I am a fan of the NBC drama Parenthood. The show offers a realistic view at issues that impact the modern family through the scope of the Bravermans, a fictional family living in Berkeley, CA. One of the members of the family is a boy, Max, who at the beginning of the series is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. In part, Parenthood explores the realities that come with being deemed a person with a disability. This entails several models of disability being presented, each one demonstrating a different attitude towards people with disabilities. The show is able to show both the socio-emotional aspect of the disability, and the impact it has on Max’s ability to receive an education. I have a fairly large amount of experience with people …show more content…
Due to his anti-social behavior and penchant for outbursts, many of Max’s classmates and peers deem Max as strange. His perceived weirdness results in his classmates singling him out as someone not to be associated with. There are scenes where he is bullied by students, who push him around and call him “freak”. Max is viewed as a lesser person by some of his peers, which is reflective of the Moral Model of disability, where the disability is indicative of the person’s failings as an individual. In contrast to this behavior, Max’s parents treat Max lovingly and with respect. They enlist the assistance of a behavioral aide. The aide utilizes techniques such as a token reward system, a popular tool for working with children with autism. This is evident of the functional model, as the aide was hired to provide support for Max and help strengthens areas where Max has been deemed deficient. The acknowledgment of the desire for Max to overcome his limitations would seem to conform to the functional model, but it can also be argued that they are utilizing the cultural model. This is because the parents frequently point out the areas that Max excels in. This approach could indicate that the Bravermans view Max as having strengths in some areas and weaknesses in others, as all people do. It is not Max’s status as a PWD that distinguishes him, but rather his character traits. …show more content…
It is positive in the sense that it does not shy away from depicting Max as a person with autism, but at the same time it does not reduce Max to solely a characterization of autism. There are certainly moments where Max’s behavior can be trying, both to the parents and the viewer, but there are also moments of humor, vulnerability, and happiness. The show makes Max’s strengths and weaknesses very clear, but it does the same for all characters in the ensemble cast. This is indicative of the message being preached by the show. While everyone’s abilities make them unique, there is also a uniformity in that characteristic. We all have areas where we can thrive, just as we have areas where we may stumble. By making all the characters flawed in some way, Parenthood makes it difficult to discriminate against an individual. I find this principle to be a good view of PWDs, as it acknowledges the differences, but also acknowledges that everyone is different from each other in some way, and that a disability is just another component in the matrix of differences and
Perhaps if everyone realized the wisdom in the famous proverb, “before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes”, people would have more empathy for those who may seem to be atypical. The video How Difficult Can This Be? The F.A.T. City Workshop presented by Richard D. Lavoie effectively gets participants to experience the feelings and stress of children with learning disabilities. Lavoie draws his participants into the classroom experience with well developed exercises that elicit the frustration, anxiety, and tension of children with
Unfortunately, a lot of parents may have a difficult time accepting their child, and coping with their needs and the responsibilities. From the book “The Elephant in the Playroom,” some families dealt with depression and physical and mental deterioration of their health. These struggles were shown in the story by Laura Cichoracki. Laura’s son’s name was Patrick. Patrick was a 6-years-old boy with autism. “I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t showering regularly, I wasn’t sleeping well” (Brodey, p. 64). I also read the story told by Susan Marrash-Minnerly, which highlighted emotions that parents face. Susan also shed light on how wonderful children with special needs can be to a family, such as her ten-year-old third grader who had autism. Susan talked about how it was normal to feel angry at times, especially with the ups and downs a child’s disability may come with. “When I look back, I want to tell other parents that a child’s future is worth grieving over – but it’s not the end of the world” (Brodey, p. 75). After reading these stories, it became apparent to me that families who are raising kids with special needs, need support, kindness, and available resources. “I was fortunate to be surrounded by other moms who understood my pain…who could be supportive and emphatic.” (Brodey, p. 67). Overall, educators can use this kind of information that was shared in “The Elephant in the Playroom” about family systems and risk/resiliency by creating lines of open communication between families. This is to connect parents together that share similar struggles. By creating open communication is can allows for the teacher and parents to be on the same page when it comes to the issues affecting special needs students and
In countries with life expectancies over 70 years of age, people spend on average about eight years, or 11.5 percent of their life span, living with disabilities. The passage "A Giant Step” by Henry Louis Gates Jr is a memoir about how he came to injure his foot, and all the complications that went along with the permanent injury. Similarly “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is a story about a teen named Junior who has hydrocephalic, we learn the many complications that come along with this disability. There are similarities and differences in how both people live their lives. Both people with their disabilities find it within themselves not to give up and still overcome challenges. On the other hand both mothers aren't the same, their motives for their children are completely different. Junior was also able to live a little more normal life, have freedom meanwhile Gates was held back a little more from
Patricia Bauer was a former Washington post reporter and one of the founders of the UCLA, a school for young adults with intellectual disabilities, although she gains most of her knowledge on the topic from raising a daughter with Down Syndrome. This article was originally published in The Washington Post, one of the most circulates newspapers in America. When this article came out in August of 2008, two major things were happening concerning mental disabled people. The first was a movie that came out
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
The documentary follows five families dealing with a differently abled child; The film focuses on difficulties the families go through, professionalism or lack of it by school officials Misunderstood Minds, documentary, is an excellent reminder of the fact that while there is a constant battle concerning over diagnosis, Every parent wants the best for their child, after all a child is a person’s most precious possession. For this very reason having a child with a learning disability becomes overwhelming.
Albert Einstein, Bela Bartok, Alan Turing, Bill Gates, Thomas Jefferson and I. Is this a list of Geniuses? People who have changed history?
The author illustrates the division existing between the disables and non-disables by showing the prejudice manifested by persons living at the Centre where Lou meets with his fellow autistics persons (46). Moon has the reader concerned by pointing out of how Emmy becomes disgusted after learning that Lou has developed some feeling for Marjory, a non-disabled person (46). Emmy sets Lou up thinking he is a freak and why Marjory would have any other interest in him other than diagnosis him (47). The author also challenges the discrimination showed against disabled persons by looking into the Lou’s dilemma and that of his workmates from how his autism condition affects each one of them differently, some positively others negatively. For instance, Moon shows us Lieutenant Stacy’s reaction, a detective, who offers a positive enforcement of Lou (73), which is not common. Lieutenant Stacy took a liking to Lou when he was protecting Lou from someone trying to cause harm to him. He was amazed of how Lou was able to calculate in his head and even came to Lou’s defense with Crenshaw after learning of the treatment they were being forced into. On the other hand, Crenshaw, Lou’s boss and the doctors have a negative attitude towards Lou condition where she says, “I found Lou’s medical doctors involved in his medical trial and boss, Crenshaw rather alarming in their willful pushing of undergoing the treatment, particularly with Lou’s boss who seems to act from a viewpoint of both financial benefit and narrowmindedness”
There are over a large portion of a million individuals in the UK with an autism spectrum disorder, which is around 1 in 100. Individuals with Aspergers syndrome originate from all nationalities, societies, social foundations and religions. However, this condition appears to be more common in male than females
People that are seen as having a disability are often passed through the majority of their classes or are not properly taught. In other words, teachers and professors may expect less from them. This does not benefit the student nor does it show that the teacher is interested in trying to help students with such disorders. In what possible way does it make sense to send someone out into the world without teaching them to the best of their capabilities? The lack of effort in the teacher’s work ethic comes off quite arrogant and selfish. It is the responsibility of a teacher to prepare the student for the real world and give them every piece of knowledge they can
Many people across the world are unfamiliar with disorders associated with autism. Some people do not even know what autism actually is. Asperger’s Syndrome is one perplexing disorder, of countless, that needs to be acknowledged. Although it is one of the more well-known disorders, an understanding of Asperger’s is far from common knowledge. There is an abundance of misconceptions and people unaware of what Asperger Syndrome actually is. Being uncertain about the characteristics of a person with Asperger’s allows people to go through life not understanding the disorder itself and people who have it.
Empowerment and choice. Empowerment means that there is more of a focus on strengths. A non-trauma informed approach looks at deficits and tries to change them. A deficit-based approach is seen in a traditional medical model and autocratic leadership ( Building empowerment and choice with patients. Using a recovery model, including a trauma-informed approach, means identifying what is going well and put energy in that direction.
Children with disabilities are more in the public eye than years ago, although they are still treated differently. Our society treats them differently from lack of education on special needs. The society labels them and make their lives more difficult than it has to be becau...
Generations of people being disabled have changed over time most people are willing to give them a chance and are not so quick to assume things or judges them on the way they are. but there are still a few that judge them on the way they are. When I see an adult or anyone who has a disability I am very intrigued to know their story, because each adult has a story on the way how they found out what kind of disability, they have and how they learned to adjust their lifestyle to it if they had to grow up and as an adult it may get easier to learn how to do things with it and sometimes it just gets harder depending on what kind of disability they have. There are over 1,000 different types of disabilities in the world and people usually get them as a child and grow up with it and in other cases, some get them as adults and have to learn to readjust their living styles because of their disability. Adults that grow up with a disability have a less higher chance trying to learn about what their limits are, where if they were diagnosed as an adult they may have a much harder time trying to accept what has happened, because as an adult whether young or middle aged or even elderly, there lives are at such different
Living my life with a brother with disabilities has never been easy. It has been difficult throughout my life watching him grow up and encounter more and more struggles in life because of his disabilities. Our biggest question throughout the years, though, has been what our plan will be for him later in life. How will he live his life as an adult? Will he work? Where will he live? Will he have friends? How happy can he be? People with children with disabilities have to explain, “How do people with disabilities really fit into American society”? It’s not just families discussing this question; experts as well are debating this unknown by looking at the same questions I mentioned before. Looking at where disabled people are living, whether they are working, and the relationships they have with other people are ways to understand how disabled people fit into American society. This topic should not only matter to people close to disabled people, but to everyone. In some way, every one of us is affected by this topic; we want everyone in our family to lead “successful” lives (have a job/have somewhere to live). The same goes for families with people with disabilities.