I can certainly say this is unusual for me. Not in a bad way, but by trying to be real with an audience of strangers. For starters, we have taking this course in common though. I've never posted a blog before and I'm still trying to understand what exactly it (blogging) is. The other aspect of this course is unusual for me because I am very motivated to empathize with people who have disabilities. I used to be a survival instructor who lived around the world immersed in the wilderness. After 12 honorable years in the Air Force, I can speak for many, when I mention that individuals who have disabilities are kept out of sight and out of mind in the military. Please don't take me the wrong way though because I'm only honestly sharing the government and military's focus from my observations. What my eyes are opening up to after the first week of this course, is that there is a huge portion of our population who seems to be yearning to be in sight and in people's minds. The videos that I watched on the lecture this week were so uplifting. After all of this education, I am inspired to start spending some time helping with the children in my service learning experience.
Later, I came across an article from AnaiRhoads.org that solidified my thinking about so many countries around the world who are even worse than the US when it comes to the discrimination of children who are disabled. Oftentimes, it is reported that amongst this population there is even further neglect to appreciate girls when compared to the attention that boys receive. Why can't governments and all people recognize that each person has so much that they can offer to better society? The value of labels is a double edged sword when it comes to these kind of topics. On one hand, it makes perfect sense from a scientific perspective to develop a common language to describe differences. However, the other perspective is that using a label to describe someone who is different than the norm will Identify them. This could negatively impact them because of most people's nature to be attracted to similarities and be scared by differences. I think that educating the overall population (including children in schools) about differences seems to be the best solution for now regarding the debate over labels.
http://www.anairhoads.org/?p=4572
Thanks for reading,
- Adam
Later, I came across an article from AnaiRhoads.org that solidified my thinking about so many countries around the world who are even worse than the US when it comes to the discrimination of children who are disabled. Oftentimes, it is reported that amongst this population there is even further neglect to appreciate girls when compared to the attention that boys receive. Why can't governments and all people recognize that each person has so much that they can offer to better society? The value of labels is a double edged sword when it comes to these kind of topics. On one hand, it makes perfect sense from a scientific perspective to develop a common language to describe differences. However, the other perspective is that using a label to describe someone who is different than the norm will Identify them. This could negatively impact them because of most people's nature to be attracted to similarities and be scared by differences. I think that educating the overall population (including children in schools) about differences seems to be the best solution for now regarding the debate over labels.
http://www.anairhoads.org/?p=4572
Thanks for reading,
- Adam