Reflection Of The Movie Including Samuel

When watching Including Samuel, I felt like a soft spot for Samuel, his family, and the other people with disabilities in the film. I thought only of the negative effects that disabilities inflict onto people. For example, I think of the expenses and disturbance that people with disabilities face. I think of the high costs of medication and inconveniences, such as dropping everything you’re doing in order to hospitalize someone with a severe disability, being a burden on parents or caregivers. However, watching the film made me think of the positive effects and outcomes of having a family member or knowing someone who has a disability. Though Including Samuel did mention the hardships of the medications and hospitalizations Samuel had went

To have an African American man with cerebral palsy be an activist for people with disabilities really touched my heart. To see him speak about the discrimination he gets for being a disable African-American really broke my heart as well. People saw his color before they saw his personality and lifestyle, and automatically assumed he was disabled because he was shot for being in a gang or doing something dangerous. It made me realize that some people, including myself, don’t think twice to why there are people with disabilities on the streets. However, his story opened my eyes to become more aware of situations and mentalities such as this. It made me sad to hear him say that someone “like him” would not get married or have a family because of his disability, and how no one will like or accept it. However, it made me really happy (and cry) when he proved himself, along with everyone else, wrong about his statement. Towards the end of the film, the man was getting married to the love of his life and was starting his new life. Even the motivational speaker with cerebral palsy touched my heart. When he mentioned that he would not want a cure for his disability, his rationality stunned me. It surprised me to hear he proud to be who he was. Saying that he felt as if he would be someone completely different, someone who would be gaining a new identity without his disability made me realize that

Some students that I’ve met with disabilities were some of the nicest, happiest, and most caring people I’ve met. They were always smiling and talking with other students who were nondisabled. My peers would acknowledge their presence and actually engage in conversations with them rather than pretend to care. People genuinely liked these students with disabilities because of how they were and not their outer appearance. I even engaged in talking to some of these students with disabilities. It really made me happy to always hear them say positive things, smile, and laugh. It was really great to know that students who were nondisabled genuinely accepted and cared for these students with disabilities. However, not every student with disabilities was like this. Some were very mean and agitated. Because of their mean attitude and their harsh personality, they were made fun of and