This course (SPED 330, People with Disabilities: Social Discrimination and Oppression) has opened my eyes to issues and biases that I was not fully aware of. While I know we live in a society that has yet to completely move past its prejudices, I honestly had not realized just how difficult it is for someone living with a disability. My new understanding of it has been rather disheartening – and shameful, as I now know that I, too, have been prone to some of these prejudices as well. It’s disturbing when you realize that society has programmed you with such little effort.
My interest in this course was sparked when my boyfriend of over four years was in a serious accident. It left him with a shattered left leg and his back broken in four places. He was in the hospital for two weeks, then in a rehabilitation center for a month, before finally being sent home. He was in a wheelchair for awhile, before moving onto a walker. It was the first time I have ever had any true first-hand experience with disability; it was the first time I have ever been in public with anyone viewed by the public as disabled. And it was infuriating. The way that people looked at us was staggering – but it wasn’t until I saw their expressions from the ‘other side of the fence’ that I realized in the past, I too had worn the same face when looking on disabled people. Afterward, I was deeply ashamed of myself – and soon enrolled in SPED 330.
My major is meteorology, with a minor in broadcasting. Again, it was not until I had taken this course that I realized how closed off the broadcast industry is to those with disabilities. You never see a disabled television anchor, or a disabled meteorologist giving the forecast. And my question now is – why not? With all the advances we’ve made technologically, I simply don’t believe the old excuse of, “We can’t accommodate for their needs.” To be perfectly blunt, I believe the excuse these days is likely, “We don’t want to accommodate for their needs. It’s too expensive.” What a shoddy and embarrassing response. Technology is becoming cheaper by the day, so I can only wonder how long that excuse is going to hold out. And what will be the next excuse after that? Why the continued excuses? Why can’t general society get past its own discomfort and awkwardness?
Overall, my enrollment in this course has been both rewarding and frustrating. While it has helped me to better understand the viewpoint of the disabled and what the disabled community has had to battle through in the past, it has also aggravated me – because society is still so thick-headed. I have made an effort since my boyfriend’s accident, and even more so since this course, to become more aware of my own actions – and I have spoken heatedly to friends and family members about what I have learned. I can only hope that somehow, in the future, society as a whole will finally be able to let go of its past prejudices.
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