Darius Goes West is an interesting and inspirational documentary that was created by Darius himself and his eleven friends. The making of this movie started at the summer camp for children with special needs when they decided to go to California and get Darius’s wheelchair to be customized. It is all about Darius Weems a teenager from Athens Georgia who suffered from Duchene Muscular Dystrophy Disease. This is genetic diseases which destroy every muscle in the body including the heart. This disease also affect one and 3500 boys around the world and it results in the disintegration of muscle tissue which leads legs and arms to cease working and eventually those muscles around the heart. In the US, the average Duchenne sufferers end up dying by the age of 25 and in this case we learned that Mario a brother to Darius died at the age of 19. By watching this documentary we are able to learn about Duchene Muscular Dystrophy awareness, surprises encountered by …show more content…
For instance, Darius was able to rap songs despites his disability. He was able to travel around the country rapping song of inspiration and encouraging students to believe that they can do anything if they believe in themselves. Darius also was able to participate in many activates with the help of his eleven friends and this shows that people with disabilities can also enjoy their selves like every other normal person. They were able to have fun at the beach, travel across the country and participating in challenges that other students in the schools did to raise the awareness of this fatal disease. Through watching this documentary also we learned that we have to be hopeful all the time. For example Darius did not lose hope because he knew that he will soon circum to this fatal disease but instead he was hopeful and he even mentioned in an interview that he was appreciative each
1. In the book Good Kings Bad Kings, Susan Nusbaum, the author, shows the lives of many different characters that live and interact with each other within a center for disabilities. She does this by narrating the story through the perspectives of both the workers and the people living within the center. Although this book is a work of fiction there is a sense of realism due to the fact the Nusbaum has been living with a disability since she was 24 and has the unique perspective of both an abled bodied person and a person with a disability. Throughout the book Nusbaum does a good job at showing the problems that many people with disabilities face on a day to day basis while also focusing on the way that society perceives and interacts with them.
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.
They are human beings determined to make something good in their lives. Across the world, people with disabilities have poorer health outcomes, lower education achievements, less economic participation and higher rates of poverty than people without
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
Disability is a ‘complex issue’ (Alperstein, M., Atkins, S., Bately, K., Coetzee, D., Duncan, M., Ferguson, G., Geiger, M. Hewett, G., et al.., 2009: 239) which affects a large percentage of the world’s population. Due to it being complex, one can say that disability depends on one’s perspective (Alperstein et al., 2009: 239). In this essay, I will draw on Dylan Alcott’s disability and use his story to further explain the four models of disability being The Traditional Model, The Medical Model, The Social Model and The Integrated Model of Disability. Through this, I will reflect on my thoughts and feelings in response to Dylan’s story as well as to draw on this task and my new found knowledge of disability in aiding me to become
Having a disability does not mean one should miss out on the things they love. Derrick Coleman is just one example of this. He has never let his hearing ability stop him from doing what he loves. Through the bullying and the pain, he has managed to live his life to the very fullest.
Another powerful video, Including Samuel, ignited my insight in this week’s class. As I heard in the video, “inclusion is an easy thing to do poorly.” The movie chronicles the life of a young boy, Samuel, and his family. With the shock of learning about their son’s disability, it caused his parents, Dan and Betsy, to experience the unexpected. Nevertheless, they did everything to include their son and help him live a normal life focused on his capabilities, rather than his incapabilities. I even admired how his friends knew so much about him, his likes and dislikes, his strengths and his weaknesses.
It is estimated that 1 out of every 5,600-7,700 boys ages 5-24 have Duchene or Becker muscular dystrophy. (“Data & Statistics,” 2012 April 6) Muscular dystrophy is a group of genetic diseases defined by muscle fibers that are unusually susceptible to damage. There are several different types of muscular dystrophy some of which shorten the affected person’s lifespan. (“Muscular dystrophy: Types and Causes of each form,” n.d.) There is a long history of the disorder but until recently there wasn’t much knowledge of the cause. (“Muscular Dystrophy: Hope through Research,” 16 April 2014) Symptoms are obvious and can be seen as soon as a child starts walking. (“Muscular Dystrophy,” 2012 January 19) Although muscular dystrophy mostly affects boys, girls can get it too. (“Muscular Dystrophy,” 2012 January 19) There is no cure for muscular dystrophy but there are several types of therapy and most types of muscular dystrophy are still fatal. (“Muscular Dystrophy: Hope through Research,” 16 April 2014)
Once the students begin to feel comfortable, I am flooded with questions. Students are able to expand their knowledge on a variety of disability-related issues. The real challenge is to help them change their perception of people with disabilities. Students have to be convinced that a disability is a limitation and every human has his or her own limitations. A disability is not a sickness someone can catch like a cold. When the students begin to see that we are all equal, then the Disabilities Awareness program has really done its job. The students are stubborn at first to new ideas but, after challenging them, they begin to see the truth behind these ideas and start accepting them.
Due to this disease the body is slowly broken down by affecting the central nervous system of a person’s body. The children depicted in the essay are probably an example how fellow human beings should be around a disabled person. They just view the disabled person as another human being and respect them the same way. The children are proud to associate themselves with Mairs and do not shy away from introducing her to the general public. This is what a disabled person requires: that all those around him or her should respect them for what they are and give them unconditional regard
As a young child, I remember how my grandfather's disability affected my life. I don't think that I even knew what the purpose of his wheelchair was. To me, it was just a toy, just another toy that my cousins and I could play with.
After watching the movie Darius Goes West, I have gained some extremely beneficial knowledge that will help me throughout my life. Darius Goes West is about a young boy who was born with a genetic disease that over time attacks muscles in the human body, which is called Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Darius is fifteen years old in the movie and wants to “pimp his ride”. With help from his community and friends, throughout the movie they travel across the country to go and see if the show Pimp My Ride would actually customize his wheelchair. As they travel across the country, many problems arise, but nothing stops the friends in their pursuit to get Darius to Pimp My Ride’s location.
Helen Keller may be the world's most famous supercrip. Very few people can claim to have "overcome" disability so thoroughly and spectacularly. A blind and deaf wild child at the age of 7, she became, by the time she published The Story of My Life at 22, one of Radcliffe's most successful and polished students, fluent in Latin, Greek, German, French and (not least) English--not to mention three versions of Braille (English, American, New York Point) and the manual alphabet in which her renowned teacher Anne Sullivan first communicated with her. But let me dispense with the scare quotes for a moment. Helen Keller is famous--and justly so--precisely because she did, in many respects, overcome the physical impairments of deafness and blindness, as well as the formidable social obstacles facing people with disabilities at the end of the nineteenth century. Her story retains its power to startle and inspire even now, just as Anne Sullivan's story remains among the most startling and inspiring tales in the history of pedagogy.
In middle school I was diagnosed with a disability with the way I expressed myself through writing. Ever since, I have gained multiple values and learned several lessons about self confidence. I was taught to push past my limits, in order to be successful in reaching my goals along with my dreams. Today I am a senior in high school who was once thought to struggle, but was able to succeed beyond expectations. To some, a disability may seem like a setback from achieving goals, but to me I used it as a challenge for myself. I accepted myself for who I was and looked at my disability as a unique trait of mine. I was able to provide a message to others that anything you set your mind to is possible with dedication and hard work. It might take
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.