The Mistreatment of Disabled Individuals
Walking down the street when I was about eight years old,
I saw a man who looked and acted differently. This man was in
a wheelchair and did not talk; he only rocked back and forth.
I was afraid, of what, I don't know. As I walked by I ignored
his existence. Only after working with autistic individuals,
did I realize that the man I had seen so many years ago in the
wheelchair was autistic. I discovered what I was afraid of. I
was terrified there was nothing I could do to help him, and
feared the differences which he displayed. Ignorance of the
causes of autism also contribute to the fear of autistic
individuals. There are many levels of autism. There are also
different ways to help an autistic lead a normal life. There
are also different severity's of blindness, and different ways
for blind individuals to adapt to their environments.
Autism is a syndrome that inhibits a person's ability to
socialize and communicate. The cause is unknown and there is
no cure, but it can be overcome through social adjustments and
speech developments. There is great deal of variety among
autistic people. Some autistic people may never learn to talk
and may not be able to work or live independently. Others may
do well in special supportive environments, working in
sheltered settings. Still others are totally independent and
function fairly well. The last, or "high-functioning," group is
often not recognized; however, they do exist, and people need
to recognize and understand the difficulties they face: their
unique ways of thinking, doing things, and experiencing the
world. These levels of intensity in relation to the disability
are not only found in autism. In her essay Georgina Kleege
talks about the varying degrees of blindness, and how people
assume that there is only one type of blindness, total
darkness.
Their is no cure to autism but it can be managed through
many different techniques. The same applies for blind people,
there are many different types of treatments. Through Braille
publications, glasses, and different types of adaptations made
to public environments blindness becomes more manageable. To
effectively treat autism, any approach should be flexible in
nature, rely on positive reinforcement, be re-evaluated on a
regular basis and provide a smooth transition from home to
school to community environments. A good program will also
incorporate training and support systems for parents and
caregivers, with generalization of skills to all settings.
Rarely can a family, classroom teacher or other caregiver
provide effective habilitation for a person with autism unless
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.
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.
This research paper is a case study focusing on the discrimination of workers living with a disease or illness. I chose this topic based on the need to educate others on the signs of workplace discrimination. Job discrimination in the workplace can effect many people in many different situations. This particular study chooses to focus on those individuals living with a terminal illness.
There are many different types of disabilities that an inmate can have whether it’s mobility, deaf, blindness or any other type being faced in the prison system. In 2009 there was a case where a disabled paraplegic complained and reported about his living conditions and the certain things that were unavailable to him and what he was not able to do as an individual who is handicapped. The filed complaint states, “Plaintiff Tony Goodman was an inmate at the Georgia State Prison, where he was confined to a 12 by 3 feet cell for 23 hours each day. The small confines of the cell made it difficult, if not impossible, for Goodman to turn in his chair, further; his cell was not outfitted with accessible bathroom facilities (Felg).” The individual in
There are several populations that interest me however possible preferences include families that deal with domestic abuse and those who are disabled. Working with families that have experienced domestic violence is an interest because in the past I had friends whose family was dealing domestic violence and the impact could clearly in all members of the family. Seeing the difference that was made by those who worked to help their family made this population a preference. Another population that is a possible preference is are those who are disabled. The interest to help those who were disabled started when a faculty called Edelweiss opened. Up to that point there had been no interaction with those who lead different lives than myself. Through the year that was spent volunteering the changes in those that had lessons became obvious. Being able to see the achievements of those who had lessons made it a continued interest. In the past couple of years a new side of this interest was shown. There is someone that is a close friend who is disabled because of seizures who has had trouble with employers. Seeing how she has been treated made it even clearer that this population needs help and has made it a continued interest professionally and personally.
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 earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it” -Chris Joseph
Roy and I became acquainted many years ago, when we had three encounters in one week. I first saw him when he was placing a bet at the Horse Racing track. Then he appeared again at my local pub. And then, unbelievably, he appeared yet again - this time at poker night. It was at this moment that I realized someone very special had entered my life. Yes, I had a stalker! Or as his clothes suggested… a gay stalker!
used to cut between a long shot of a woman, to an extreme close up of
Baldwin, Marjorie, and William G. Johnson. 1994. “Labor Market Discrimination against Men with Disabilities.” The Journal of Human Resources 29(1): 1–19.
“If the technology became available for the deaf to hear completely, would you want your deaf child to have this technology?” It is every parent’s dream for their child to grow up healthy and happy. There are so many children in the world that do not have the ability to hear, and it is a horrible thing. Many would think it wrong for a parent to not want to give their child the gift of sight. If I had a child that was deaf, I would do everything in my power to help them get their hearing. If the technology was there to fix this disability, why wouldn’t anyone want their child to have it? “840 babies are born with a permanent hearing loss every year.”(NDCS of UK). This is a horrible number to hear, that so many children will never be able to hear. If there was any technology able to restore a child’s hearing it would be a shame if the parents didn’t get it. “Deaf children face tremendous difficulties learning to read, write and communicate with the hearing world around them.”(NDCS of UK). Not only would you be giving your child the gift of hearing by using this technology, but you will also help child to be able learn on the normal level of other children.
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.
The term discrimination is defined as different treatment of individuals or groups based on age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or economic status instead of treatment based on the actual behavior or qualifications of each individual. It is the way in which a system caters to some members while excluding others, as defined by Hanser. (page 50). Discrimination is the treatment of an individual based on their actual or perceived membership in a certain group or category, "in a way that is worse than the way people are usually treated. It involves the group's initial reaction or interaction, influencing the individual's actual behavior towards the group or the group leader, restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to another group, leading to the exclusion of the individual or entities based on logical or irrational decision making.
The newspaper dailies, have the ability to link persons with disability to the world. Still, no research has been found specifically on persons with disabilities and their portrayal in the newspaper daily in India. Many studies have focused on the more general topic of disabilities in the news (Mick 1996; Power 2006; Haller, Dorries, and Rahn 2006). Person with disabilities are also part of the society. The newspaper dailies depict the persons with disabilities, as reflection of the society’s perspective about them. Content analysis of media is a traditional mass communication research method used to assess a wide range of media content trends (Poothullil J.M.Martin 2008). This research paper advocates for increased newspaper analysis within the disability studies field. Using a short term media research study about Hindustan Times (HT) Newspaper daily and its news coverage of disability issue. This paper explores the shifting nature of recent disability coverage in Mumbai newspapers, for a period of 3 months in 2012. Content analysis based research found that the newspaper under study reported sensational and gender biased news related to disability issues.