally, a kind soul will step up and offer to help. How does this non-judgemental, helping viewpoint help the person? How did it help Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor in My Stroke of Insight and José in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales? The way people treat those with visible disabilities can be seen in almost any public place. Take a piano recital, for example. A family walks in the door and greets the teacher, who is standing next to the piano. With the family is a tall girl who looks like she is in her late teens. She looks around, sees the large number of people sitting on the chairs, and panics. She clings to her mother and …show more content…

The mother immediately apologizes and explains that her daughter gets panicky when she sees new faces. The teacher says that they do not need to apologize and offers to help them find a spot where the girl can listen to the music calmly. In the end, the girl was seated in a corner away from the new faces that scared her, where she could see the piano, but not see the face of the person playing. At the end of the recital, her family is relieved that the event went by without a hitch. Not all people are as understanding as the piano teacher from the story above. Many people with visible disabilities are treated like lesser human beings. They have to deal with taunting, gawking, and so much more. In My Stroke of Insight, Dr. Taylor tells how she was treated in a grocery store while she was recovering from her stroke. “It was easy for others to see I was a woman with some sort of problem. My face had that glazed-over look, and my movements were very deliberate and in slow motion when compared to the normal shopper. Many people rushed their

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