People With Disabilities example essay topic

Many people refer to those with disabilities as "disabled or handicapped', 'mute', 'dumb', 'blind person or the blind', 'deaf person or the deaf', 'retarded', 'crazy', 'demented', 'insane', 'psycho' or 'mentally retarded'. People with disabilities prefer that you focus on their individuality, not their disability, unless, of course, it is the topic about which you are writing or speaking about. Never use the article "the" with an adjective to describe people with disabilities. The preferred usage, 'people with disabilities,' stresses the of individuals with disabilities and avoids discrimination. Always make sure that you use the appropriate terms to refer to a person's disability.

The term 'disabled people' is acceptable, but note that this term still defines people as disabled first, and people second. Do NOT refer to people who are deaf as 'the deaf', but as people who are deaf, or hearing impaired. Do NOT refer to people who are blind as 'the visually impaired', but as people who are visually impaired and do NOT refer to people with disabilities as 'the disabled', but people with disabilities. Be careful not to imply either that people with disabilities are to be pitied, feared, or ignored, or that they are somehow more heroic, courageous, patient or 'special' than others.

Never use the term 'normal' in contrast. Never use the terms 'victim' or 'sufferer' to refer to a person who has or has had a disease or disability. This term de-humanists the person and creates low self-esteem. For example, do NOT refer to people with AIDS as victims of AIDS or AIDS sufferer. Also, do NOT refer to people who have or had polio as a polio victim. This lowers their confidence to socialist with people because of the way people express the terms.

Determining that an individual has a disability may not always be a simple process. Visible disabilities are noticeable through casual observation - an immediately recognizable physical injury, for example, or the use of a cane / walking stick, a wheelchair or crutches. Other individuals may have a hidden disability such as a hearing impairment, cardiac condition, learning disability, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, or psychiatric or seizure disorder. Additionally, there are individuals who have multiple disabilities. Multiple disabilities can be caused by key conditions such as muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, or multiple sclerosis. A person with a hearing impairment may have impaired speech ability as well as hearing loss.

Finally, some individuals may have two disabilities, such as impaired vision and a learning disability. The first step in accommodating individuals with disabilities seems obvious: treat them, simply, as people. After all, they have the same skills and intelligence that others also have. But the most important thing you need to remember when accommodating individuals with disabilities is that you don't take on an attitude. Attitudes can severely twist our relations with people who have disabilities. Poor attitudes may be natural and innocent, obtained from fears, guilt, and inexperience with individuals who have disabilities.

But as forms of discrimination, they can be devastating to the person with a disability. These attitudes reduce our expectations of the individual's performance. They define the person by the disability, as if it comprises the existence of his or her being. They lead us to isolate and isolate people with disabilities, hurt their pride, prevent their maximum achievement, and damage their confidence. The wrong attitudes can be more disabling than any other condition. In accommodating individuals who present themselves, learn, or perform in ways that are different from others, it is vital to remember that their similarities with others are much more significant: we are dealing first and foremost with people.

Never treat them as things, beings or a disease.