Disabilities Paper



Disabilities Paper

Intro to Disabilities Wednesday 5:30

Francis Cannaday

Salt Lake Community College

Disabilities incorporate a wide range of conditions that affect cognitive, social, emotional, and sensory-physical functioning in complex ways. The disabled person encounters many challenges every day not limited to but including discrimination, ethical and legal issues, and stereotyping. People with disabilities seem different in the eyes of people without disabilities. They may look different and speak differently. They may require the assistance of a wheelchair, a cane, or other assistive technology, but they are just like everyone else. These perceptions evoke a range of emotions in non-disabled people (“Leadership Conference” 1 ).

Adults and children with disabilities have been the most segregated of all people. But with the help of parents and advocates of individuals with disabilities segregations is becoming no more. They are driving the conceptualization of inclusive schools and communities as they seek to create new options for students with disabilities (Peterson and Hattie 17).

In many early societies, when children with significant disabilities were born they were simply killed the baby so the child would not be a burden on the community (Peterson and Hattie 17). It was widely believed that most deviances were caused by hereditary factors that, if left unchecked, would result in widespread social problems ("Study of Disabilities"). By the early 20th century asylums had changed to huge edifices housing thousands of people. Their purpose shifted from training to custodial care and protection of the community from the people viewed as a menace (Peterson and Hattie 18).

Reformers were able to bring problems of the institution to attention by secretly filming what when on inside the institution. The book “Christmas in Purgatory” brought about a pictorial of the conditions in the institution (Inclusive Classroom). Because of the abuse found court cases were filed across the country which established key principles; the right to treatment. It was then established that all the individuals deserved the right services in the least restrictive environment, and the right to due process (Peterson and Hattie 18).

The conditions that the patients were exposed to lead to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which opened the way for legislation focusing on the treatment of mentally disabled people (“Studies of Disabilaties” 11). One such act is The Education for All Handicapped Children Act which was a ground breaking law providing rights, protections, and entitlements for students with disabilities (Peterson and Hattie 18). Another act that has been put in place is The American with Disabilities Act of 1990 which purpose is to prevent discrimination on the basis of disabilities in: employment, programs and services provided by state and local governments, goods and services provided by private companies, and commercial facilities (“Studies of Disabilities” 11). (The ADA is in law but is yet to be fully implemented.)

Even though we have laws to protect the disabled from discrimination it is happening all the time especially in the work place. For example, employment levels of people with disabilities remain well below those of non-disabled people, and the majority of the non-employed people with disabilities would prefer to be working (Schur, Kruse, and Blanck 4). The lack of acceptance in the work setting is also a problem. Physical environments remain inaccessible, jobs are structured in ways that make it difficult for people with disabilities to work, and co-workers and supervisor attitudes remain unchanged making it very difficult for individuals with disabilities to enter the work force. (Schur, Kruse, and Blanck 6).

Supervisor and co-worker attitudes toward employees with disabilities reflect several influences. First, stereotypes, which include views that people with disabilities, are saints, needy, helpless, and embittered. Stereotypes are resistant to change since people selectively choose to believe information consistent with pre-existing stereotypes. Second, the negative affect or discomfort in being around people with disabilities, which varies by the type of disability, with greater discomfort for mental and sensory impairments than for mobility and other physical impairments. Third, strain caused by communication difficulties. Some disabilities, such as, speech or hearing impairments make communication more difficult making things uncomfortable at times. Fourth, personal factors, prejudice is greater among employees who are high in aggression, anxiety, dogmatism, ethnocentrism, general prejudice, or who have limited tolerance for ambiguity or poor self-concept and body satisfaction. Final, and fifth influence is prior contact with people with disabilities. Prior contact with people with disabilities helps counteract the effects of negative stereotypes, since it allows the person with disabilities to be viewed as individuals rather than members of a stereotype (Schur, Douglas, and Blanck 10-11).

Bias is another injustice that disabled people face on many levels. Biases against people with disabilities take many forms, often resulting in discriminatory actions in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Disabilities bias can also manifest itself in the form of violence. We must as a society send a message to our country that these acts of bias motivated hatred are not acceptable in our society (“Leadership Conference” 1). Hate crimes against people with disabilities are often never reported to law enforcement agencies. The victim may be ashamed, afraid of retaliation, or afraid of not being believed. The victim may be reliant on a caregiver or other third party to report the crime, who fails to do so. Or the crime may be reported, but there may be no reporting of the victim’s disability, especially in cases where the victim has an invisible disability that they themselves do not divulge. It is critical that people with disabilities are covered in the federal hate crimes statutes in order to bring the full protection of the law to those targeted for the violent, bias-motivated crimes simply because they have a disability (“ Leadership Conference” 1).

There are many ways to improve the culture gap between the non-disabled and the disabled person, and with this improvement the bias toward disabled individuals is subject to disappear. The bridging of the gap should begin in the elementary school, if not sooner. Inclusive classrooms make a learning environment that includes all children. It gives the children with disabilities a change to interact with their peers, thus giving them the opportunity to make friends with their peers. It does not take a child long to look past the disability and see the person. Once they have looked past the disability they will not see the next person’s disability, but the person inside. With the push to have all children in an inclusive classroom there will be a better understanding of the students with disabilities and therefore a better acceptance and less bias towards disabilities.

“Confronting the New Faces of Hate crimes in America” 2009.” The Leadership conference. The national Premier Civil Rights Coalition: Washington D.C. , 2009. Print.

Hardman, Michale, Drew Clifford, and Egan Winston. Human Exceptionality. 10. Boston Massachusetts: Pearson, 1984. Print.

Peterson, Michael, Hattie Mishael. Inclusive teaching. Second. Boston Massachusetts: Pearson, 2003 . 17-18. Print.

Schur, Lisa, Kruse Douglas, and Blanck Peter, . ‘Corporate Culture and the Employment of Persons with Disabilities”. Behavioral Science and the Law . 23 . 4,6, 10-11. (2009). Print.

Study of Disabilities. Custom addition for Salt Lake Community College. Boston Massachusetts: Pearson, 1984 . print.

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