Disability
This is a word that has been whirling in my head as I write my thesis proposal. What is a disability? Who has the right to label someone else as disabled? As I delve deeper into this topic, I find just as many or more questions than I do answers.
What I've found very interesting lately is how much the term has changed in the past 50-60 years. I can't help but think of the Mad Men episode where an up and coming advertising executive suffers an accident, leaving him permanently disabled. As he is whisked away, the elders of the ad company all nod as one says, "It's a shame...he had so much talent." Juxtapose that with a recent story I saw on the news of a man who lost his leg fighting overseas. He came back and kept a list of places he could and couldn't go. He received an artificial leg. Seeing him walk, you would never know he was missing a leg. In the interview, he said he no longer keeps that list. We've come a long way...but I believe we still have some ground to cover in understanding ability vs. disability.
No comments:
Post a Comment