Understanding disabilities

Understanding Disabilities

As the summer progresses, I continue to research and plan for the after school program that I am starting. Lately, I have been trying to think of a name for it (which is a lot harder than it seems!), however I do not want to have disabilities in the name because of the negative connotation. A disability is something that  restrains someone from taking care of themselves with the tasks of daily living. A handicap is a social disadvantage that stops a person from living a "normal life".

• Invisible Disability. These are the issues that cannot be seen, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), chronic back pain, lupus and many others. And there are times where people feel that they are fighting this battle alone because people do not see it, so they think that they are fine or not struggling.
• Physical Disability. Physical disabilities are those that are seen and unfortunately there are people who will turn away or even pick on people with these disabilities.

After meeting the the Diagnostician and the Director of Special Education, I decided to not only work on sports but things that will help in their daily activities. Practicing things like opening jars, tieing their shoes, zipping up a jacket. Because, “about 4-in-10 individuals aged 21 to 64 with a disability were employed, compared with 8-in-10 individuals with no disability.”1 This shows that people with disabilities want to work and will find something that they can do, so why don’t able-bodied people help them and make it a little easier.

In conclusion, do not treat those with disabilities as someone who cannot do anything, they can do so much more than they are given credit for. Help them remove the stigma and limitations and you will be rewarded and humbled as well.

References:

1Brault, M. W. (2012). Americans with disabilities: 2010. Current population reports, 7, 0-131.