Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Reflection on disabilities
Reflection on disabilities
Reflection on disabilities
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Reflection on disabilities
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” …show more content…
This tone is also used to establish an appeal to pathos which he hopes to convince the audience of the fact that handicapped people are still people and not less than anyone else. A very prominent example of Peace’s emotion is displayed when he says, “Like many disabled people, I embrace an identity that is tied to my body. I have been made to feel different, inferior, since I began using a wheelchair thirty years ago and by claiming that I am disabled and proud, I am empowered,” (para. 15). This declaration demonstrates to his audience that Peace is honored by who he is and what disabled people can do and that he is tired of being oppressed by the media. Peace also makes this claim to support his thesis in the first paragraph that states, “The negative portrayal of disabled people is not only oppressive but also confirms that nondisabled people set the terms of the debate about the meaning of disability,” (para. 1). This is Peace’s central argument for the whole article and explains his frustration with society’s generalization of handicapped people and the preconceived limitations set on them. Peace’s appeal to pathos and tone throughout are extremely effective in displaying to his audience (society) that those who have disabilities are fed up with the limits that have been placed in the …show more content…
By speaking with this colloquial language, he is able to come across to his audience as a level-headed, but passionate individual. The diction and syntax utilized by Peace enhances his argument by allowing him to flow very smoothly from one idea to the next without disengaging his audience. Throughout, the structure of syntax is typically long, descriptive sentences that add as much information to a claim as possible. This choice of structure is very effective because it displays to the audience that Peace has much to say and is very passionate about disabilities without presenting himself in a frustrated or angry tone. The diction that Peace employs is very eloquent and composed through the entirety of the article. Often times, Peace will list several adjectives that describe how disabled people feel and the implications of how they are perceived in society. An exceptional example of this is shown early on in the article when Peace states, “For decades, disabled Americans have grown increasingly appalled, offended, and angry about the way they have been exploited by the media,” (para. 1). This allegation allows for Peace to present his argument in a very passionate and sophisticated manner without being accusatory or stymied. By utilizing this refined diction and syntax, Peace is able to effectively argue his point that disabled people are frustrated with how the media has
All these and more evidences used in the book support Peterson’s thesis and purpose—all of them discuss how having a disability made Peterson and others in her situation a part of the “other”. Her personal experience on media and
In her essay “On Being a Cripple,” Mairs describes her path of acceptance of her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis by declaring that she is a “cripple” in alternative to the more broadly acceptable terms: disabled or handicapped. Her essay is written with humor, satire, an open heart, and open eyes. Mair’s purpose is to describe her acceptances of her condition by using rhetorical elements and appeals, such as ethos and pathos, in order to allure her audience.
Petra Kuppers starts her essay by comparing disabled artists with a turtle and the turtle walker. Both are seen as creating a new and different pace, rhythm, and and performances. Both are recognized as aliens who associates and interacts with the new world. Kuppers then informs the readers that disabled artists and performers are well aware of how the world perceives them; poor, hopeless, slow, unwanted, tragic, slow, etc. However, these individuals are able to reverse that perception and illustrate their themselves in a different form. These performers are resisting the painted politics that are created around disabled bodies. Kuppers further argues that disabled beings are not stupid, they are well aware of persuasiveness and the social
There are many movies, television shows, news stories and movies that portray individuals with disabilities. Films portraying anyone with a disability are more complicated than we think because of all the criticism they may receive and the makers need to be aware of the messages that they may be sending out. I chose to write a reaction critique of Silver Linings Playbook as well as The Blind Side. Both movie tell the story of individuals with disabilities and portray their daily life in their eyes as well as through the eyes of others. Overall it sees that the media worked to positively portray each characters disability in a way to positively influence the viewer’s perception.
The article, "The Disabled Athlete has an Unfair Advantage," by Amby Burfoot, is a poorly written, research deficient article, in need of accurate, unbiased supporting facts. The article is written about Oscar Pistorius a double below knee amputee that competed but failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, after a lengthy court case. (Robinson) This unsatisfactorily written article has merit to the opinion, however, the author sounded as if he was a first time writer for a school newspaper. The facts used in the paper seem as if they were researched by asking someone who knows, someone who knows someone who is an amputee. Writing with this apparent ignorance, and recklessness can only lead to a larger divide between the two sides of the argument. The author Amby Burfoot is an editor-at large, and the winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon; states his argument the same as an elderly person afraid of change. The facts are not supported, ignorant selection of words, and at times out of touch tone is the wrong way to try to argue for what could be considered by some a sensitive subject. The fact that women and men are already placed into separate categories for events, and that there are Paralympics for amputees to compete in, completely passes the author by and he spends the article poorly stating that stumps with springs are cheating because "Pistorius does not need to train harder in order to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, he just needs a better set of equipment."(Burfoot)
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...
To judge someone by his or her inability to move is catagorized under the same branch of prejudices of racism and homophobia. Though their limbs may not function in the way their brain desires them to, their hearts beat for a sense of unity and equality, that they rightfully deserve. People labeled as “crippled,” “disabled,” or “immobile” are often ostracized by “the healthy” and treated in both a demeaning manner and a misinterpreted charitable aid. Essays written, by wheelchair bound writers include “Disability” and “On Being a Cripple”, by Nancy Mairs, “Why the Able Bodied Still Don’t Get It,” by Andre Dubus, and “Should I Have Been Killed at Birth,” by Harriet McBryde Johnson, discuss their personal experiences and opinions on the two,
In the book, The Short Bus, Jonathan Mooney’s thesis is that there is more to people than their disabilities, it is not restricting nor is it shameful but infact it is beautiful in its own way. With a plan to travel the United States, Mooney decides to travel in a Short bus with intentions of collecting experiences from people who have overcome--or not overcome--being labeled disabled or abnormal. In this Mooney reinvents this concept that normal people suck; that a simple small message of “you’re not normal” could have a destructive and deteriorating effect. With an idea of what disabilities are, Mooney’s trip gives light to disabilities even he was not prepared to face, that he feared.
With so many people experiencing life with physical and cognitive disabilities, it is disturbing that media’s representation of disability is so distorted. Media plays a central role in how people understand disabilities, and only through critical analysis can the “chain of meanings” that constitute ableist ideologies be “broken” (Hall 81). Hall, Harris, and Jones challenge readers to reflect upon the oppressive ideologies that may have previously seemed “normal,” however it can be argued that a true destruction of ableism must first come from the eradication of ableist language.
Special Olympics is an association that allows the disabled to be active by participating and competing in the sport events. In the 1950s through the 1960s, Eunice Kennedy Shriver realized the difference in the way people acted toward the special needs population and the difference in the way people acted toward others. She began to think about the disadvantages of the disabled and their ability to do activities. She knew they were capable of doing some activities, but no one tried to achieve a difference in the way the special needs were treated. Shriver hated the fact that the disabled were ignored because people didn’t believe the special needs people were the same as others (Meyer).
Success in disability sport (i.e., become an elite disabled athlete) enables people with impairments to actively resist dominant ideologies describing the impaired body as defective and disabled people as weak, inactive, and dependent (Huang and Brittain, 2006). Sport is a context that facilitates both, resistance and empowerment beyond merely the sporting experience. They feel physically empowered by their exceptional health and fitness achieved by their regular sport practice. They consider it an advantage to be physically robust and energetic because it helps their daily movements and allows them to pursue other things. Furthermore, these disabled athletes are empowered by the feeling
Being disabled is just a single facet of their life, and they have the same capacity to be happy as anyone else. While these three authors have different reasons to write their essays, be it media unfairness, ignorance, or ethical disputes, they all share a basic principle: The disabled are not viewed by the public as “normal people,” and they are unfairly cast away from the public eye. The disabled have the same capacity to love, desire and hurt as any other human being, and deserve all of the rights and privileges that we can offer them. They should be able to enter the same buildings, have representation in the media, and certainly be allowed the right to live.
Although inequality still exists and advancements have been piecemeal, the positive changes display promise that the Paralympic Games have started the flames of change, encouraging society to view people with disabilities not as disabled but as capable. Thus, the Paralympic Games can be seen as a catalyst in creating awareness and changing people’s perception of the disabled community.
Today, more and more people with disabilities are being represented in cinema and are changing the way we think about disabilities. Now, people with disabilities are taking center stage and are redefining the stereotypes of the past. Although the film industry still has a long way to go, it is heading in the right direction and is continuously pushing the boundaries of what people with disabilities are capable of. In this essay, I will analyze Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient, a film about a severely burned and paralyzed man named Almásy, and write about how Almásy’s disabilities were accurately displayed in The English Patient.
When one looks at the word “disability”, it immediately conjures up an idea of what someone cannot do, or something physically wrong with an individual, that prevents them from doing something as the majority of society can do. When society looks at a person with a disability, society relates or compares them to what is considered “normal”. It is that comparison to the majority, or normality which causes society to view a disability as a negative. Disabilities can limit someone or on the other hand, they can give an advantage. In this paper, I will discuss whether Talcott Parson’s sick role applies to disabled individuals. As well, I will look at Michel Foucault and how his theories such as the clinical gaze and classification play into disabled sports. Additionally, I will look at how technological advancements or enhancements change the playing field for disabled athletes such as Oscar Pistorius.