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Negative attitudes towards the disabled
The stereotypes of people with disabilities
Public perception of a person with a disability
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Theme #1: Ableism
The first theme we discussed in class was ableism. Ableism is discrimination of disabled or handicapped people (Croft, Ableism Powerpoint, 2016). The disability does not have to be obvious such as the person needing a wheelchair or a cane. They can be less obvious to what we consider “normal” such as the person wearing glasses. One of the questions that were discussed in class was “How do we decide who is able?” and “What is standard?” (Croft, Ableism Powerpoint, 2016) . The answer to those questions is power and privilege. If a person has power, they can do anything, meaning they have all the necessary resources. They are accepted because they have the power to influence others (Croft, Ableism Powerpoint, 2016). Privilege
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Approximately twenty years ago there weren’t many improvements made to assist disabled people in the workforce. Ableism was recognized but not much was done. But that has changed significantly. People are much more aware of it and are trying to fix the mistakes of the past to create a better future. One major effect ableism has is that Canadians with disabilities are very likely to live in poverty. 56% of disabled people are unemployed (Council of Canadians with Disabilities , n.d.). Another effect of Ableism is that disabled Canadians are more susceptible to violence and abuse, and are even turning to suicide (Council of Canadians with Disabilities , n.d.). This topic effects cross culture communication because people with disabilities feel that they have only others (with similar disabilities) so turn to for guiding, comfort, and strength. They experience all the negativity towards them for something that they cannot control. One way we can change this is to get involved with the community is to volunteer our time and skills to the organizations who employ disabled people, or institutions that are dedicated to taking care of …show more content…
Ableism affects her daily. She is faced with discrimination by other students in school, has a hard time with getting people to understand her disability and how to assist her in social situations, and might have a challenge with finding employment in the future. My longing is that our society evolves to decrease ableism as racism or stereotypes are making a slow but positive progress. We are all made equal and its not fair to be categorized. I see it with my family member and I feel unhappy that for now, she must endure this
As defined from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, ableism is “discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities”. After Sharon’s life-altering accident, she was labeled as “helpless” and “incompetent”. An example of what Sharon faced with these labels
After reading “People First Language” by Kathie Snow, the first thing that came to my mind was the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” I have never agreed with this saying because words can inflict pain just like sticks and stones. Words really do matter. Kathie Snow believed that other people’s attitude towards others is the greatest obstacle facing people with disabilities. According to Kathie Snow (2010), “The real problem is never a person’s disability, but the attitudes of others!
Systemic discrimination has been a part of Canada’s past. Women, racial and ethnic minorities as well as First Nations people have all faced discrimination in Canada. Policies such as, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provincial and federal Human Rights Codes, as well has various employment equity programs have been placed in Canada’s constitution to fight and address discrimination issues. Despite these key documents placed for universal rights and freedoms Aboriginal and other minority populations in Canada continue to be discriminated against. Many believe there is no discrimination in Canada, and suggest any lack of success of these groups is a result of personal decisions and not systemic discrimination. While others feel that the legislation and equality policies have yet resulted in an equal society for all minorities. Racism is immersed in Canadian society; this is clearly shown by stories of racial profiling in law enforcement.
Historically, we have been taught that people with disabilities are different and do not belong among us, because they are incompetent, cannot contribute to society or that they are dangerous. We’re still living with the legacy of people with disabilities being segregated, made invisible, and devalued. The messages about people with disabilities need to be changed. There needs to be more integration of people with disabilities into our culture to balance out the message. Because of our history of abandonment and initialization, fear and stigma impact our choices more than they would if acceptance, community integration, and resources were a bigger part of our history.
To begin with, the role of Critical Race Theory provides us with the idea of “racial realism”, the idea that racism, the normalcy of white supremacy is part of the everyday life of an ‘other’, in other words, racial or indigenous minorities in Canada (Slides on Critical Race Theory). The Critical Race Theory gives an understanding of the power that can be given to a definition such as ‘race’, and how
...rreporting of workplace discrimination and harassment (TIEDI, 2011), it’s highly arguable that for some, while their grasp on the language may be minimal, their ability to recognize and thus personally experience racial discrimination on a personal level is not affected. Racially-motivated harassment within the workplace often leaves the individual with progressively high feelings of alienation and low job satisfaction overall, adding to the strains that exist within the cracks of Canada’s multicultural base.
Disability and reactions to those who are disabled are socially constructed, and vary from generation to generation and from culture to culture. As these precepts change and alter with time and knowledge how we treat those who are labeled as disabled evolves- sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worst. Harriet McBryde Johnson’s and John Hockenberry’s experiences are all too familiar. The challenges faced by these two individuals many times were not with the disability itself, but was from how the world responded to them. Harriet McBryde Johnson had many of her work colleagues unaware and unbelieving of a dire prognosis because of how she personally handled life, how integrated she was with the world around her. Her experience in Cuba
Do you believe that because Canada is a multicultural society that there is no racism? While the idea of inclusion and buried racism is what one might hope for, the realities of Canada’s national policy when experienced is quiet opposite than the messages expressed though text and other media outlets. Canada is suppose to be a multicultural society which includes all races and cultural backgrounds, everyone is suppose to be included and accepted in our group instead there are instances of discrimination and marginalization to certain racialized groups that have entered Canada the land that is promised to be of freedom and inclusion for all. Multiculturalism is a fundamental characteristic of the Canadian heritage and identity it is what fills our national center. (Harmony 2014). Multiculturalism has been a good policy designed to give people a great impression of our country yet: The Novels Indian Horse (2012) by Richard Wagamese and Obasan (1981) by Joy Kogawa portrays acts of violence, terror, exclusion and hardship. It is observed through reading and analysis that Racism is a never-ending struggle that people of minority backgrounds who immigrate to the land of the free have to endure. Finally, Racism stifles and affects everyone negatively who is an immigrant in the Canadian society; multiculturalism is only a façade which serves to cover up the root of the problem.
The social theory of privilege states that unearned or otherwise reasonably unacquirable advantages are social endowed to a particular person or group of people. These unearned advantages are often granted on the basis of demographic features such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or generation, although other criteria (such as ability, height, or attractiveness) may confer such advantages. There lie subtle distinctions between advantages that are earned but reasonably acquirable and advantages that are earned but reasonably unacquirable. For example, education confers social advantages, but not privilege; however, the access to education is a reasonably unacquirable advantage and would be considered a privilege. The ambiguity of privilege, though,
To be honest, before writing this essay I was very unaware of what ableism was. So when reading about ableism was interesting to me. I personally do not have a disability, but I do know people that I am close with that do have disabilities. My grandmother and grandfather have physical disabilities. My grandmother physical disability is that she cannot walk she lays in a bed at her home all day. She has a problem with her ankles that when she tries to walk they give out and she falls. My grandfather also has a physical disability; he cannot walk as well. This past year, my uncle was diagnosis with cancer and he was struggling with many challenging that came with his cancer. He had trouble breathing, heart problems, and chemotherapy. It was
Activists work to assemble a feeling of personality inside the inability community by featuring normal encounters of unavailability and segregation. Canadian handicap activists have been surprisingly effective
The United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons from 1983 to 1992 raised levels public interest and attention across Canada regarding the rights of people with disabilities. The inclusion of disability within the Charter of Rights and Freedoms today reflects the collective efforts of a number of activists who worked diligently to push legislators in this general direction during the early 1980’s. In 1986, people with disabilities were included alongside women, visible minorities and Aboriginal people in the new federal Employment Equity Act. New disability organizations, such as the Advocacy Resource Centre for the Handicapped (ARCH), Disability Awareness Women’s Network (DAWN) were established to support people with disabilities and to protect
In the essay “Disability,” Nancy Mairs discusses the lack of media attention for the disabled, writing: “To depict disabled people in the ordinary activities of life is to admit that there is something ordinary about disability itself, that it may enter anyone’s life.” An ordinary person has very little exposure to the disabled, and therefore can only draw conclusions from what is seen in the media. As soon as people can picture the disabled as regular people with a debilitating condition, they can begin to respect them and see to their needs without it seeming like an afterthought or a burden. As Mairs wrote: “The fact is that ours is the only minority you can join involuntarily, without warning, at any time.” Looking at the issue from this angle, it is easy to see that many disabled people were ordinary people prior to some sort of accident. Mairs develops this po...
Every day in America, a woman loses a job to a man, a homosexual high school student suffers from harassment, and someone with a physical or mental disability is looked down upon. People with disabilities make up the world’s largest and most disadvantaged minority, with about 56.7 million people living with disabilities in the United States today (Barlow). In every region of the country, people with disabilities often live on the margins of society, deprived from some of life’s fundamental experiences. They have little hope of inclusion within education, getting a job, or having their own home (Cox). Everyone deserves a fair chance to succeed in life, but discrimination is limiting opportunities and treating people badly because of their disability. Whether born from ignorance, fear, misunderstanding, or hate, society’s attitudes limit people from experiencing and appreciating the full potential a person with a disability can achieve. This treatment is unfair, unnecessary, and against the law (Purdie). Discrimination against people with disabilities is one of the greatest social injustices in the country today. Essential changes are needed in society’s basic outlook in order for people with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to succeed in life.
Disability: Any person who has a mental or physical deterioration that initially limits one or more major everyday life activities. Millions of people all over the world, are faced with discrimination, the con of being unprotected by the law, and are not able to participate in the human rights everyone is meant to have. For hundreds of years, humans with disabilities are constantly referred to as different, retarded, or weird. They have been stripped of their basic human rights; born free and are equal in dignity and rights, have the right to life, shall not be a victim of torture or cruelty, right to own property, free in opinion and expression, freedom of taking part in government, right in general education, and right of employment opportunities. Once the 20th century