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Book Reviews

In 2 essay collections, writers with disabilities tell their own stories.

Ilana Masad

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More than 1 in 5 people living in the U.S. has a disability, making it the largest minority group in the country.

Despite the civil rights law that makes it illegal to discriminate against a person based on disability status — Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990 — only 40 percent of disabled adults in what the Brookings Institute calls "prime working age," that is 25-54, are employed. That percentage is almost doubled for non-disabled adults of the same age. But even beyond the workforce — which tends to be the prime category according to which we define useful citizenship in the U.S. — the fact is that people with disabilities (or who are disabled — the language is, for some, interchangeable, while others have strong rhetorical and political preferences), experience a whole host of societal stigmas that range from pity to disbelief to mockery to infantilization to fetishization to forced sterilization and more.

But disabled people have always existed, and in two recent essay anthologies, writers with disabilities prove that it is the reactions, attitudes, and systems of our society which are harmful, far more than anything their own bodies throw at them.

About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the New York Times, edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, collects around 60 essays from the column, which began in 2016, and divides them into eight self-explanatory sections: Justice, Belonging, Working, Navigating, Coping, Love, Family, and Joy. The title, which comes from the 1990s disability rights activist slogan "Nothing about us without us," explains the book's purpose: to give those with disabilities the platform and space to write about their own experiences rather than be written about.

While uniformly brief, the essays vary widely in terms of tone and topic. Some pieces examine particular historical horrors in which disability was equated with inhumanity, like the "The Nazis' First Victims Were the Disabled" by Kenny Fries (the title says it all) or "Where All Bodies Are Exquisite" by Riva Lehrer, in which Lehrer, who was born with spina bifida in 1958, "just as surgeons found a way to close the spina bifida lesion," visits the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. There, she writes:

"I am confronted with a large case full of specimen jars. Each jar contains a late-term fetus, and all of the fetuses have the same disability: Their spinal column failed to fuse all the way around their spinal cord, leaving holes (called lesions) in their spine. [...] I stand in front of these tiny humans and try not to pass out. I have never seen what I looked like on the day I was born."

Later, she adds, "I could easily have ended up as a teaching specimen in a jar. But luck gave me a surgeon."

Other essays express the joys to be found in experiences unfamiliar to non-disabled people, such as the pair of essays by Molly McCully Brown and Susannah Nevison in which the two writers and friends describe the comfort and intimacy between them because of shared — if different — experiences; Brown writes at the end of her piece:

"We're talking about our bodies, and then not about our bodies, about her dog, and my classes, and the zip line we'd like to string between us [... a]nd then we're talking about our bodies again, that sense of being both separate and not separate from the skin we're in. And it hits me all at once that none of this is in translation, none of this is explaining. "

From the cover of Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People, edited by Alice Wong Disability Visibility Project hide caption

From the cover of Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People, edited by Alice Wong

While there's something of value in each of these essays, partially because they don't toe to a single party line but rather explore the nuances of various disabilities, there's an unfortunate dearth of writers with intellectual disabilities in this collection. I also noticed that certain sections focused more on people who've acquired a disability during their lifetime and thus went through a process of mourning, coming to terms with, or overcoming their new conditions. While it's true — and emphasized more than once — that many of us, as we age, will become disabled, the process of normalization must begin far earlier if we're to become a society that doesn't discriminate against or segregate people with disabilities.

One of the contributors to About Us, disability activist and writer Alice Wong, edited and published another anthology just last year, Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People , through the Disability Visibility Project which publishes and supports disability media and is partnered with StoryCorps. The e-book, which is available in various accessible formats, features 17 physically and/or intellectually disabled writers considering the ways in which resistance and hope intersect. And they do — and must, many of these writers argue — intersect, for without a hope for a better future, there would be no point to such resistance. Attorney and disability justice activist Shain M. Neumeir writes:

"Those us who've chosen a life of advocacy and activism aren't hiding from the world in a bubble as the alt-right and many others accuse us of doing. Anything but. Instead, we've chosen to go back into the fires that forged us, again and again, to pull the rest of us out, and to eventually put the fires out altogether."

You don't go back into a burning building unless you hope to find someone inside that is still alive.

The anthology covers a range of topics: There are clear and necessary explainers — like disability justice advocate and organizer Lydia X. Z. Brown's "Rebel — Don't Be Palatable: Resisting Co-optation and Fighting for the World We Want" — about what disability justice means, how we work towards it, and where such movements must resist both the pressures of systemic attacks (such as the threatened cuts to coverage expanded by the Affordable Care Act) and internal gatekeeping and horizontal oppression (such as a community member being silenced due to an unpopular or uninformed opinion). There are essays that involve the work of teaching towards a better future, such as community lawyer Talila A. Lewis's "the birth of resistance: courageous dreams, powerful nobodies & revolutionary madness" which opens with a creative classroom writing prompt: "The year is 2050. There are no prisons. What does justice look like?" And there are, too, personal meditations on what resistance looks like for people who don't always have the mobility or ability to march in the streets or confront their lawmakers in person, as Ojibwe writer Mari Kurisato explains:

"My resistance comes from who I am as a Native and as an LGBTQIA woman. Instinctively, the first step is reaching out and making connections across social media and MMO [massively multiplayer online] games, the only places where my social anxiety lets me interact with people on any meaningful level."

The authors of these essays mostly have a clear activist bent, and are working, lauded, active people; they are gracious, vivid parts of society. Editor Alice Wong demonstrates her own commitments in the diversity of these writers' lived experiences: they are people of color and Native folk, they encompass the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, they come from different class backgrounds, and their disabilities range widely. They are also incredibly hopeful: Their commitment to disability justice comes despite many being multiply marginalized. Artist and poet Noemi Martinez, who is queer, chronically ill, and a first generation American, writes that "Not all communities are behind me and my varied identities, but I defend, fight, and work for the rights of the members of all my communities." It cannot be easy to fight for those who oppress parts of you, and yet this is part of Martinez's commitment.

While people with disabilities have long been subjected to serve as "inspirations" for the non-disabled, this anthology's purpose is not to succumb to this gaze, even though its authors' drive, creativity, and true commitment to justice and reform is apparent. Instead, these essays are meant to spur disabled and non-disabled people alike into action, to remind us that even if we can't see the end result, it is the fight for equality and better conditions for us all that is worth it. As activist and MFA student Aleksei Valentin writes:

"Inspiration doesn't come first. Even hope doesn't come first. Action comes first. As we act, as we speak, as we resist, we find our inspiration, our hope, that which helps us inspire others and keep moving forward, no matter the setbacks and no matter the defeats."

Ilana Masad is an Israeli American fiction writer, critic and founder/host of the podcast The Other Stories . Her debut novel, All My Mother's Lovers, is forthcoming from Dutton in 2020.

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Student Editorial Contest Winner

I’m a Disabled Teenager, and Social Media Is My Lifeline

By The Learning Network

• June 5, 2019

This essay, by Asaka Park, age 17, is one of the Top 12 winners of our Sixth Annual Student Editorial Contest , for which we received 10,509 entries.

We are publishing the work of all the winners and runners-up this week, and you can find them here as they post. Excerpts from some will also be in the special Learning print section on Sunday, June 9.

I’m keenly attuned to the unwritten rules of social interaction. I can identify the subtle variations in people’s facial expressions, and I’m quick to read between the lines. And my discernment is not just on an intellectual level, but also at an intuitive level: I’m intimately familiar with the dance of social interaction.

The information that I just provided sounds like a mundanity, until I tell you I was diagnosed with autism. I defy the stereotypes of someone who can’t possibly “get it” socially.

No one knows that I can. I can “get it.”

Of course, people don’t see that. I struggle with impulsivity. My physical clumsiness makes it hard for me to maintain appropriate facial expressions and tone of voice. While I easily grasp abstract concepts, I often can’t convert them into tangible, step-by-step actions, making it difficult to communicate gracefully. Even the untrained eye notice these challenges, and they confound my social faux pas as a failure to understand or share other people’s expectations.

I’m depleted. Every day at school, I isolate myself from most of my peers: it’s a matter of time before they make these assumptions, before they postulate how my brain works. On social media, though, I’m a completely different person. I’m dynamic. I’m assertive. I’m people-oriented.

Many claim that social media distracts teens from meaningful, genuine interactions. My experiences, however, are the total opposite of that. Cultivating my own space on the Internet helped me thrive outside the pigeonhole. Namely, I use my blog to explain the real reason why I act the way I do. Even though not everyone will understand, I know some people will, and it gives me tremendous hope.

I know I’m not the only one. For many disabled people, social media gives them access to a social life and community involvement in an otherwise inaccessible world¹. Not only does social media give me the platform to correct assumptions, people don’t assume things about me in the first place, because it’s a level playing field. For example, when I Tweet, my addled movements are replaced by various emojis and reaction GIFs, which gives me a vaster palette to express myself.

Furthermore, I’ve learned to extend the conversation on disability from my own personal circumstances to the broader issue of ableism. Don Tapscott, a media consultant, remarked, “[Teens] didn’t grow up being the passive recipients of somebody else’s broadcast.”² This definitely resonated with me. I used to feel alone, not seeing girls like me on the magazine covers, but not anymore. In a click, I can create my own media where people with disabilities are seen and heard, rather than pliantly consuming the media that routinely devalue people with disabilities.

Works Cited

Ryan, Frances. “ The Missing Link: Why Disabled People Can’t Afford to #DeleteFacebook .” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 April 2018.

Parker-Pope, Tara. “ Are Today’s Teenagers Smarter and Better Than We Think? ” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 March 2018.

Photo by Jerome Sessini/Magnum Photos

Am I disabled?

With my pen hovering over a form, there is no easy answer: better to provoke stigma with support, or resist classification.

by Joanne Limburg   + BIO

Do you consider yourself to be a disabled person?

Yes: ☐ No: ☐ Prefer not to say: ☐

Yes. Because forms like this – and questions like this – always throw me into confusion, and sometimes into complete mind-stoppage. You appear to be asking a closed question, but ‘consider’ is a word I would use to open up a question. Forms are full of such questions, presenting themselves as straightforward logic gates, which on closer inspection turn out to be impossibly multivalent. Rather like everyday speech. You haven’t been specific enough, so I’ll just have to throw everything at you – at least then some of it will be what you’re looking for.

Yes . Because I have a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), and that comes under the broad spectrum of conditions that are recognised as disabilities. If this form is part of a process that requires documentation, I can provide a copy of a detailed report by the psychologist from Britain’s free National Health Service who diagnosed me.

No . Because for the 42 of my 50 years that preceded my diagnosis, I was, as far as I knew, non-disabled, and it’s hard to shed such a well-established assumption about myself. For most of my life, I’ve been used to thinking of disabled people in the mainstream way – that is, in the third person. When I tick ‘yes’, I still can’t quite believe it. Even after eight years of paying close attention to disability scholarship and activism , when I picture disability, my mind still defaults to the stock images: the wheelchair symbol, the guide dog, the white stick, the prosthetic limb, the accessible toilet.

When I read the book Disability Theory (2008) by Tobin Siebers, I recognised that the representations to which my mind defaults are not direct representations of disabled people or their bodies, but metonymic representations – where the paraphernalia associated with disabled comes to stand for the people who use them. The disabled people whose paraphernalia is not so readily visible (the shunt, the stent, the colostomy bag, the anti-seizure or anti-inflammatory drugs, the blood-sugar monitors etc) cannot even offer any symbols to stand as proxies.

I’m thinking about one of those default images now: the painted wheelchair symbol that marks out a disabled parking space at a supermarket car park, and the figure on that wheelchair. The stick person appears fused to the wheelchair, suggesting not just that a disabled person can be only a person who uses a wheelchair, but is someone who cannot be separated from it.

T he wheelchair stick-figure seems to me to stand for a set of commonly held, largely unexamined beliefs about disability that go beyond the medical or naturalistic models used by clinicians, and usefully outlined by the philosopher Robert Chapman in the recent Routledge collection Neurodiversity Studies (2020). All the medical model requires is evidence of a body or a mind, which in form, function or both deviates from the statistical norm in a way that harms the disabled individual and puts them at a relative disadvantage. That stick person, fused to their chair, denuded of all other distinguishing characteristics, does quite a lot more. It equates disability with mobility impairment, yet it also suggests that a disabled person is one who is:

i) disabled to the same degree in the same way at all times and in all contexts

ii) nothing but their disability

A disabled person is always and only disabled.

Inside every Yes box is a flat, painted wheelchair stick-figure, asking me what I’m doing in their parking space.

No . Because, as the wheelchair-stick-figure implicitly seems to ask, why would anyone want to occupy a disabled space if they had a choice? Isn’t it better, if you can, to sneak out of it in able-bodied disguise, and pass for non-disabled? Why would you want to identify with an unheard, underdrawn wheelchair stick-figure, stuck helplessly to the tarmac, walked over and parked on and generally ignored? Why would you want to be the person who other people are grateful not to be? Why would you want to identify as one of The Most Vulnerable In Our Society – the group that exists to be rhetorically useful to politicians and campaigners, but who are rarely the main topic of speech, and always assumed to be unable to speak for themselves?

Why would you want to own up to an ‘underlying condition’ that apparently makes your death from unrelated causes less regrettable than someone else’s?

Why would you volunteer to be written off?

Why would you volunteer to be pitied?

Well, in that case, Prefer not to say.

I had naively thought that diagnosis would lead to lightening of the burden of social labour

Prefer not to say. Because although, on paper, the purpose of saying Yes is to access the support I require (which I am legally entitled to as a documented disabled person) and also to spare me the debilitating labour involved in passing for non-disabled, in practice it tends to mean swapping one kind of labour for another. This is the labour involved in accounting for the difference between what people believe about autistic people and what they believe they are seeing in me.

Like many autistic people – particularly those who, like me, have gone through most of our lives knowing that we were different but not knowing why – I have absorbed the lesson that it is safer to pass if one possibly can, and I’ve grown accustomed to putting in a great deal of exhausting effort in order to do so, with the result that if I disclose my autism I am often met with comments such as:

‘I would never have known.’

‘But you don’t look autistic.’

‘But you make eye contact.’

‘But I don’t find you hard to get on with.’

‘But you’re nothing like my son/sister/cousin/clients/pupils…’

Even the person who assessed me for Disabled Students’ Allowances a few years ago felt the need to point out that I ‘wasn’t like most of the people’ they saw. They also expressed surprise that I’d completed my first degree, commenting: ‘I would have expected someone with your profile to have dropped out.’

Then there was the fundraiser who phoned me on behalf of an autism charity I’d supported, to ask if I would increase my regular donation. After we’d been talking for several minutes, she asked what my connection to autism was, perhaps expecting something like ‘I have a child who…’ or ‘a brother who…’ or ‘I work with…’, because when I disclosed that the autistic person concerned was the one she was talking to, I could feel her shock down the line as she said: ‘Well, you are obviously managing OK, but as you know, there are many other autistic people who…’

On both occasions, I felt like apologising. I had naively thought that diagnosis would lead to lightening of the burden of social labour; instead, I seemed to have replaced the labour involved in passing for non-disabled with the labour of dealing with other people’s discomfort when I chose not to pass.

Prefer not to say. Because people aren’t just surprised or uncomfortable, but often actively suspicious. In the cultural imagination, a claim of disability is a demand for something – extra effort, extra attention, extra resources; or for something special – special treatment, special favours, special dispensations. To be disabled is to put other people to more than ordinary trouble.

The legislation around disability is based on the principle that what is being asked for is no more than the reasonable adjustments required to allow the disabled person to live, work and learn on the same terms as anyone else. It is supposed to be about ensuring equality, not bestowing scarce and unearned social goods. In practice, though, disabled needs are treated as ‘special’, and the support is offered as ‘additional’. Special, additional and, from a capitalist point of view, a poor investment, since disabled bodies are rarely the most productive. When even the most visibly disabled people are seen as non-productive burdens, any such claim to identity inevitably calls up images of a cultural bogeyman or woman: the attention-seeking, trouble-making, fraudulent scrounger.

In the UK, over the past 10 years, successive governments have used the figure of the scrounger to justify cuts in public spending, intensifying the atmosphere of suspicion and resentment around disabled people and their needs. You can be verbally abused for using a disabled parking space when you don’t use a stick or wheelchair, and confronted if you’re using a wheelchair simply to conserve limited energy, and then have the nerve to quit it for a brief moment. It was not paranoia, but a fear of being publicly shamed that caused a friend of mine with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) to remain in her airport wheelchair, even when the mutual friend who’d offered to push her nearly forgot her and left her behind at passport control. That same reasonable fear of being shamed makes me hesitate when I have to fill in a form. If I am going to ask for support, or resources, or accommodations that are extra or special or additional or different (as opposed to what I need so as to do everyday things most people take for granted) ­– if I am going to put everyone to that trouble, then I should at least look like I need it, and I can’t promise that I will.

Y ou asked if I considered myself to be disabled but, as you can see, one of the reasons why that’s such a tricky question is that, before I answer it, I’m trying to calculate the relative merits of Yes, No and Prefer not to say based on my best guess about what you think disability is, what you think it looks like, and how you’ll treat me, based on my answer. Just like I calculate whether it’s worth responding to every unkind, untrue and damaging comment I see or hear about autism. Just like I calculate whether going into any given social situation will be worth the tiredness and the effort of processing and checking my performance for hours or days after the event. Just like I calculate whether I have enough social energy to interact with the person I’ve recognised on the other side of the road, or whether I should put my head down and pretend I haven’t seen them.

It’s an exhausting and dispiriting business. In fact, it’s – Yes – disabling. But what’s disabling about my condition can’t easily be disentangled from what is disabling about the effort it takes to manage it – and to manage other people’s responses to it as well. I have certain traits that seem to fit the medical model of disability, and which could be considered impairments – that is, unfortunate deviations from statistical normal functioning. For example, the fact that spoken words sometimes fail me (written ones don’t, which is why I became a writer – it is as much a compensation for my weaknesses as it is an expression of my strengths); the fact that my auditory processing sometimes lets me down causing other people’s speech to hit my ear in the first instance as just noise, with the meaning kicking in a beat or two later; the fact that I can’t cope with crowds; the fact that I’m almost place blind, and need help to not get lost; the fact that I experience problems with executive function, which don’t affect my writing, but make it very hard for me to sit down and initiate a writing session, or make myself lunch, or get myself out of bed, or into the shower; the fact that I have trouble getting to sleep; the fact that I can’t cope with noise, light touch, the smell of certain perfumes, the texture of certain fabrics, or the texture of some foods; the fact that I’m never quite sure where I am in space.

These things are all real, and they are the sort of answers you’re looking for when you look at me behaving nicely, and ask: ‘But how does it manifest itself ?’ (You have no business asking that, by the way, but I’ve calculated that it’s less trouble to throw you a bone than have you disbelieve me and suspect me of a false claim to some kind of special attention.)

But that is not the most distressing thing. Dealing with you – that’s the most distressing thing.

If a wheelchair user fails to get into a building, this is a failure not of their body, but of the building’s design

If by ‘disability’, you mean the social model, then it’s a definite, unambiguous, unhesitant Yes. The social model was formulated by a network of British disabled activists, the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS), in the early 1970s. It is explicitly critical of the conventional, medical model, which sees disability as synonymous with impairment. As they wrote in their ‘Fundamental Principles of Disability’ (1975):

In our view, it is society which disables physically impaired people. Disability is something imposed on top of our impairments, by the way we are unnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society. Disabled people are therefore an oppressed group in society.

The social model distinguishes between the impairment, which is a property of the individual, and the disability, for which society is responsible. To take one commonly used example: if a wheelchair user fails to get into a building, this is a failure not of their body, but of the building’s design. From this perspective, the harms associated with disability come from societal forces, from marginalisation and stigmatisation. Disability, then, becomes a political matter, an issue of structural oppression.

The social model sits well with the neurodiversity paradigm, which arose in response to the medical model of autism – the one that, as Chapman points out, defines all our characteristic cognitive, emotional, behavioural and sensory traits in terms of deficits. As Steve Silberman explains in NeuroTribes (2015), the term ‘neurodiversity’ was first coined in the 1990s by the Australian sociologist Judy Singer, after her daughter was diagnosed with Asperger’s and she began to recognise traits in herself. Since then, the use of the word has proliferated, and so have its definitions. One that I find useful, as articulated by Chapman, explains the neurodiversity paradigm as:

the theoretical and ideological shift towards reframing those who fall outside neurocognitive norms as ‘neuro-minorities’ marginalised by a ‘neuronormative’ organisation of society in favour of the ‘neurotypical’ rather than as a matter of individual medical pathology.

Adopting this paradigm isn’t only a matter of changing the way we describe autism. The pathologising of autistic traits has serious real-world consequences. There are parents so appalled by the prospect of having an autistic child that they knowingly expose their children to infectious diseases – potentially fatal ones – because they have been led to believe that vaccination causes autism. When a difference is stigmatised to that degree, it has a wretched effect on the mental health of those who bear it: Sarah Cassidy, a psychologist now at the University of Nottingham, writing for the UK National Autistic Society, draws attention to recent studies that have found alarmingly high rates of suicidal ideation and attempted suicide among autistic adults. Neurodiversity means that I don’t have to apologise for being myself and that parents don’t have to apologise for their children. It means that we’re not walking tragedies and that we don’t belong in the bin.

Yes. Because identifying as disabled has enabled me to accept myself, to acknowledge my limitations and my particular difficulties without shame. In a just society, it should be possible for everyone to assert their right to live and thrive without editing out those parts of themselves that are difficult or challenging, and without recourse to the ‘hardship-denying’ rhetoric that can limit the usefulness of both the social model and the neurodiversity paradigm.

C hapman has extended the value-neutral model of physical disability proposed by the feminist philosopher Elizabeth Barnes and applied it to cognitive disabilities, distinguishing between ‘local’ and ‘global’ wellbeing, where local refers to ‘wellbeing in some specific sense and specific time’, and global refers to ‘wellness on the whole’. While it is undeniable that there are aspects of both physical and cognitive disability that can affect local wellbeing, Chapman notes that Barnes is keen to point out that there is also a great deal of empirical research to indicate that ‘physical disability precisely does not tend to make global wellbeing worse, even though stigma and marginalisation do.’ The same could be said for intellectual disability, and for autism.

Yes . Because now that I understand that it is stigma and marginalisation that threaten my wellbeing, I can use that full self-acceptance as the basis for positive action, and begin to strive for proper accommodations, self-respect and dignity, not only for me as an individual, but also as member of a minority group – at 15 per cent globally, a large and significant one. It’s about claiming visibility as a disabled person, in a world where, as the disability activist Sandy Ho writes: ‘The erasure of disabled people is one of the most common international crimes against humanity.’

To counter this erasure, to counter the reduction of a huge, diverse and creative community to a two-dimensional painted symbol, disabled people continue to reach across the boundaries of the separate spaces that our different diagnoses place us in, and work together. In this short space, I’ve been able to reference only a tiny proportion of the disabled writers, scholars and activists whose work and visible presence – in journalism, on social media – have helped me find my place in the world and understand the work I need to do in it. As Alice Wong, founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, states in the introduction to her anthology Disability Visibility (2020): ‘ Community is political … Community is magic … Community is power … Community is resistance … ’

I’ve come to understand that when I pass as non-disabled, when I say No , the best that I can hope to be is an inferior version of an ideal of normality that allows only for the narrowest range of body types, cognitive styles and life trajectories, that equates the worth of a person with her economic productivity, that fetishes independence and disavows our connections to each other, and that seeks to discriminate arbitrarily between those who are allowed their full humanity and those who are denied it.

So, to return to your initial question:

Neuroscience

How to make a map of smell

We can split light by a prism, sounds by tones, but surely the world of odour is too complex and personal? Strangely, no

Jason Castro

Conscientious unbelievers

How, a century ago, radical freethinkers quietly and persistently subverted Scotland’s Christian establishment

Felicity Loughlin

History of technology

Why America fell for guns

The US today has extraordinary levels of gun ownership. But to see this as a venerable tradition is to misread history

Psychiatry and psychotherapy

The therapist who hated me

Going to a child psychoanalyst four times a week for three years was bad enough. Reading what she wrote about me was worse

Michael Bacon

Consciousness and altered states

A reader’s guide to microdosing

How to use small doses of psychedelics to lift your mood, enhance your focus, and fire your creativity

Tunde Aideyan

The scourge of lookism

It is time to take seriously the painful consequences of appearance discrimination in the workplace

Andrew Mason

Essay on Disabled Person

Students are often asked to write an essay on Disabled Person in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Disabled Person

Understanding disability.

Disability refers to any condition that limits a person’s physical or mental abilities. These conditions can be present from birth or occur during a person’s lifetime. Disabilities can affect a person’s mobility, senses, or cognitive abilities.

Types of Disabilities

There are many types of disabilities, such as physical, sensory, cognitive, and mental health disabilities. Physical disabilities affect a person’s movement. Sensory disabilities can affect sight, hearing, or other senses. Cognitive disabilities can affect learning, while mental health disabilities can affect emotions and behaviors.

Living with Disability

Being disabled does not mean a person can’t live a fulfilling life. With the right support, disabled people can perform many tasks and activities. They may use aids like wheelchairs, hearing aids, or special software to assist them.

Respecting People with Disabilities

It’s important to respect and understand people with disabilities. We should not define them by their disability, but see them as unique individuals. By treating them with kindness and empathy, we can help create a more inclusive society.

In conclusion, disability is a part of our diverse world. We should strive to understand and respect people with disabilities, and work towards a society that is inclusive and supportive for all.

250 Words Essay on Disabled Person

A disabled person is someone who has a physical or mental condition that limits their movements, senses, or activities. Their condition might be from birth, due to an accident, or as a result of illness. It’s important to remember that even though they may do things differently, they have the same feelings and desires as anyone else.

There are many types of disabilities. Some people might have trouble moving their body, like those with paralysis. Others might have difficulty learning, remembering, or concentrating, which is often the case with people who have conditions like ADHD or Autism. Some people might not be able to see or hear, or they could have trouble speaking or understanding language.

Challenges Faced

Disabled people often face many challenges. They might find it hard to do things that others take for granted, like walking, reading, or writing. They might also face unfair treatment or discrimination because others do not understand their disability. This can make life difficult and frustrating.

Support and Respect

It’s important to support and respect disabled people. They should be treated with kindness and understanding, just like everyone else. They can do many things if given the right tools and support. For example, a person in a wheelchair can play sports with a specially designed chair. A person who can’t see can read books using Braille.

In conclusion, a disabled person is not defined by their disability. They have unique skills, talents, and abilities. We should treat them with respect and help them overcome their challenges. Remember, everyone is different and that’s what makes us all special.

500 Words Essay on Disabled Person

Understanding disabilities.

A disabled person is someone who has a physical or mental condition that limits their movements, senses, or activities. Disabilities can be present from birth, or they can develop due to an accident or illness. It’s important to know that being disabled doesn’t mean a person is less capable or valuable. They have the same rights and deserve the same respect as everyone else.

There are many types of disabilities. Some people might have trouble moving their bodies, which is called a physical disability. Examples include people who use wheelchairs or those with conditions like cerebral palsy.

There are also mental or intellectual disabilities. These affect a person’s ability to learn or understand things. Conditions like Down syndrome or autism are examples of this.

Sensory disabilities affect a person’s senses, like sight or hearing. People who are blind, deaf, or have low vision or hearing fall into this category.

Finally, some people have invisible disabilities. These are conditions that aren’t obvious to others, like heart disease or mental health conditions.

Challenges Faced by Disabled Persons

Disabled people often face extra challenges in their daily lives. These can include physical barriers, like buildings without ramps or elevators. They may also face social barriers, like negative attitudes or stereotypes.

For example, a person in a wheelchair might not be able to enter a building if there’s no ramp. Or, a person with an invisible disability might face misunderstanding or judgement from others who don’t understand their condition.

Support for Disabled Persons

There are many ways society can support disabled people. This includes laws to protect their rights, like the Americans with Disabilities Act in the United States. This law makes it illegal to discriminate against disabled people in areas like jobs, schools, and public places.

There are also many organizations that provide support and resources for disabled people. These can include special education programs, job training, and help with daily tasks.

Respect and Inclusion

It’s important to treat disabled people with respect and include them in all parts of life. This means not making fun of them or treating them differently just because they have a disability. It also means making sure they have the same opportunities as everyone else.

Inclusion is when everyone, regardless of their abilities, is included in activities and society. This can mean making buildings accessible, providing support in schools, or ensuring equal job opportunities.

In conclusion, understanding and supporting disabled persons is a crucial part of creating a fair and inclusive society. We should all strive to understand the challenges they face and work to create a world where everyone has equal opportunities. Remember, a disability does not define a person, their abilities, and contributions do.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Dignity Of Human Life
• Essay on Dignity And Respect
• Essay on Digitization And Its Benefits

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Disability Studies: Foundations & Key Concepts

This non-exhaustive reading list highlights some of the key debates and conceptual shifts in disability studies.

Disability studies emerged out of the disability civil rights movement in the late twentieth century. Early scholarship distinguishes the medical model of disability, which locates physical and mental impairments in individual bodies, from the social model, which understands the world as disabling people. The social model names both architectural and attitudinal barriers as the cause of disablement. Over the last few decades, the field has expanded to include individuals with a wide range of disabilities—not just physical conditions, but also mental and chronic ones.

This list, far from exhaustive, highlights some of the key debates and conceptual shifts in the field.  In addition to showcasing disability studies’ interdisciplinary focus, the list traces the relationship between D.S. and other minority fields of study. At its broadest, disability studies encourages scholars to value disability as a form of cultural difference. As the sources below reveal, ability should not be the default when it comes to human worth.

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Asch, Adrienne. “Recognizing Death while Affirming Life: Can End of Life Reform Uphold a Disabled Person’s Interest in Continued Life?” The Hastings Center Report , 2005

Bioethics scholar Adrienne Asch is one of the first scholars to bring a disability studies approach to bioethics. This essay addresses U.S. policy regarding decisions for end-of-life treatment and, more broadly, it critiques discourse surrounding “quality of life.” Asch attacks the slogan “better off dead than disabled” by showing how disability does not necessarily diminish one’s life. Instead, she argues, healthcare practitioners should focus on forms of care that give disabled people independence. She also offers pragmatic suggestions for how caretakers can affirm the humanity of patients receiving end-of-life treatment.

Baynton, Douglas. “Slaves, Immigrants, and Suffragists: The Uses of Disability in Citizenship Debates.” PMLA , 2005

Douglas Baynton’s groundbreaking essay foregrounds disability in accounts of American history. He assesses three U.S. debates regarding citizenship: the civil rights movement, women’s suffrage, and immigration legislation. This essay considers how disability has been used as a justification for the oppression of marginalized populations. For example, slaves were said to become “crazy” if they were granted freedom. Women were often described as mentally incapable of receiving an education. And immigrants have been cast as disabled due to racial difference. Baynton explores how attending to disability in its own right (rather than as a symptom of misogyny or racism) enables an intersectional analysis.

Brueggemann, Brenda Jo, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Georgina Kleege. “What Her Body Taught (Or, Teaching about and with a Disability): A Conversation.” Feminist Studies , 2005

Written from the perspective of three female scholars with disabilities, this essay is one of the first pieces of scholarship to address the presence of disabled faculty in the classroom. Brueggemann, Garland-Thomson, and Kleege explore the tension between wanting their disabilities to be normalized, but also wanting them to be present in students’ minds. In addition to discussing the difficulty of disclosure in the classroom, they explore how educators might adopt different approaches to teaching to accommodate instructors’ disabilities.

Davis, Lennard. “Crips Strike Back: The Rise of Disability Studies.” American Literary History , 1999

This essay reviews three publications that address disability studies from a humanities-based perspective. While D.S. first emerged in the social sciences, Davis makes a case for the centrality of disability studies scholarship in literary studies. More broadly, he proposes that disability studies should no longer be considered a narrow or specialized field. It’s applicable to us all.

Donaldson, Elizabeth J. “The Corpus of the Madwoman: Toward a Feminist Disability Studies Theory of Embodiment and Mental Illness.” NWSA Journal , 2002

This essay takes up the figure of the madwoman in literature. Adopting a feminist disability studies approach, Donaldson critiques the way feminist scholars read madwomen as merely symptomatic of patriarchal oppression, which discounts the reality of mental disability. She is resistant to framing disability as a metaphor and advocates for readings that consider disability alongside questions of gender.

Erevelles, Nirmala. “Race.” Keywords for Disability Studies (2015)

This short essay gives an overview of the relationship between disability studies and critical race studies. Erevelles shows how disability has been aligned with race. However, analogizing race to disability (or saying, “disability is like race”) eliminates the specificity of both identity categories. She uses special education as an example because it is a site where racial segregation takes place on the premise of disability. By attending to disabled people of color, she argues that we can achieve a more nuanced analysis, which accounts for how social forces like poverty and involuntary institutionalization exacerbate different forms of social marginalization.

Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. “Feminist Disability Studies.” Signs , 2005

In placing feminist studies and disability studies in conversation, Garland-Thomson argues that both fields work to de-naturalize assumptions about embodiment and social roles. Her essay explores a range of pressing social issues, including selective abortion, caretaking, and reproductive rights.

Ginsburg, Faye and Rayna Rapp. “Disability Worlds.” Annual Review of Anthropology , 2013

Ginsburg and Rapp call for a critical approach to disability in the field of anthropology. Bridging the gap between the medical and anthropological fields, they shift toward understanding impairment as both environmental and cultural. They also consider what ethnography can bring to questions of disability within anthropological study.

Hershey, Laura. “Disabled Women Organize Worldwide.” o ff our backs , 2003

Recounting events from the NGO Forum on Women in China (1995) and the International Leadership Forum for Women with Disabilities in Maryland (1996), disability activist Laura Hershey moves beyond Western definitions of disability to offer a global perspective. In addition to showing how disabled women are doubly discriminated against, Hershey outlines how gender can influence the international movement for disability rights. She also considers how issues like poverty and illiteracy speak to the feminist and disability movements.

James, Jennifer C. and Cynthia Wu. “Editors’ Introduction: Race, Ethnicity, Disability, and Literature: Intersections and Interventions.” MELUS , 2006

This essay brings ethnic studies into conversation with debates regarding disability representation. From the nineteenth-century freakshow to forced sterilization, people of color have been disproportionately disabled, and James and Wu call for an intersectional approach to these complex subjectivities.

Kleege, Georgina. “Blind Rage: An Open Letter to Helen Keller.” Southwest Review , 1998

In this more personal essay, Kleege interrogates Helen Keller’s status as a disability icon. Kleege critiques the way disability has been individualized, refuting both tragic and triumphant representations of impairment. In describing her experience navigating everyday life as a blind woman, Kleege attends to the realities of living in a world not made for disabled people.

Kudlick, Catherine. “Disability History: Why We Need Another ‘Other.’” The American Historical Review , 2003

In this groundbreaking essay, Kudlick moves to situate disability studies in historical scholarship. Reframing disability as valuable, she argues that a renewed attention to bodily and mental impairments can revise our accounts of nearly all events in history—from women’s rights to labor movements. Her essay offers a comprehensive overview of books and articles pertaining to disability history, and, more specifically, deaf history.

Linker, Beth. “On the Borderland of Medical and Disability History: A Survey of Both Fields.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 2013

This essay addresses why the history of medicine and disability studies fail to interact. Linker begins by critiquing disability studies’ resistance to medical discourse. She argues that certain disabled people, especially those who are living with chronic conditions, often rely heavily on medical care, which is why the “medical model” should not be so readily dismissed. In turn, while disability history is typically understood as different from medical history, especially in the U.S., Linker argues for a greater need for cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Linton, Simi. “Reassigning Meaning.” Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity ,1988

One of the most foundational essays in the field of disability studies, Linton outlines how language has been important to naming disability as a political rather than medical category. She also addresses the problem of “overcoming rhetoric,” which fails to address disabled people’s need for access.

McRuer, Robert. “Crip Eye for the Normate Guy: Queer Theory and the Discipling of Disability Studies.” PMLA , 2005

McRuer is one of the first scholars to assess the relationship between disability and queerness. In this essay, he analyzes how the popular show The Queer Eye for the Straight Guy normalizes the disabled body. While representations of queer life often resist disability, he argues that queer and disability studies share a resistance to normalization, which should be embraced in future scholarship and activism.

Price, Margaret. Mad at School: Rhetorics of Mental Disability and Academic Life . University of Michigan, 2011

Price offers one of the first substantive accounts of mental disability, which has come belatedly to studies of physical disability. She focuses on higher education as a site that stigmatizes mental disability in its focus on rationality, cohesion, and cognitive agility. Her book offers a range of suggestions, many of which are pedagogical, for how mental disability might revitalize academic life.

Siebers, Tobin. “Disability in Theory: From Social Constructionism to the New Realism of the Body.” American Literary History , 2001

Siebers critiques the social model of disability, arguing that it fails to account for the experience of individual bodies. His term “the new realism of the body” calls for an assessment of the bodily effects of disability, which often cannot be altered through environmental transformations alone.

Wendell, Susan. “Unhealthy Disabled: Treating Chronic Illness as Disabilities.” Hypatia , 2001 

This article broadens the definition of disability to include individuals with chronic illnesses.  While people in the disability community often distinguish themselves from people who are ill, not all disabled people, she observes, are healthy. Wendell questions some of the main assumptions in disability activism and scholarship regarding social justice and reform. Dismantling the environmental effects of disablement will not always eliminate a body’s suffering, she argues.

Williamson, Bess. “Access.” Keywords for Disability Studies (2015)

This short essay gives a comprehensive account of the history of access and why it is a key term in D.S. Williamson argues that paying attention to access turns our focus away from the individual, highlighting instead the disabling makeup of the social world. Although access is easy to define, Williamson notes that it is hard to implement in practice because disabled people have conflicting needs.

Editor’s Note: This list has been updated to include publication dates.

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What is life really like for disabled people? The Disability Diaries reveal all

We asked seven people to keep diaries for a month to document the reality of being disabled in Britain today. Frances Ryan reflects on the issues that arose – public transport, employment, housing, attitudes – and meets four of the diarists

Seven things you should stop saying and doing to disabled people

O n her way from St Albans to Nottingham, Shona Cobb nearly found herself stuck on a train on three separate occasions. Cobb had booked wheelchair ramp assistance for each required change – but not one staff member turned up to help her. Instead, at one stop, she had to rely on a friendly couple to help her; at another, the only way to prevent the train door closing with her still on board was to stick her foot in it.

It is a neat and infuriating irony that Cobb struggled to get to an interview about the discrimination facing disabled people because she was experiencing just this kind of “disabilism”.

The Guardian asked seven people to document their everyday experiences of disability throughout September – including Cobb, 19, who has the connective tissue disorder Marfan syndrome. Their diaries capture the reality of being disabled in Britain today: the slights, broken systems and misunderstandings that stop disabled people from living as should be their right.

Hassles with public transport are a common theme – such as the extra half-hour Nina Grant has to set aside to reach any destination, as she navigates the London tube network. “I’m lucky I live just one bus ride away from an accessible tube station,” writes Grant, 31, who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, another connective tissue disorder, and uses a power wheelchair.

Then there are the inquiries Sasha Saben Callaghan, who is visually impaired and has limited mobility, has to put up with from random strangers. When they ask: “How did that happen?”, she sometimes just makes something up. “Once I said: ‘I angered a magician.’ They weren’t expecting that.”

Pete Langman, 50, writes about the difficulties that come with negotiating the world when you have early onset Parkinson’s, which causes hand tremors and mobility problems – from bouncers at clubs asking if he’s drunk, to odd responses when internet dating. In a conversation with one potential date, who commented on the brevity of his texts, Langman explained: “I have Parkinson’s so phone texting is tough.” “U r joking right?” came the reply.

There’s the trickiness of negotiating the workplace. Luke Judge writes about a client who asks why he is clocking off at 4.30pm, the finishing time agreed by his doctor and employer. “He asked why I was leaving early. Cheeky! What could I say? I am epileptic and it’s a medical reason? A bit of an awkward conversation. I have had this with some colleagues, too, who jokingly call me a ‘part-timer’, which I laugh off. But most of them don’t know I’m epileptic, so I usually just say I have an appointment.”

The first day of a new job can be nerve-racking for anyone. “There’s always risk when moving jobs, but when you are disabled there’s another layer of risk: will I be subject to abuse or bullying because of my disability?” writes Sam Fowkes, who has cerebral palsy and has just been promoted as an NHS manager. “Will I be seen as inferior or troublesome because I’ll need adjustments? Will I even be considered fairly at the application stage if I disclose a disability?”

Over the course of the month, Craig Gilding’s insurance company calls him multiple times, “despite it being on their records that I am deaf. Luckily, I managed to answer and sort it. Another deaf friend has lost her no-claims bonus on her car insurance due to communication problems with insurers.” Gilding adds that he recently tried to change his address with the Department for Work and Pensions, but “they insisted I needed to call them (impossible) or post a letter” – which promptly got lost.

I meet with Cobb, Grant, Langman and Gilding at Nottingham Trent University to talk about their experiences of keeping the diaries. There are regular flashes of humour (while discussing the shocked stares of strangers who don’t expect wheelchair users ever to stand, Cobb and Grant exclaim sarcastically: “It’s a miracle!”) and shared frustrations: from similar battles with the social security system to discovering each had encountered prospective employers who, upon seeing their disability, turned them down for a job.

All four agree that the process of keeping a diary led to a spark of recognition: for the first time in their lives, they were consciously noting the inequality they regularly face. “Doing this made me realise how bad things are,” says Cobb. “It’s like everyday, normal: ‘I can’t get in there.’”

The picture the diaries paint reflect a well-documented landscape of prejudice and discrimination: this year, a major study by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found disabled people in the UK are “left behind in society”, with a lack of equal opportunities in education and employment, and barriers to access to transport, health services and housing. This came at the same time as a UN report that condemned the UK government for failing to uphold disabled people’s rights across a range of areas, including education and work.

One of the defining issues that runs through the disability diaries is access. Grant writes about shops she can’t get into because of large steps or raised doorframes, as well as battles with transport and even fellow passengers. When a mother with a buggy moved off the bus to leave room for Grant’s wheelchair (saying she was “the next stop anyway”), she found herself “facing an accusing set of faces who had just seen what looked like a young person with their own motorised vehicle force a mother and her child off the bus”. She adds: “It’s hard to describe the feeling of being scrutinised by multiple strangers at once.”

The diaries show how this carelessness (or outright hostility) from members of the public can combine with inaccessible infrastructure to make even simple tasks a headache: from luggage being piled up around a wheelchair on a train, to cramped shops with non-disabled shoppers not looking where they’re going. During one trip to the shops on a busy Saturday, Cobb writes that she got “hit in the shoulders by a lot of handbags”.

The difficulty of access can even mean missing out on a social life. “Every social invitation tends to require calling or emailing the venue to find out about accessibility,” Grant writes, “and then usually having to explain to the host why I can’t come.”

The last major government audit in 2014 (the largest ever of its kind) described access for disabled people on Britain’s high streets as “shocking”. Surveying more than 30,000 shops and restaurants, it found a fifth of shops have no wheelchair access, only 15% of restaurants and shops have hearing loops and three-quarters of restaurants don’t cater for people with visual impairments.

Commenting on a shopping trip in London, Cobb writes: “In River Island, I was shocked to find they don’t have a disabled changing room – I thought all places had to have them!” And when a new Topshop was built near her house recently, she found it had a flight of stairs but no lift. Cobb tells me she asked an assistant whether they would consider putting one in, but was told it would “inconvenience” other people. “It was: ‘We care more about our able-bodied customers than you.’”

It’s often the same with transport: bus drivers routinely refuse to let wheelchair users on board, despite their legal obligation to do so , while only about a quarter of London’s underground stations are accessible for wheelchairs. Grant routinely has to use a neighbouring tube station because her nearest one isn’t accessible – forcing her to take a 15-minute bus ride to the tube before “going back on herself”.

In one diary entry, Cobb chronicles a train journey from Leeds to Hull. It is the first time she has ever taken the train at night by herself: “My assistance didn’t turn up so everyone rushed on the train and filled the wheelchair spaces while I hunted down the guard for the train,” she writes. No one would move for her, so she ended up squeezing into a corner near the toilet for an hour: “It wasn’t exactly a safe way for me to travel, but I had no choice.”

For Fowkes, overcrowding on our rail networks presents him with a painful predicament on his daily commute in the West Midlands. Because his cerebral palsy is largely “invisible” (“unless you were looking, you wouldn’t know I was disabled”), he worries about asking commuters for a seat. “I’d have to try to explain my disability in front of a lot of people on the train, which would be massively uncomfortable – even forgetting the times I’ve been verbally and physically abused in the past,” he writes.

Fowkes’s disability can leave him with insomnia due to the pain. After one particularly bad night’s sleep, and another commute with no seat to work or back, he notes that by the end of the day “it feels like my left leg has been hit with a sledgehammer”. Wider adoption of badges like Transport for London’s Please Offer Me a Seat would help, he says.

Travelling around the country is little better for people with non-mobility-related disabilities. Gilding uses public transport frequently, but describes it as “a nightmare” for those like him with hearing problems. “If you have to speak to someone on train stations, say, you have these big help buttons – ring if you need assistance … I can’t hear a thing.”

Throughout his diary, Gilding, like Fowkes, notes how simple adaptations would make his commute accessible: “I’ve asked time and time again for departure boards, to no avail,” he writes.

The failure to address these problems speaks to a persistent, deeply embedded cultural attitude around disability: that disabled people aren’t quite like “normal people”. The belief that a wheelchair user doesn’t want a social life, say, makes it easier not to worry about ensuring transport networks are accessible. As Grant writes after yet another frustrating day, the most basic needs of disabled people are neglected “in a manner that wouldn’t happen if they were needed by everyone”.

In the same way, disabled people still routinely encounter negative reactions from other members of the public – ranging from being patronised to outright hostility – simply for going out.

Langman, from Brighton, says he frequently faces derogatory comments about the way he walks because of his Parkinson’s, and writes of “the stares, the laughter after I pass” from strangers. Some even imitate his walk.

But as much as the abuse, it’s the benevolent prejudice – well-meaning but ultimately damaging – that affects him. Langman plays cricket for a local team and says opponents often don’t know how to respond to his condition, either overcompensating or suggesting a positive outlook would help. “Someone asked me what the prognosis of Parkinson’s was. I said: ‘It’s progressive.’ He said: ‘Well, it will be if that’s your attitude.’ I nearly punched him.”

Cobb, who posts videos online filmed from her wheelchair , points out that this intrusive outlook means disabled people often encounter a strange phenomenon on the street: members of the public routinely asking, “Why are you like that?”, as if they feel disabled people “owe” them an explanation about their medical background.

At best, this can lead to a bizarre crossing of boundaries, akin to asking a complete stranger about their sexual history (Gilding says he can be in the supermarket, and a fellow shopper will point to his cochlear implant and ask him: “What’s that on your head?”). At its worst, it can create the uneasy feeling that those around you are monitoring your disability and behaviour, waiting for you to slip up.

For the first year Cobb had her powerchair, she was afraid to move her legs in case people saw it as a sign she was “faking”. At a time when media depictions of disabled people are predominantly negative and reports of disability hate crime are increasing , Cobb says she repeatedly noticed strangers staring at her legs: “In the end, I wouldn’t even cross my legs.” This fear affected her to such a degree that, for years, she didn’t apply for disability benefits because she internalised the idea that she wasn’t “disabled enough” to “deserve it”.

Both Grant and Langman have lost their disability benefits in the past three years (Grant got hers back on appeal), while Cobb – who has a cyst at the bottom of her spine that means she needs a reclining wheelchair to relieve the pain – tells me she has been turned down twice by NHS wheelchair services. Like an increasing number of disabled people, she has had to start crowdfunding to raise the £11,500 she needs for her new chair. “I’m halfway there,” she says.

In the meantime, without a suitable wheelchair and with limited pain medication, Cobb is living with a “two-hour limit” for being out the house: after a couple of hours being interviewed, she has to go back to her hotel to lie down.

The UK’s lack of accessible housing is another key problem. Cobb lives with her parents in a two-storey house, and can only access her own bedroom by “going up and down the stairs on my bum”. Similarly, Grant is living in inaccessible housing with her family in London, and for the past year has been searching fruitlessly for an accessible property: “Private landlords don’t want you making adaptations [that I need to live independently], and the council doesn’t have accessible housing stock,” she says. “I have literally no idea where I’m going to go.”

As we talk, Grant reveals that she did not mention the house search in her diary, because she is so disheartened that even looking on the Rightmove website is making her anxious.

The introduction of equality legislation over the past 20 years (giving disabled people the right to access work, transport and public venues ), coupled with high-profile events such as London’s 2012 Paralympics, may have created the impression that Britain is moving forwards in its treatment of disabled people, but day-to-day life is still riddled with barriers.

Grant sums it up: “I think we like to think [as a country] we’re making progress. But in reality, we still get turned away from buses. We still have nowhere to live.”

Some of the solutions to this inequality require large-scale change, often involving government policy – from requiring a certain proportion of new-build houses to be wheelchair accessible, to stricter enforcement of equality legislation on pubs and shops that aren’t meeting their legal access requirements.

But what the diaries underline is that seemingly minor measures can be just as important: shop owners ensuring access buttons for automatic doors are actually working, for example; more dropped kerbs on pavements; shop staff ensuring non-disabled people aren’t using the accessible changing room.

As well as practical changes, a further cultural shift is required: both Grant and Gilding say having greater visibility of disabled people in the media and politics would go some way to normalising disability in society. All the diarists stress one thing above all else: that the able-bodied public needs to understand that disabled people still face inequality in Britain every day.

As Langman tweets to the rest of the diarists on his way home from the interview: “If one thing improves as a result of this, we’re winning.”

• If you have experiences relating to this article that you’d like to share, please email us at inequality.project@ theguardian.com
• Follow the Inequality Project on Twitter here
• The disability diaries

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Ableism: Bias Against People With Disabilities Essay

Ableism denotes social prejudice and bias against people with disabilities (PWD) and in favor of able-bodied individuals. People are not born with such prejudice embedded in them but learn it later in life from the community, the media, parents, and friends, to mention a few. Many people are not as skillful as they ought to be with respect to interrelations with individuals they perceive to be of a different culture or ability. At times, even people with good intentions occasionally say or behave in a prejudiced or biased approach, even unwittingly (Scott, 2016). Social influence is a great aspect that may change a person’s behavior and mindset regarding other people or a group. PWD act as a minority group that is hardly talked about but is greatly oppressed.

Generally, modern society does not appreciate the different talents and abilities of PWD but treats them like castaways. Very little attention is given to PWD, their challenges, and the oppression that they encounter. Impairments are regarded as defects that must be fixed to make people with such disabilities ‘normal’ again (Adjei, 2018). This has been a prevalent manner of thinking where being able-bodied is considered normal. Society is inclined to meeting the demands of the able-bodied while ignoring the needs of PWD.

Ableism entails the application of unsuitable words, unfairness in places of work and learning institutions, denial of service, lack of required amenities, and unequal and discourteous treatment of PWD. Even the practice of favoring the less disabled individual over the more disabled one is deemed a type of ableism.

Ableists, people who are inclined to the ideals of ableism and who practice it, may do it both intentionally and unintentionally. Even strangers, members of the family, colleagues, and peers with good intentions may unintentionally subscribe to the notions of ableists while motivating and encouraging a patient with words such as, “engage in regular exercise so that you walk again and make your life better.” Some forms of disabilities, such as mental disability, are highly stigmatized when judged against others because of the previously associated stereotypes (Silva & Howe, 2018). In this regard, people with schizophrenia and other forms of mental disorders may face stigmatization and discrimination from able-bodied individuals anchored in the mistaken notion of their being dangerous.

Attributable to the increased stigmatization against people with some forms of mental health disorders, many individuals may choose to suffer silently rather than disclose their problems to others for fear of ill-treatment and segregation. For instance, they may fear being labeled, losing their employment positions or housing, going through prejudiced treatment in the provision of necessary services after disclosure of a mental health problem, and dealing with negative attitudes from their peers and members of the community. When this happens, even able-bodied people fail to reap the benefits of the contributions by talented PWD (Goodley, 2014). The fear of being stigmatized may lead to such people not seeking the necessary mental health care until situations arise where the problem is noticed while it is too late to cure it.

In its worst occurrences, ableism may result in society going down the route of euthanasia because of disabilities being considered a departure from the norm and the belief that the continued existence of PWD is worthless. Under such circumstances, failure to provide the required support and services to people with disabilities makes their survival exceedingly hard, and they may end up committing suicide or choosing euthanasia.

On this note, there is a need for the global community to be mindful of the treatment and attitudes towards PWD and avoid practices and dialogues which are ableist (Thompson, 2015). Ableism should not be practiced by anyone in society, and diversity ought to be lionized and acknowledged as a variety of abilities. People concerned with rights advocacy ought to ensure a facilitated awareness of the distressing impacts of ableism through the inclusion of the subject in private and public discussions.

A wide pool of studies affirms that people with disabilities are discriminated against by being treated as if they were outcasts due to their alleged inabilities when judged against able-bodied individuals. However, many approaches may be employed to decrease discrimination against PWD with the application of multidimensional strategies (Berridge & Martinson, 2017). People only need to be enlightened to the fact that everyone has prejudice, but through learning and increasing knowledge, it is easy to eradicate stereotypes and treat people kindly and alike irrespective of their culture, ability, or race. This may be implemented early in children’s lives if a system of education initiates more opportunities and programs for people with disabilities and promotes enhanced intergroup affiliation.

Interrelations involving diverse individuals alter their convictions and sentiments towards one another. In this regard, if one has the chance to interact with others and value their lifestyle, understanding them and eliminating prejudice should be effortless. In ancient times, PWD experienced great discrimination in society. They were mistaken to be foolish, abnormal and were at times compelled to undergo cleansing in an effort to make themselves normal (Berridge & Martinson, 2017). In the 1950s, veterans who had taken part in the Second World War and returned with disabilities started to persuade the government to assist them through the provision of rehabilitation programs. Because the government disregarded their plea, the ex-servicemen started to make disability known across the nation.

In the course of the civil rights movements of the 1960s, activists started to collaborate with PWD and other minority groups to call for the consideration of their issues. In 1964, an act (The Civil Rights Act) was enforced to outlaw discrimination based on ethnic background, gender, and religion. However, this act failed to incorporate PWD. After much activism, only in 1990 was an act to protect the rights of PWD passed: the Americans with Disabilities Act (Thompson, 2015).

The strength of this act lies in its illegalization of prejudice against PWD and its push for equal opportunities for both able-bodied individuals and people with disabilities in the workplace, private, national, and local government services such as transportation and housing, among others.

For PWD, the ability to realize developmental objectives at times relies minimally on their disabilities and more on treatment by family members, colleagues, teachers, and other influential people. The fundamentals of transformation rest in the society’s social and environmental factors. PWD are human beings similar to their able-bodied counterparts and should be treated equally as their disabilities do not classify their skills or personalities. Some of the practices that are vital in helping to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities include increased awareness about the challenges that they face, educating able-bodied people in the best way of treating them, enhanced interactions, and embracing diversity.

Adjei, P. B. (2018). The (em) bodiment of blackness in a visceral anti-black racism and ableism context. Race Ethnicity and Education , 21 (3), 275-287.

Berridge, C. W., & Martinson, M. (2017). Valuing old age without leveraging ableism. Generations , 41 (4), 83-91.

Goodley, D. (2014). Dis/ability studies: Theorising disablism and ableism . Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge.

Scott, P. S. (2016). Addressing ableism in workplace policies and practices: The case for disability standards in employment. Flinders Law Journal , 18 , 121.

Silva, C. F., & Howe, P. D. (2018). The social empowerment of difference: The potential influence of Para sport. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics , 29 (2), 397-408.

Thompson, A. E. (2015). The Americans with Disabilities Act. Jama , 313 (22), 2296-2296.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2021, May 7). Ableism: Bias Against People With Disabilities. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ableism-bias-against-people-with-disabilities/

"Ableism: Bias Against People With Disabilities." IvyPanda , 7 May 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/ableism-bias-against-people-with-disabilities/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Ableism: Bias Against People With Disabilities'. 7 May.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Ableism: Bias Against People With Disabilities." May 7, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ableism-bias-against-people-with-disabilities/.

1. IvyPanda . "Ableism: Bias Against People With Disabilities." May 7, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ableism-bias-against-people-with-disabilities/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Ableism: Bias Against People With Disabilities." May 7, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ableism-bias-against-people-with-disabilities/.

• GM's Committal to People With Disabilities
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• Ableism in Education, Workplace and Community
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• Poems with Disabilities by Jim Ferris
• Defining Disabilities in Modern World
• Multicultural Curriculum Design in Adult Education
• Sexism, Racism, Ableism, Ageism, Classism
• Classism, Ableism and Sexism in the 1939 Film “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”
• Discussion: Queer People and Norms
• Diversity Groups and Convict Stereotypes
• Inequality in the United States and Worldwide
• Meaghan Daly’s Speech on Aboriginal Exclusion
• Applying a Portable Concept as a Lens
• Storytelling's Importance for Personal Problems Solving

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10 Disabled Writers & Websites To Expand Your Perspective

Media To Better Understand One Another

One billion people (or the equivalent of 15 percent of the global population) experience a form of disability. For some, it’s more overt, and for others, it’s completely unseen as an invisible disability . Almost all of these experiences are underrepresented in mainstream media, and this kind of ableism hurts us all.

We’re spotlighting ten writers and websites who use their platform to broaden the conversation about what having a disability means (and what it doesn’t). Whether you decide to give them a social media follow, read or buy their work, or share with friends, we can all do our part to uplift these historically underrepresented voices and create a more inclusive world.

1. Keah Brown

Keah Brown is an author, actress, journalist, and screenwriter. Born with cerebral palsy, Brown reclaims the narrative that the disabled community is weak; instead, she challenges the media’s distorted views and fights for those with disabilities to be seen as fully realized individuals. Brown launched the hashtag #DisabledAndCute which then went viral. Her work has been featured in Teen Vogue, Netflix, and The Today Show, and you can pick up her memoir, “ The Pretty One ”, or look out for her new picture book, Sam’s Super Seats, coming out in 2022.

2. Alice Wong

Alice Wong is a disability rights advocate and founder of Disability Visibility Project (DVP), sharing and amplifying disability media. She’s also a partner in inclusive initiatives like #CripLit , #CripTheVote , DisabledWriters.com , and Access Is Love . A refreshing and powerful voice, Wong’s work has been seen in the New York Times, Buzzfeed, and WNYC’s Death, Sex, and Money podcast. She’s also hosted DVP’s own podcast since 2017. “ Disability Visibility ” and “ Resistance and Hope ”, two anthologies edited by Wong, center disabled writers and help to broaden our perspectives on the human experience.

3. Rebekah Taussig

Rebekah Taussig , an educator and writer in Kansas City, is passionate about the connection between the cultural narratives we tell and the world we live in. In addition to her personal essays, Taussig also shares “mini-memoirs” on her Instagram account @sitting_pretty . Her eponymous book, “ Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body ”, combines lyrical prose with academic and scientific context, urging us to embrace one another’s diversity and humanity.

4. Sara Nović

Sara Nović is an author, teacher, and mother who writes about her personal experience with deafness. She’s been recognized as an LA Times Book Prize finalist for her 2015 fiction novel, “ Girl At War ”. And most recently, her nonfiction project includes illustrated biographies of Americans from all 193 countries. Around the conversation of deafness and what it means to be hard of hearing, Nović thoughtfully and masterfully answers questions on her Instagram stories (i.e., What’s the difference between deaf and Deaf? One is a medical term and the other is a marker of identity.)

5. Haben Girma

The first deaf-blind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben Girma is a human rights lawyer and advocate who’s worked with President Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. As a Black woman who’s also disabled, Girma experiences racism, ableism, and sexism—she works every day for more inclusive policies to fight back against all three, particularly disability justice. Her memoir “ Haben ” shares more about her own trials and tribulations, and she regularly offers additional insights over on her website .

6. Melissa Blake

For compassionate and heartwarming reading (along with frequent laughter), Melissa Blake ’s blog “So About What I Said” is incredible. Born with Freeman-Sheldon Syndrome, a genetic bone and muscular disorder, Blake uses this space to “explore the world beyond the confines of her disability.” Having studied journalism in college, she’s a long-term writer who continues to speak on topics from disability myths to dating to mental health. We love that Blake intentionally shares her personal contact information with each post to connect with readers all over the world.

7. Dr. Frances Ryan

Dr. Frances Ryan is a journalist and columnist for The Guardian who frequently covers disability, education, and inequality. Her first book, “ Crippled: Austerity and the Demonisation of Disabled People ”, uses personal stories to expose the lack of support disabled people face in the UK. Infuriating and motivating, readers will see how disproportionately this community is affected and galvanized to demand better policies and services. Dr. Ryan challenges us to fight for solidarity for all, not just the status quo.

Literary Journals & Websites

1. breath & shadow.

Breath & Shadow , a quarterly journal, promotes disability culture and literature. In fact, it’s the first-ever online literary journal with a focus on this space, and it’s edited and written entirely by people with disabilities.

Whether you enjoy poetry, interviews, or long-form essays, Breath & Shadow has it all, and the team prioritizes diversity in style, content, demographics, and genre for each issue. Anyone from a child with a sensory disability to a neurodivergent adult to an established writer and wheelchair user can be a part of this enriching and engaged community.

2. Kaleidoscope Magazine

In partnership with United Disability Services of Akron, Kaleidoscope Magazine looks at the disability experience from the perspectives of individuals, loved ones, healthcare professionals and educators, and more.

Between powerful cover images, video recordings of poems, and creative nonfiction, there are over 80 issues to read through, with all kinds of writing and fine art forms. Every submission offers unique and illuminating insights about the creator’s lived experiences.

3. Monstering Magazine

Written by and for disabled women and nonbinary people, Monstering explores the intersection of -isms and phobias faced in the world today, from transphobia to classism.

Each of their three issues are available in paperback or available online in the form of MP3s and PDFs, covering difficult topics like body image, death, and oppression. While all writers in each issue face a form of disability, some submissions do not mention it at all, understanding that life does not revolve around their disabilities. Monstering actively works to recruit BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and other historically marginalized voices in their work.

The Good Trade editors endorse products we genuinely love. If you end up making a purchase through one of our affiliate links, we may earn a commission. Learn more here .

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• English Composition I Spring 2012 MW 8:30-10:00 (ENGL 1301)

"Disability" short essay

“Disablity” Short Essay

Pick ONE of the following prompts and write an essay in response to it.  Use the standard essay format (intro, thesis, body, conclusion) in organizing your essay.

Paper Guidelines : 1-1.5 pages (at least), double spaced, 12- pt Times New Roman font, standard margins.

• Write an essay that explains how your own responses to people with disabilities lead you to accept or dispute Mairs’ call for depicting “disabled people in the ordinary activities of daily life.”
• Have media depictions of people with disabilities changed since Mairs wrote her essay in 1987? If so, how?  If not, why?  Write an essay in which you analyze current media representations of disability, using specific examples to support your ideas.
• Choose another group you think has been “effaced” in television advertsing and programming—a racial, ethnic, or religious group, for instance.  Write an essay detailing why and how that group is overlooked.  How could representations of this group be incorporated into the media?  What effects might some representations have?
• Reread this essay carefully.  Mairs tells us about herself through details and through tone (for example, irony, intensity, and humor).  Write an essay on how Mairs’ self revelations do or do not further her thesis.

Disability and Health Stories from People Living with a Disability

• Nickole's Story
• Jerry's Story
• Justin's Story
• Suhana's Story

Real Stories from People living with a Disability

Nickole cheron’s story.

In 2008, a rare winter storm buried Portland, Oregon under more than a foot of snow. The city was gridlocked. Nickole Cheron was stuck in her home for eight days. Many people would consider that an inconvenience. For Nickole, whose muscles are too weak to support her body, those eight days were potentially life-threatening.

Born with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease that progressively weakens the body’s muscles, Nickole is fully reliant on a wheelchair and full-time caregivers for most routine tasks. Being alone for eight days was not an option. So Nickole signed up for “ Ready Now! pdf icon [PDF – 4.8MB] external icon ,” an emergency preparedness training program developed through the Oregon Office of Disability and Health external icon .

“The most important thing I learned from ‘Ready Now!’ was to have a back-up plan in case of an emergency situation ,” she said. “When I heard the snow storm was coming, I emailed all my caregivers to find out who lived close by and would be available. I made sure I had a generator, batteries for my wheelchair, and at least a week’s supply of food, water and prescription medication.”

Nickole said the training was empowering, and reinforced her ability to live independently with a disability. She felt better informed about the potential risks people with disabilities could encounter during a disaster. For example, clinics might close, streets and sidewalks might be impassable, or caregivers might be unable to travel.

Among the tips Nickole learned from Oregon’s “Ready Now!” training are:

• Develop a back-up plan. Inform caregivers, friends, family, neighbors or others who might be able to help during an emergency.
• Stock up on food, water, and any necessary prescription medications, medical supplies or equipment. Have enough to last at least a week.
• Make a list of emergency contact information and keep it handy.
• Keep a charged car battery at home. It can power electric wheelchairs and other motorized medical equipment if there is an electricity outage.
• Learn about alternate transportation and routes.
• Understand the responsibilities and limitations of a “first responder” (for example, members of your local fire department of law enforcement office) during a disaster.

“This training shows people with disabilities that they can do more to triage their situation in a crisis than anyone else can,” she said. “‘Ready Now!’ encourages people with disabilities to take ownership of their own care.”

CDC would like to thank Nikole and the Oregon Office of Disability and Health external icon for sharing this personal story.

Learn about emergency preparedness for people with disabilities »

Jerry’s Story

Jerry is a 53 year old father of four children. He’s independent, has a house, raised a family and his adult kids still look to him for support. Jerry recently retired as a computer programmer in 2009, and competes and coaches in several sports. This “healthy, everyday Joe, living a normal life” has even participated in the Boston Marathon. Jerry also has had a disability for over 35 y ears. In 1976 on December 3 (the same day that International Persons with Disabilities Day is recognized) Jerry was hit by a drunk driver. The accident left him as a partial paraplegic.

Jerry’s life is not defined by his disability. He lives life just like anyone else without a disability would live their life. “There’s lots I can do, and there are some things that I can’t do,” said Jerry. “I drive, I invest money. I’m not rich, but I’m not poor. I enjoy being healthy, and being independent.”

As a person with a disability, however, Jerry has experienced many barriers. Recovering from recent rotator cuff surgery, his rehabilitation specialists “couldn’t see past his disability”, administering tests and delivering additional rehabilitation visits that a person without a disability wouldn’t receive. He once was being prepared for surgery when a nurse proclaimed “he doesn’t need an epidural, he’s a paraplegic.” Jerry had to inform the nurse that he was only a partial paraplegic and that he would indeed need an epidural.

Jerry was in line at an Alabama court house to renew his parking permit and also renew his son’s registration. He watched a worker walk down the line and ask people “what do you need?” When she got to Jerry and saw his wheelchair, he was asked “who are you here with?” And Jerry finds it difficult to go to concerts and baseball games with a large family or friends gathering, because rarely are handicap-accessible tickets available for more than two people.

Jerry has seen a lot in over 35 years as someone living with a disability. He’s seen many of the barriers and attitudes towards people with disabilities persist. But he’s also seen many positive changes to get people with disabilities physically active through recreational opportunities such as golf, fishing and even snow-skiing. There are now organizations such as Lakeshore Foundation external icon – where Jerry works part-time coaching youth basketball and track – that provide recreational opportunities.

Jerry states: “I don’t expect the world to revolve around us. I will adapt – just make it so I can adapt.”

Justin’s Story

Justin was first diagnosed with a disability in the form of ADD (attention deficit disorder, now known as ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) at the age of 5 years. The diagnosis resulted in his removal from a regular classroom environment to special education courses. Justin’s parents were informed by Justin’s educators that he probably wouldn’t graduate high school, much less college.

Years later, as a young adult, Justin developed Meniere disease (an inner ear disorder), which affected his hearing and balance. The onset of the disorder left Justin with the scary reality that he could permanently lose his hearing at any time. Justin recalled a former supervisor taking advantage of this knowledge with an inappropriate prank: While speaking in a one-on-one meeting, the sound from the supervisor’s mouth abruptly halted, while his lips continued to move. Justin thought he had gone deaf – until the supervisor started laughing – which Justin could hear. Behaviors like the above took its toll on Justin’s confidence – yet, he knew he could contribute in society.

Spurred in part by adversity, Justin went back to school, earned a business degree, and shortly after, entered the commercial marketing industry. However, despite his education and experience, Justin was still regularly subject to the same stigma. Many of Justin’s work experiences over the course of his career left him feeling ashamed, guilty, offended, and sometimes, even intimidated. Rather than instilling confidence, it left him demoralized – simply because he was differently abled.

In July of 2013, everything changed for Justin. He joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention working as a contractor in the Division of Human Development and Disability at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. Justin’s colleagues put an emphasis on making him feel comfortable and respected as a member of a diverse and productive workforce. They welcomed Justin’s diversity, positively contributing to his overall health.

The mission of the Division of Human Development and Disability is to lead public health in preventing disease and promoting equity in health and development of children and adults with or at risk for disabilities. One in two adults with disabilities does not get enough aerobic physical activity 1 , and for Justin, regular physical activity is important to help him combat potentially lethal blood clots due to a genetic blood clotting disorder that he has. Every working hour, Justin walks for a few minutes, stretches, or uses his desk cycle. Justin also participates in walking meetings, which he believes leads to more creative and productive meetings.

Stories such as Justin’s are reminders that employment and health are connected. CDC is proud to support National Disability Employment Awareness Month every October. The awareness month aims to educate about disability employment issues and celebrate the many and varied contributions of America’s workers with disabilities.

Suhana’s Story

Suhana has a sister, Shahrine, who is older by 18 months. While Shahrine’s mother was pregnant with Suhana, their uncle came to town for a visit. During the visit, their uncle was quick to notice that Shahrine did not seem to be talking at an age appropriate level or respond when called upon. Shahrine would also turn up the volume on the television and radio when others could hear it without difficulty. Shahrine’s parents thought that her speech development and behavior were normal for a toddler, but thanks to the uncle expressing his concerns, the family soon took action. A hearing test found that Shahrine was hard of hearing.

Due to Shahrine’s diagnosis, Suhana received a hearing screening at birth and was found to be hard of hearing, as well. Had it not been for the concerns raised by the children’s uncle, not only would Shahrine’s hearing loss have possibly gone on longer without being detected, but Suhana would most likely not have had a hearing screening at birth.

As a result of their early diagnoses, Suhana and Shahrine’s parents were able to gain the knowledge they needed to make sure both of their children could reach their full potential in life. They had access to early services from a team of physicians, speech therapists, counselors, and teachers.

Suhana credits her parents for her own successes, saying that she couldn’t have made it as far as she has without their support and patience. Today, Suhana is employed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as an epidemiologist with the agency’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program. All children who are deaf or hard of hearing receive critical services they need as a result of the EHDI program, which funds the development of data systems and provides technical assistance to help improve screening, diagnosis and early intervention for these infants. When children who are deaf or hard of hearing receive services early, they are more likely to reach their full potential and live a healthy, productive adult life.

CDC is proud to support National Disability Employment Awareness Month every October. The goals of the awareness month are to educate the public about disability employment issues and celebrate the many and varied contributions of America’s workers with disabilities.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vital Signs. [updated 2014 May 6; cited 2014 October 10] Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/disabilities/

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People with disabilities essay

Disability is one of the most important issues in the contemporary society because stigmatization of people with disabilities contributed to the formation of biases and prejudices which put them into the disadvantageous position compared to people, who did not have problems of disability. Such biases and prejudices contributed to the discrimination of people with disabilities which has been eliminated consistently since the emergence of the Civil Rights movement and introduction of legal changes, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act. Nevertheless, today, the problem of people with disabilities and their discrimination persists because many biases and prejudices are resilient. In this regard, education is particularly vulnerable to the problem of the integration of students with disabilities into the learning process since the modern education system attempts to provide equal opportunities for all students, eliminating the discrimination of students with disabilities. Moreover, the modern education system confronts another problem, the problem of students with excessive abilities, who also face problems with the integration into the classroom environment and development of positive relations with their peers. In such a way, the concept of disability/ability is fulcrum of the contemporary education system in relation to students interaction and elimination of discrimination of students based on abilities/disabilities.

Disability is the complex notion that involves limited opportunities and special needs of people but it does not mean the inferiority of individuals compared to those, who do not have disability. At the same time, ability is a set of skills, knowledge and opportunities to exercise them to perform specific tasks. In such a situation, the risk of the widening gap between individuals with disabilities and those, who do not have them because disability can limit opportunities for individuals to exercise their knowledge, skills and opportunities to the full extent, while those, who do not have disabilities, can take the full advantage of their skills, knowledge and opportunities (Kudlick, 2005). In this regard, the attitude of the social environment to people with disabilities may be crucial for their social standing and opportunities to stand on the equal ground for others.

One of the major challenges people with disabilities face is the challenge in their professional training and development. Disability may limit learning abilities of individuals that prevent them from obtaining the target education and making a successful career. For example, many students with learning disabilities, such as ASD, have difficulties with learning that prevent them from successful learning. In such a situation, they cannot complete their education just like other students do, while the lack of education limits their career opportunities consistently. On the other hand, many researchers (Mansell, 2003) point out that students with disabilities may be as successful as other students, while some students may be even more successful than the average student in certain subjects.

In such a situation, disability may be a substantial obstacle on the way to the professional development of individuals and to their career. On the other hand, often it is not the disability proper but the prejudice of employers that becomes an obstacle on the way of people with disabilities. However, such discrimination tends to disappear due to legal changes, including the introduction of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and current policies aiming at the inclusion of disabled people. In this regard, the discrimination of people with disabilities persists because the power of prejudices and biases is very strong.

At the same time, educators should be aware of special needs of students with disabilities. They should understand that students with disabilities are no different from other students but they have special needs, which educators should match to help them to succeed in their learning and reach a considerable academic progress just like other students do. In fact, students with disabilities are not inferior compared to their peers but they just have special needs. For example, some researchers (Mansell, 2003) admit that even children with serious mental disabilities may be integrated in the learning process successfully on the condition of meeting needs of those students but the problem is that educators are not trained to work with such students. This is why they have difficulties while working with students with disabilities and the integration of students into the learning process and into their peer groups becomes quite difficult.

On the other hand, the modern education focuses on such issues as Knowledge, Enquiry, Empathy, Pluralism, Social Commitment to prevent the problem of discrimination of students with disabilities and to set educators free from their biases and prejudices in relation to students with disabilities. Knowledge is essential for educators to understand needs of students with disabilities. The enquiry is essential for the research of latest advancements in the field of education and exploration of the problem of disability. The empathy is essential for educators to treat students with disabilities, which educators should treat on the equal ground compared to other students. The pluralism is essential for educators to develop the personalized approach to each students, regardless of their abilities and disabilities. The social commitment is essential for educators to treat students with disabilities as an integral part of the school community. The social commitment means that educators should serve to interests of the community and help students with disabilities to integrate into their communities and help communities to accept children with disabilities as equal community members.

At the same time, there is another issue related to abilities, which often remains unnoticed by educators and researchers, which is the issue of excessive abilities. What is meant here is the fact that some students are gifted in certain fields, which make them different from other students and, to a certain extent, put them in the position similar to the position of students with disabilities (Enns, 2013). Excessive abilities lead to the focus of students on the specific subject, which is particularly interesting for them and where they are particularly successful. For example, gifted students may be successful in math that will put them in quite a challenging position. On the one hand, conventional math classes will be boring for them because instructions educators provide for other students may be not even necessary for gifted students, who understand those instructions perfectly and know more than other students, while their math skills may match standards which are normally attributed to higher grades. As a result, such students feel bored with the classroom environment and the learning process because math classes are not interesting for them because they do not contribute to their progress that discourages them from paying much attention to their math class. This trend can be traced in relation to other subjects, which gifted students may be particularly strong in.

On the other hand, gifted students may have difficulties with developing positive interpersonal relations with their peers. In fact, peers may feel the difference of gifted students because of their excessive abilities that may lead to the development of the sense of inferiority-superiority in relationships between the average and gifted students. In addition, gifted students may stay too focused on their favorite subjects or particular interests that also prevent them from developing positive interpersonal relations with other students. In such a way, students with excessive abilities have difficulties with building up positive interpersonal relationships with other students just like students with disabilities.

Thus, the concept of ability/disability turns out to be pivotal for the modern education system and society at large because it influences consistently the development of students and position of individuals with disabilities and excessive abilities. In this regard, disability and excessive ability are two extremes which may raise problems in the personal and professional development of individuals because they face the risk of the development of poor interpersonal relations with their peers. At the same time, both students with disabilities and excessive abilities need the integration into their classroom environment and development of positive interpersonal relationships with their peers.

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6 Anthologies Written By, For, and About Disabled People

Reading Lists

From essays to dystopian fiction, these collections center disabled writers and characters.

Even though minority literature is growing in popularity at a fast pace, there are still books that don’t authentically represent the disability experience. Either the characters are bathed in stereotypes or the disability is erased by way of a cure or similar.

While this isn’t an exhaustive list, here’s some books that are written by fellow disabled people, for disabled people. What makes these selections so unique is the fact that all of the main characters have a disability. But they’re not reduced to their disabilities; all of the books feature a wide character arc, as well. In these books, the disabled finally get to tell our stories.

Firsts: Coming of Age Stories by People with Disabilities , edited by Belo Miguel Cipriani

Doing anything for the first time has a profound impact on your life. In this collection, eleven authors write about their first time experiencing something. The firsts could be anything from raising a hearing child as a deaf parent, to navigating the complexities of a caregiver that isn’t a family member. What makes this anthology stand out is the different voices presented. Each writer has a very distinctive writing voice that makes it easy to like another story even if you didn’t care for the previous one.

Nothing Without Us , edited by Cait Gordon and Kohenet Talia C. Johnson

I’m a sucker for fiction, especially speculative and realistic fiction featuring stories where disabled people are the heroes of their own story. Nothing Without Us is a multi-genre, own-voices anthology where the lead characters identify as disabled, Deaf, neurodiverse, chronically ill, and/or mentally ill. There’s something for everyone in these 22 stories that range the gamut from satirical to thrilling and suspenseful. The anthology has a vast contributor pool, which helps to spread out the many kinds of writing styles. The stories are evenly placed so you won’t get shocked because you’re suddenly jumping jarringly to a very different genre.

About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the New York Times , edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson

If you’ve never read the disability section of The New York Times, this is a great, packaged, introduction to the column. If you have, it could be a complementary binding for offline reading. This anthology includes 61 essays originally published as part of a New York Times series on disability. The essays are organized into the topics of justice, belonging, working, navigating, coping, love, family, and joy. Essayists have physical, motor, sensory, and cognitive disabilities.

Defying Doomsday , edited by Tsana Dolichva and Holly Kench

This anthology is pure fun. Defying Doomsday is an anthology of apocalypse fiction featuring disabled and chronically ill protagonists, proving it’s not always the “fittest” who survive—it’s the most tenacious, stubborn, enduring and innovative characters who have the best chance of adapting when everything is lost. There were a lot of good stories in here that had me hooked from the first sentence. A Deaf scavenger. A fellow blind person who’s just trying to survive but does everything wrong without giving up. There’s a lot here, mixed in with a lot of different genres and writing styles (and, thank goodness, a variety of ethnic backgrounds—not all the survivors are white). Even if you don’t like science fiction, I can guarantee there’s a story in here for everyone.

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens , edited by Marieke Nijkamp

I love a good young adult anthology and this one did not disappoint. In this anthology, thirteen short stories in various genres, each featuring characters with disabilities, present a lot of everyday emotions and experiences. The stories encompass everything from travel stories to war stories, to stories about riding a tandem bike with someone that you don’t know very well but shouldn’t judge. I really enjoyed all the stories and I especially loved the flexibility of the genres presented. Unbroken will offer today’s teen readers a glimpse into the lives of disabled people in the past, present, and future.

Behind Our Eyes: Stories, Poems and Essays by Writers with Disabilities , edited by Marilyn Brandt Smith and Sanford Rosenthal

This collection centers around the visually impaired experience. There are 27 contributors but most of the stories feature blindness or some kind of visual impairment. The stories in this collection are more contemporary , dealing with varying situations and emotions, such as the story “Rebel with a Cane,” in which a blind teenager defies her extremely protective parents and travels home, by herself, relying on her cane and her mobility skills. There are also stories about suffering strokes at age 25 and dealing with that emotional aftermath. Readers looking for contemporary stories will definitely like the pacing of this anthology.

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My Problem With College Admissions Essays as a Disabled Person

As a 20-year-old transfer student who spent a summer studying abroad, dragging out the old same elegized story of my life as a young person “robbed of a normal carefree youth” is a bit boring. I’m tired of hearing my story, too. The story isn’t untrue or unworthy of being heard; it’s just so often associated with the disabled community that it becomes the only story expected of me. The disabled community is the largest marginalized minority in the world. There are many narratives worthy of being told, but so often they are overlooked for the inspiration porn , instantly shareable Facebook headlines.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good overcoming adversity story. These stories are valid and so important. The essays I write for those college admissions boards, outside of how my disability affects my life, are not necessarily a Penguin Classics level work ready to be sent off to the closest corporate bookstore. The essay I try to write focuses more on my personal journey of self-discovery that genuinely starts out with “I’m a cliche” and goes on to wax poetic about the magic of soul searching. But when does the disabled community get to stop “overcoming adversity” and allow members to be known as individuals? My multiple sclerosis is an important part of my life, but as I’m sure many disabled kids who have applied to college can attest: it’s also the hardest to make sound not boring.

Personally, before I was diagnosed my life was a whole lot of sleeping all day, then vomiting if I ate anything. Really fun to relive as you beg a school for scholarship money, right? This is why I wholeheartedly believe college application essays are inherently ableist. I understand my privilege in this world as someone who was diagnosed later in her youth and was fortunate enough to have opportunities — like study abroad, or even being able to afford my medical care.

This is not what colleges want to hear about, though. Sure, maybe under the veil of how my disability affects such experiences and how I overcame it. (Spoiler: Sometimes I don’t; life for disabled people isn’t endless amounts of awe-inspiring obstacle climbing.) The personhood of any disabled person cannot be boiled down to one label. A disabled life is more than just one bad thing after another, so let me revel in the good once in a while.

Now, excuse me as I finish my Common App essay with this last line of lamenting my disabled experience. Hey, I still need that scholarship money.

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My journey to self-acceptance as disabled was full of realizations about what labels are and who gets to define them. I am disabled with a lot to say and not talented enough to join a punk band.

The online eclipse experience: People on X get creative, political and possibly blind

The 2024 total eclipse is caused by a rare alignment in celestial spheres that will send millions of people in the path of totality outside to peer at the sky.

People have booked their Airbnbs years in advance , eclipse glasses are selling out and forecasters have been warning of cloudy skies for weeks.

Regardless of how otherworldly this event is and how much planning people have dedicated to experiencing it in person, the internet is being the internet and providing an eclipse experience of its own.

GIFs, quips and skits are flooding social media platforms like X on Monday.

Here are some of the best social media reactions to the eclipse:

Solar eclipse 2024 live updates: See latest weather forecast, what time it hits your area

Forgot your eclipse glasses? So did the internet

Proper eye safety is recommended for looking at the sun during an eclipse, and several places like Warby Parker and public libraries have been giving them away for free.

But some poor souls didn't secure their pair in advance, and the internet knows it:

"I don’t have eclipse glasses and I don’t trust myself not to look at the sun," one user posted on X.

"During the eclipse, it’s important not to stare at the Sun directly, as it will take this as a provocation. Look away to the sides to indicate clearly that you are not a threat to the Sun. Do NOT run away; this will activate the Sun’s predation instinct, and then God help us all," another posted .

Viral moment: Looking back (but not directly at) Donald Trump's 2017 solar eclipse moment

Some people are making their own eclipses

*flips ipad around*, of course, it's getting political.

Several supporters of former President Donald Trump have also made their own footage showing Trump eclipsing President Joe Biden , indicating their hope for the 2024 presidential election.

"Biggest Event of 2024," wrote one user , with a picture of Trump "eclipsing" Biden attached.

But many people are reminiscing about the 2017 eclipse, when Trump seemingly looked up at the sky without glasses .

Biden joined in poking fun at him in a post saying, "don't be silly, folks – play it safe and wear protective eyewear," a presumed nod to Trump's viral moment.

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, Natalie Alund

Read our research on: Gun Policy | International Conflict | Election 2024

Regions & Countries

9 facts about americans and marijuana.

The use and possession of marijuana is illegal under U.S. federal law, but about three-quarters of states have legalized the drug for medical or recreational purposes. The changing legal landscape has coincided with a decades-long rise in public support for legalization, which a majority of Americans now favor.

Here are nine facts about Americans’ views of and experiences with marijuana, based on Pew Research Center surveys and other sources.

As more states legalize marijuana, Pew Research Center looked at Americans’ opinions on legalization and how these views have changed over time.

Data comes from surveys by the Center,  Gallup , and the  2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health  from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Information about the jurisdictions where marijuana is legal at the state level comes from the  National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws .

More information about the Center surveys cited in the analysis, including the questions asked and their methodologies, can be found at the links in the text.

Around nine-in-ten Americans say marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use,  according to a January 2024 Pew Research Center survey . An overwhelming majority of U.S. adults (88%) say either that marijuana should be legal for medical use only (32%) or that it should be legal for medical  and  recreational use (57%). Just 11% say the drug should not be legal in any form. These views have held relatively steady over the past five years.

Views on marijuana legalization differ widely by age, political party, and race and ethnicity, the January survey shows.

While small shares across demographic groups say marijuana should not be legal at all, those least likely to favor it for both medical and recreational use include:

• Older adults: 31% of adults ages 75 and older support marijuana legalization for medical and recreational purposes, compared with half of those ages 65 to 74, the next youngest age category. By contrast, 71% of adults under 30 support legalization for both uses.
• Republicans and GOP-leaning independents: 42% of Republicans favor legalizing marijuana for both uses, compared with 72% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. Ideological differences exist as well: Within both parties, those who are more conservative are less likely to support legalization.
• Hispanic and Asian Americans: 45% in each group support legalizing the drug for medical and recreational use. Larger shares of Black (65%) and White (59%) adults hold this view.

Support for marijuana legalization has increased dramatically over the last two decades. In addition to asking specifically about medical and recreational use of the drug, both the Center and Gallup have asked Americans about legalizing marijuana use in a general way. Gallup asked this question most recently, in 2023. That year, 70% of adults expressed support for legalization, more than double the share who said they favored it in 2000.

Half of U.S. adults (50.3%) say they have ever used marijuana, according to the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health . That is a smaller share than the 84.1% who say they have ever consumed alcohol and the 64.8% who have ever used tobacco products or vaped nicotine.

While many Americans say they have used marijuana in their lifetime, far fewer are current users, according to the same survey. In 2022, 23.0% of adults said they had used the drug in the past year, while 15.9% said they had used it in the past month.

While many Americans say legalizing recreational marijuana has economic and criminal justice benefits, views on these and other impacts vary, the Center’s January survey shows.

• Economic benefits: About half of adults (52%) say that legalizing recreational marijuana is good for local economies, while 17% say it is bad. Another 29% say it has no impact.

• Criminal justice system fairness: 42% of Americans say legalizing marijuana for recreational use makes the criminal justice system fairer, compared with 18% who say it makes the system less fair. About four-in-ten (38%) say it has no impact.
• Use of other drugs: 27% say this policy decreases the use of other drugs like heroin, fentanyl and cocaine, and 29% say it increases it. But the largest share (42%) say it has no effect on other drug use.
• Community safety: 21% say recreational legalization makes communities safer and 34% say it makes them less safe. Another 44% say it doesn’t impact safety.

Democrats and adults under 50 are more likely than Republicans and those in older age groups to say legalizing marijuana has positive impacts in each of these areas.

Most Americans support easing penalties for people with marijuana convictions, an October 2021 Center survey found . Two-thirds of adults say they favor releasing people from prison who are being held for marijuana-related offenses only, including 41% who strongly favor this. And 61% support removing or expunging marijuana-related offenses from people’s criminal records.

Younger adults, Democrats and Black Americans are especially likely to support these changes. For instance, 74% of Black adults  favor releasing people from prison  who are being held only for marijuana-related offenses, and just as many favor removing or expunging marijuana-related offenses from criminal records.

Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have legalized small amounts of marijuana for both medical and recreational use as of March 2024,  according to the  National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws  (NORML), an advocacy group that tracks state-level legislation on the issue. Another 14 states have legalized the drug for medical use only.

Of the remaining 12 states, all allow limited access to products such as CBD oil that contain little to no THC – the main psychoactive substance in cannabis. And 26 states overall have at least partially  decriminalized recreational marijuana use , as has the District of Columbia.

In addition to 24 states and D.C.,  the U.S. Virgin Islands ,  Guam  and  the Northern Mariana Islands  have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use.

More than half of Americans (54%) live in a state where both recreational and medical marijuana are legal, and 74% live in a state where it’s legal either for both purposes or medical use only, according to a February Center analysis of data from the Census Bureau and other outside sources. This analysis looked at state-level legislation in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to pass legislation legalizing recreational marijuana.

About eight-in-ten Americans (79%) live in a county with at least one cannabis dispensary, according to the February analysis. There are nearly 15,000 marijuana dispensaries nationwide, and 76% are in states (including D.C.) where recreational use is legal. Another 23% are in medical marijuana-only states, and 1% are in states that have made legal allowances for low-percentage THC or CBD-only products.

The states with the largest number of dispensaries include California, Oklahoma, Florida, Colorado and Michigan.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published April 26, 2021, and updated April 13, 2023.  

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Americans overwhelmingly say marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use

Religious americans are less likely to endorse legal marijuana for recreational use, four-in-ten u.s. drug arrests in 2018 were for marijuana offenses – mostly possession, two-thirds of americans support marijuana legalization, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .