Thoughts on disabled people

[Black Reaper]

I have to interview someone for a homework assignment,we were supposed to interview people about Winter the dolphin(a dolphin with a prosthetic tail),but the teacher said we could slightly alter the topic to something like disabled people,so i did just that

Ok,first let me share a little story of mine

One day,i went out of school early,i can't remember why,i walk home from school,and in my way out
i saw someone with a cane,not someone who had trouble walking,but someone who was hitting things in the ground with it

I asked her if she needed any help getting around,but holy shit,when she turned around her eyes,her eyes were scary and squicky as fuck,i couldn't sleep alone for days afterwards

Anyways,she accepted my offer,but i underestimated her,she actually knew the street better than i did,saying things like"there should be a lamppost here",i actually think i slowed her down,she asked me to wait for a special kind of cab that had half the price normal cabs have,but i had never seen one before,so i couldn't help her

As i walked home,i couldn't stop thinking about her eyes because they freaked me out,and when my mother arrived and told her about it,she told me that it was the thought that counted,as i saw no one else helping her

Later,when i was playing Ragna's stage in Blazblue,the stage subtitle said "The path to hell is paved with good intentions",and i realized that applied to me,even if i superficially had good intentions,my desire to help her was not born from solidarity or something,but from thinking she was inferior to me cause she was blind,i basically pitied her

I also got Hanako's bad ending in my first playtrough of Katawa Shoujo,so i know a thing or two about pity

Spoiler: dont click here if you get sad when hearing about someone elses problems,like my mom

I also have been thinking about disabled people lately,since a guy in my school just lost an arm to cancer,i only felt sorry for him on a human level,but not on a personal level(like my mom),sice i didn't know the guy,and i didn't want to pity him

So,i think disabled people shouldn't be treated as a shining example of humanity(shit,i hope the original intention of that sentence isnt lost),or as something to look down upon,even if inconsciously,but as people who have both good and bad in them

So,what do you think about disabled people?

Captcha:red herring

 

[Thaluikhain]

So,i think disabled people shouldn't be treated as a shining example of humanity(shit,i hope the original intention of that sentence isnt lost),or as something to look down upon,even if inconsciously,but as people who have both good and bad in them

So,what do you think about disabled people?

Er, looks like you are saying that disabled people are people who are disabled. Um...not much argument there.

 

[Black Reaper]

So,i think disabled people shouldn't be treated as a shining example of humanity(shit,i hope the original intention of that sentence isnt lost),or as something to look down upon,even if inconsciously,but as people who have both good and bad in them

So,what do you think about disabled people?

Er, looks like you are saying that disabled people are people who are disabled. Um...not much argument there.

Well,i am not the best with words
I think what i meant was: we shouldn't judge someone because they are disabled or not,but by their own merits
Probably,like i said i am not good with words

Forgive me if that doesn't make any sense

 

[Thaluikhain]

So,i think disabled people shouldn't be treated as a shining example of humanity(shit,i hope the original intention of that sentence isnt lost),or as something to look down upon,even if inconsciously,but as people who have both good and bad in them

So,what do you think about disabled people?

Er, looks like you are saying that disabled people are people who are disabled. Um...not much argument there.

Well,i am not the best with words
I think what i meant was: we shouldn't judge someone because they are disabled or not,but by their own merits
Probably,like i said i am not good with words

Forgive me if that doesn't make any sense

Well, yes, but it's one of those things that should be so obvious as to not need saying.

Having said that, if you visit any website dealing with this issue, they will feel the need to remind people of this over and over, for depressing and obvious reasons.

As an aside, a term commonly used for people who aren't disabled is CAB, "currently able bodied". You might not be disabled now, but you're only one bad day away.

 

[Bertylicious]

I think some dudes wrote books and movies about something called "the strangeness of the other" which I think deals with that sensation you mentioned when you saw the ladies eyes. That kind of reaction is just a response to the unknown and if you haven't had much exposure to people with disabilities, people of different racial or religious backgrounds or whatever then you'll probably feel it.

It's something people don't like to talk about because it's synonymous in history with people doing horrible shit to other people for no good reason.

 

[DementedSheep]

Ummm I don?t know that I really have thoughts on disabled people in general. They?re just..well ...people who are disabled. There isn?t much else to it. They aren't ?shining example of humanity?, having a disadvantage or a rough life doesn't automatically make you a better person. I don?t look down on them either though I might feel sorry for them as I would anyone in a situation I wouldn't want to be in.

 

[The Wykydtron]

So,i think disabled people shouldn't be treated as a shining example of humanity(shit,i hope the original intention of that sentence isnt lost),or as something to look down upon,even if inconsciously,but as people who have both good and bad in them

So,what do you think about disabled people?

Er, looks like you are saying that disabled people are people who are disabled. Um...not much argument there.

Well,i am not the best with words
I think what i meant was: we shouldn't judge someone because they are disabled or not,but by their own merits
Probably,like i said i am not good with words

Forgive me if that doesn't make any sense

Well, yes, but it's one of those things that should be so obvious as to not need saying.

Having said that, if you visit any website dealing with this issue, they will feel the need to remind people of this over and over, for depressing and obvious reasons.

As an aside, a term commonly used for people who aren't disabled is CAB, "currently able bodied". You might not be disabled now, but you're only one bad day away.

Haha, that's brilliant. Currently able bodied. I'll remember that one, it's good reverse logic.

OT: Y'know I think I might just recommend Katawa Shoujo as a must read play for pretty much everyone, especially if they have problems in dealing with disabled people. I mean a dating sim with a cast of all disabled girls sounds like the absolute worst and most insensitive thing ever but it's written so damn well.

I just goes to show, the best team of writers is made up of a group of random 4Chan users who never even knew each other until the first piece of concept art was posted and they all jumped on it as a project. Wait what?

Anyway, since i'm slightly disabled myself I can literally just add "we're people too dammit" and leave it at that. Yeah. Sounds good.

 

[nexus]

People that are disabled are just like other people. They have the same needs and wants. Sometimes they require special needs, such as physical access to permit the handicapped to enter buildings and use it's faculties unhindered, etc. Sometimes they are looked up to even, not looked down upon, as such are the stories of the severely disabled overcoming the odds and accomplishing feats that even the "abled" cannot.

When was it ever suggested that the disabled were the "Shining example of humanity"?

Kind of lost as to what you're actually positing in your OP to be honest.

 

[NiPah]

Reminds me of the joke... Why don't they call the Olympics the "Not so special Olympics".
As for what I think of disabled people? Hell we're all just sacks of meat and bones and for some reason beyond me the tiny electrical chemical reactions inside our brain allow us to think, feel, react, move our limbs, remember past occurrences, and build a piece of metal and plastic that can fly outside our solar system. If you want to judge someone differently because they don't have use of one of those bone/flesh sticks or maybe have a slightly different way to fire off those chemicals then thats your business, but to me in the end even the most disabled of the disabled is one of the most amazing things in existence.

 

[CriticalMiss]

I think the term 'disabled' is the problem, a lot of people who would be called/classed as disabled can do shit better than 'regular' folks. Look at paralympians, some of those guys can swim, run, throw and ride things faster and further than I can or probably ever could. There are even blind people who do archery, something where you would think sight is pretty much mandatory. But it's pretty damn impressive to watch them shoot and not in a patronising way.

That said, there are 'regular' folks who do amazing stuff too. No one group is special, no one group is worse or should be pitied. Disabled people can do awesome things and be complete shits just like anyone else, much like you can be racist whatever colour your skin happens to be.

We kind of live in a society where you are expected to be nicer to certain groups because they are 'worse off' than you are. Most of the time they aren't.

 

[Akimoto]

"The path to hell is paved with good intentions"

Don't let that get you down, it's a sentence that could have been taken out of context. 'Hell' can have alot of meanings. Is it an after-death hell? Or is it a relationship hell? That said it's good on you that you're aware of such an issue. Keep doing good and you'll reap the harvest in due time - and by harvest I mean both growing as a well-rounded person and increasing your circle of friends who appreciate you.

I have a disabled friend whom I befriended purely out of curiosity but over time we have become good friends. In her case I have never pitied her, but the initial intentions were not exactly right. In my case I had a helpful family and was encouraged to have show her the same respect and care I would anyone else. I have benefited from the friendship we have though and I agree with you that we should reconsider or maybe tone down the worship we may give to certain disabled people. All they want may be simply the chance to live life just like everyone.

Or maybe it's simply because I ended on Hanako's bad end too the first time round. In my defense I was distracted by Lily.

 

[Dwarfman]

Snip

So,what do you think about disabled people?

To be frank I think of most of them as just normal people. Sure some of them can't see, or hear, or talk, or walk, but nobody is 'normal', everyone has they're own problems. It's how that person deals with those problems that defines whether or not they are disabled - and that includes 'normal people'. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule. A person who requires 24 hour care is clearly disabled but yet again that could apply to anyone.

My High school was one of a few in Brisbane that had a Special Education block. From years 8 - 12 I was working with and interacting with fellow students who were blind, deaf, wheelchair bound or had severe learning difficulties. As part of orientation in year 8 we were all divided into groups. Each group had at least one 'Special Ed.' kid in the ranks. My group had two blind kids. In this group we got together once a week with two mentors from year 12 and do team building activities. One of these activities was dubbed blind leading the blind. We were all blind folded and formed two 'conga' lines, each line lead by one of the blind kids. There job was to lead us through the school. Holy shit did they lead us alright. Over benches, tables, stairways, through classrooms, all over the shop. These guys had the whole place mapped out in their freakin' heads! Fumbling around with these guys was more than a little humbling and taught me one very important rule in life. These people are anything but disabled.

 

[Lieju]

Everyone has things they can do and things they can't do, is what I always say.

My best friend is visually impaired (almost blind), and I never had any issues with it. There's stuff he can't do, and things he will do better than me.

What did bother me, though, was when people assumed that I was hanging out with him out of pity or some kind of obligation. I had teachers come and tell me 'It's great he has someone to spend time with.'

I was confused by that. I don't hang out with him because he can't see, I hang out with him because we are both shy nerds who like to talk about Doctor Who and math.

There also were nasty rumors about him, as he was one of the best students in our high school, that he only did so well because people took pity on him.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Well I have nothing against or anything negative against disable people seeing how one of my friends is disable (wheelchair). Despite of his handicap he still live out his life the way he want it since he got his own custom car for him to drive, his own flat and he still get to visit his favourite song artist.

 

[cricketer15]

according to other parts of the internet, i am a mentally disabled kid that have no friends, is always wrong and cannot spell propely. fortunately for people like us, we get free parking space close to the entry.

 

[Ratties]

You know I only have a problem with the people that get pissed off when you do something that is expected of you. Okay so this woman in a wheel chair was coming up behind me. You know I held the door open for her. All I did was go inside, then hold it open. Remember not saying anything, I didn't even smile because I usually don't. Eventually she just came inside with this pissed off look on her face directed at me. You know I just wanted to wheel her into oncoming traffic.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Special Olympics by Stephen Lynch (Comedy song....ok)

Watch them run, watch them fall,
Watch them try to catch a ball, olympics
At the special olympics.

Watch them laugh, watch them drool,
Watch them fall into the pool, that's diving.
At the special olympics.

And I know full well, that I will burn in hell,
But those guys playing wheelchair basketball gotta be about the funniest freakin' thing I've ever seen in my life,
At the special olympics.

[spoken]
Verse Two
[singing]
Kid with downs wins the race, even though he stood in place, olympics.
At the special...(laughter)olympics.

'Round his neck, gold medals hung.
Resting on his giant tongue, olympics.
Special olympics.

But I kid when I sing, cause these games are a beautiful thing.
Okay, really, I'm just avoiding karma, 'cus i know my kids could be born blind, crippled, semi-retarded and i'll have to spend all of my time...
at the special olympics.

--------------------------

Find it on youtube if you hate reading.

Any way the issue with disabled people are that they are a person with a disability. But still people. Yes the disability stops them doing certain things but they are still people regardless. You are defined by who you are, not what you are. So a kid in a wheelchair is still an arsehole if he runs into you for fun....he is just a disabled arsehole. (Yeah, this kid was in my school and got away with it cos of the wheelchair thing). But as we saw from the disabled olympics in London, those people are amazing. And, ok, there is a difference between mental and physical disabled people....i wouldnt always compare them the same. If your a healthy human with one leg, it sucks, but not the same if you have both legs but are mentally disabled.....that really has a major impact on your life. So i guess, what im saying is treat them as people first that has a disability instead of seeing them as their disability and not be people.

 

[Da Orky Man]

They are people who are disabled. That's about it. I got awfully close to having to be in a wheelchair due to severe scoliosis, but the NHS put half a kilo of titanium in my back and I am better, stronger, faster than the rest of the human race.
...
Yeah, had to do it.

 

[Nomadiac]

Today I learned that disabled people are people.

In all seriousness, though, this is something a lot of people just don't remember. They're not defined by their disability, and I can imagine that it must be pretty bad - dehumanising, even - to be treated like they are.

 

[Silvanus]

Once, I was trawling forums dedicated to aliens/ conspiracy theories (because I had just finished series 1 of the X Files), and I came across a thread that stuck in my mind.

The fella was talking about an "encounter" he had out in the middle of nowhere one night. He reported passing by somebody else, and noticing the other had pure black eyes-- no sclera, all solid black. The guy (who was a big name on this particular forum, and certainly speaking unironically) was reporting this to the forum as an encounter with an alien. He described a sensation of fear, you know it all.


It just made me so very, very sad. I looked around medical sites, and found (of course) that there are conditions that affect the sclera or eye colouration, conditions that can turn it grey or even near-black. Obviously, this guy had encountered somebody with an eye condition.

And yet, that wasn't his conclusion. His bloody fear of the other had led him to assume, "alien", before "medical condition".