In today's media, we have seen articles, advertisements, movies and tv shows that portray disabled people. In the Disability Issues course at Sheridan, each of the modules examined controversial issues of how disabled people were treated in a negative way in the community. Some people believed that they don't deserve the same rights as we have, which is not true. The issue is that people usually see the disability first, not the person. In fact, they are humans as well so why treat them differently just because they have a disability? Here are two examples of information that I've really learned about from the course at Sheridan. Person-First Language refers to how you describe the person first before the disability. Others prefer Identity-first language whereas a person describes their identity before them, such as disabled or autistic. I've also learned different role perceptions from the course. For example, 1 out of the 12 role receptions that stood out to me the most in the course was the Object of Ridicule. This term refers to when people take advantage of them and to poke fun of disabled identities in various media. Below are two examples of both positive and negative social imagery that I've found based on my knowledge from the course.
In Disability Studies, cultural tropes as such as the supercrip and autistic savant are two examples of tropes that stereotype disabled and autistic people in television and movies.
In Disability Studies, cultural tropes as such as the supercrip and autistic savant are two examples of tropes that stereotype disabled and autistic people in television and movies.
Not all media is negative towards people with disabilities. In fact, most people had become successful in their education, career and finding a job in the real world. The Disability Issues course has taught me a valuable lesson on learning to how accept people for who they are, respecting their disability, and encouraging them to feel included. They all have the same feelings and emotions just like us. Treat them the same respect in a way that you want to be treated back.