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Childhood in different contexts
Childhood and adulthood
Childhood in different contexts
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“Every now and again I see in the newspapers the report of a man or woman who has put to death a mentally defective child. My heart goes out to such a one. I understand the love and despair which prompted the act.” Pearl Buck understood that act, for her daughter Carol was mentally retarded. She shares her experiences of raising a child who would never grow to be self sufficient. Pearl shares her thoughts and feelings throughout the diagnostic process in a time when little was known about mental disabilities. She travelled from China to America to seek medical attention for her daughter just to get the news that Carol would never be a ‘normal’ child. The doctors could not help this family. Carol realized that she had to live her life with her daughter. Carol, who found insurmountable joy from music, would never know she was different from other children. Pearl found comfort in that fact that the burden and stress of life would never fall on her daughter. The next decision that came to Pearl was if she should put her daughter in a home. Pearl had a fear that she would die then who would care for Carol. A girl told Pearl Carol would no longer be invited to her parties and Pearl realized Carol should be people who... ... middle of paper ... ...facing and I feel that understanding disabilities will only make me a stronger teacher. I have had some experience with mental retardation seeing as my uncle was. He passed away at age 43 when I was only about 7. I do remember where he lived, and how he acted. My Uncle Dan lived in an assisted living home. He had his own apartment in a complex of other people with disabilities. Nurses would come in and help him live as normally as he could. By living in this home, he was able to make friends and even have the opportunity to have a relationship. I know my father is very thankful for my uncle to be able to have those experiences. I always saw him as a kid, like me. I never really understood why but I thought it was great. He had the best toys and was fun to be around. I knew he was different but, not until now I realize the struggle my father’s family must’ve faced.
During the 1960’s, America’s solution to the growing population of mentally ill citizens was to relocate these individuals into mental state institutions. While the thought of isolating mentally ill patients from the rest of society in order to focus on their treatment and rehabilitation sounded like a smart idea, the outcome only left patients more traumatized. These mental hospitals and state institutions were largely filled with corrupt, unknowledgeable, and abusive staff members in an unregulated environment. The story of Lucy Winer, a woman who personally endured these horrors during her time at Long Island’s Kings Park State Hospital, explores the terrific legacy of the mental state hospital system. Ultimately, Lucy’s documentary, Kings
The ongoing misperception of the mentally ill/disabled, has led me to research the topic in further depth. Since many people don't come in contact with the mentally ill/disabled, where do they get their beliefs or understandings? The bulk of perceiving the mentally ill/disabled comes through stereotyping, and all the outside influences that generate ones beliefs. Besides the fact that some people are a little slower or have a disability, they live their lives as ordinary people.
Born in 1802, Dorothea Dix played an important role in changing the ways people thought about patients who were mentally-ill and handicapped. These patients had always been cast-off as “being punished by God”. She believed that that people of such standing would do better by being treated with love and caring rather than being put aside. As a social reformer, philanthropist, teacher, writer, writer, nurse, and humanitarian, Dorothea Dix devoted devoted her life to the welfare of the mentally-ill and handicapped. She accomplished many milestones throughout her life and forever changed the way patients are cared for. She was a pioneer in her time, taking on challenges that no other women would dare dream of tackling.
ASD individuals may find it hard to communicate and socialize with others around them. However, because each child is unique, they have their own unique abilities and ways of responding to new experiences. Other issues children with ASD have include; anxiety, sleeping problems, and learning disabilities. Those who are diagnosed with ASD or any other disability are usually judged and bullied. In the documentary Violet’s mother says she is afraid of her child being labeled and underestimated because she is diagnosed with autism. A child’s disability can also affect their family members. Family members may have a difficult time understanding and getting to know the autistic child in order to provide for them. They struggle to find interventions such as treatment and therapy for them, the right medical care, and trying learn to cope with all this. At times parents and caregivers can also feel stressed or irritated knowing they have to fulfill all of the child’s needs. Siblings on the other hand, may find it unfair that the autistic child gets the most attention and
I decided to focus my plunge on adults with mental and physical disabilities, because I had no prior experience with this group. Coming from an able-bodied family where no one has significant handicaps, I was generally shielded from people with disabilities. Over the years, I grew to associate dangerous stigmas with these people, even though they have no control over their circumstance. The
In many cultures, birth defects are considered a curse and are sought to be removed by some method: spiritually or by simply ignoring them. However, as science is improving and eyes are opening towards the topic of birth defects, more research has been conducted to understand and accept them. Since the 1960s, the federal government introduced ways that mentally ill patients could live outside a mental hospital, where they were confined from the general public, and live a normal life. Many communities and mental centers were built to allow continuous and efficient care for those patients from their homes. Yet, the question remains whether or not the whole world has accepted mental illnesses. Many believe that the mentally ill should be hidden from society out of shame and humiliation, but countries all over the world have invalided that belief by establishing new methods of treatments and awareness campaigns to include them in society.
My younger brother was diagnosed with high-functioning autism at a very young age. I am glad that to any bystander, he just seems like a quirky little kid, but sometimes I wonder about how people will treat him as he grows older, and how he is going to adapt to life as a long-term students (he is currently home schooled). When most people think of a developmental disorder, they imagine something along the lines of gaining some brain damage in your early years of life that puts you in a vegetable state for the rest of your waking days. After learning lots of information on the topic of autism spectrum disorders, I know now that this idea of developmental disorders like autism is entirely outdated and does not do the entire population of people with these disorders any real justice.
My step-brother was born with autism, but in some ways he is even more intelligent than myself. He has made me a better person and made me want to help others with disabilities in any way I can. In my lifetime I hope that we can eradicate the negative perception that is so commonly associated with mental disabilities. This change will not be brought by time; we can only bring an end to this delusion through education and exposure. It is my goal in life to one day start a charity to educate society on mental disabilities as well as ensure that people with disabilities can get the treatments and accommodations they need. We are all human beings. we all have flaws. No one has the right to feel superior to someone with a
Like I mentioned before, prior to the mid 19th century those with intellectual disabilities were not accepted into society, but during the mid 19th century a man named Samuel G. Howe opened the first humanitarian institution in North America. He discovered 575 people with intellectual disabilities. Each were examined with respect and he discovered many different things about intellectual disabilities. Soon after, in the 1950’s the National Association for Retarded Children was formed. All throughout the years following the opening of the humanitarian institution there was an increase in acceptance for those with intellectual disabilities. President John F. Kennedy even formed the Presidents panel on Mental Retardation in
I had a classmate that had cerebral palsy and was in a wheelchair. I did not feel any way about her because I did not know that she had cerebral palsy until she told me. I treated her like she was a normal person, but other people in my class feelings towards her were not so nice. She was would always ask questions in the class because she had struggles and people in the classroom would yell at her. They say come on you ask so many questions, but she never bothered me. The feelings that come up when I am around people who are disabilities like blind, deaf, cerebral palsy, are obese, and etc. is I do not feel any different when I am around someone who does not have a disability. I think that people with disabilities are normal. People who disabilities should feel like they are not different from me or another person in this world. They might have severe struggles; we should not judge someone on the struggles they have. People who disabilities describe themselves as “invisible” because people just pretend that they are not there. People tend to ignore them when they see people disabilities in public with disabilities. The words my family and community use to refer to the above groups of people is disabled because we had a family friend who was disabled. My parents hated when we or people we knew used the word “mental retardation” or just
There are an astounding amount of misconceptions about disabilities and individuals living with them. Society at large is improving in our acceptance of these individuals, but there is still a considerable stigma surrounding disabilities. Unfortunately, these individuals
In the beginning I never really understood special Ed kids. I looked at them and didn’t understand why they acted a certain way or why they sometimes looked different, but after having my sister it has changed me so much. It took time but it made me realize that they aren’t really different from us after all. Maybe physically they are different but they all think the same as us and want the same things they like to enjoy all the same things we do.
The summer after my sixth grade year, my mother decided to work as secretary for Special Ed Summer School. Although my little sister Madelyn and I refused to believe it, my mother thought we were too young to stay at home by our selves while she was at work. The next day she hauled us through our kicks and screams to work with her at six in the morning. My mother told me to go help her friend Ms. Tanya. When I got outside Ms. Tanya said hello and insisted that I just call hero she could tell my voice apart from all of the children. Tanya quickly scribbled a name and a bus number on my hand and said, “Ok, go get him off the bus. Tell the bus driver you are working with me. Hold his hand and do not let him out of your sight until you see me.” Petrified, I went to retrieve a kid form a bus with no inkling as to what to expect. The child’s name was Ethan and one look at him had me completely confused. He looked like a normal first grade. When we got to the classroom, Tanya told me that he is autistic.
I have always grown up in a more ‘normal’ setting and seeing people with disabilities was something that was rare to me. When I was younger, my thoughts on people with disabilities were that they could only be physically seen, nothing else (mentally, intellectually, etc.). As I reached middle school, I realized how broad the world is and how many ways people were affected by disabilities. Some of them led a more normal life and some have a harder time adjusting. Just seeing and reading how so many are affected and how harder it is for them really opened up my mind and allowed me to have a wider perception of how broad things are in the world.
It was not until I saw the movie (before our class) “I Am Sam”, my thoughts about people with learning disabilities started to change. The movie changed my perception that mentally challenged individuals are strange by nature because they do not seem to understand when people talk to them and is different from myself. The movie showed me that they do comprehend information, have feelings as I do, and most importantly, that I have wrongly stereotyped their differences.