Disability and Able-bodied People
Jasmin Brewer
ENG101-002
June 19, 2013
Disability
What is a normal person? Is it a man playing basketball with his friends in a park? Is it a woman riding horses through a grassy field? Or is it the double amputee that wears expensive sunglasses on a summer day? These images have all been depicted in the media, but the latter is not shown as frequently. If the media features disabled persons more often and in a better light, it will become the norm, therefore evoking unity among all Americans. As a society, we do not truly embrace people who are different than us. We are only tolerant of them because we are required to be. Television, print, and commercial advertisements are the only representation that the majority of Americans receive of the world around them. To combat prejudice and division between disabled and able-bodied people, there has to be an unbiased, well-rounded view of each in the media. Imagine if you lived in a world where you only saw ads with people who suffered from degenerative diseases, paraplegia, genetic disorders, etc. Would you begin to question whether you were normal or not? During the spring of my senior year in high school, I shadowed an occupational therapist who worked with autistic children. There were great lessons to be learned this semester, many of which I discovered from observing the children themselves. I began to sympathize with them and put myself into their shoes. I realized that I was in no better shape than they were, and we were not actually that different. In my free time, I would search tirelessly for ads which brought autism and disability into the forefront in a way that showed that they live their lives just as I did. Very seldomly would I come across one, and when I did, it was not from a major retailer.
Disability rights organizations do a great job of raising awareness as advocates for the disabled, but I challenge the rest of the media to do the same. By making the lives of the disabled more
ENG101-002
June 19, 2013
Disability
What is a normal person? Is it a man playing basketball with his friends in a park? Is it a woman riding horses through a grassy field? Or is it the double amputee that wears expensive sunglasses on a summer day? These images have all been depicted in the media, but the latter is not shown as frequently. If the media features disabled persons more often and in a better light, it will become the norm, therefore evoking unity among all Americans. As a society, we do not truly embrace people who are different than us. We are only tolerant of them because we are required to be. Television, print, and commercial advertisements are the only representation that the majority of Americans receive of the world around them. To combat prejudice and division between disabled and able-bodied people, there has to be an unbiased, well-rounded view of each in the media. Imagine if you lived in a world where you only saw ads with people who suffered from degenerative diseases, paraplegia, genetic disorders, etc. Would you begin to question whether you were normal or not? During the spring of my senior year in high school, I shadowed an occupational therapist who worked with autistic children. There were great lessons to be learned this semester, many of which I discovered from observing the children themselves. I began to sympathize with them and put myself into their shoes. I realized that I was in no better shape than they were, and we were not actually that different. In my free time, I would search tirelessly for ads which brought autism and disability into the forefront in a way that showed that they live their lives just as I did. Very seldomly would I come across one, and when I did, it was not from a major retailer.
Disability rights organizations do a great job of raising awareness as advocates for the disabled, but I challenge the rest of the media to do the same. By making the lives of the disabled more