For this blog post I decided to write about a brief description
of the correct way to write about and report on people with disabilities. The
Americans with Disabilities Act defines disability as a physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. This
changes nothing when comparing those with disabilities to those without. They
are still human beings, they have strengths and weaknesses just as I do, they
succeed and fail just as I do, and they have dreams and nightmares just like I
do. With just these few examples, how can one say that someone with a
disability is any different from anyone else? Its that simple, you cant,
because they aren’t. Here are a few tips for writing about someone with a disability:
1. Put the person first not his or her disability, 2. Emphasize abilities not
limitations, 3. Do not focus on the disability unless it is essential, 4. Do
not portray successful people with disabilities as heroic overachievers or long
suffering saints, 5. Do not equate disability with illness, and lastly 6.
Always RESPECT the person!
For class today, we were asked to listen to a podcast before class titled The First Cow. The speaker was Abeny Kucha, a woman from southeastern Africa who has an amazing story. Her village was destroyed by war and for years she bounced from refugee camp to refugee camp walking and traveling for over eight years. Luckily she and her family made it to America. Listening to her story really opened my eyes to just how lucky I am to have the life that I have. When they first arrived they were taken to this apartment and told it was their new home… she expressed that the word home meant more to her than most could understand. Her children had never had a home, they had never been able to sleep in peace without any worry. She spoke of how they had no idea what orange soda was or what a fire alarm was, things that you never even second guess or need to think about can be completely foreign to others. She also mentioned how they had two couches in the living room and how no...
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