Benefits Of Ableism : Social Costs Incurred By Disability

The exact impact of a disability on the life of an individual varies according to a number

Individuals with disability have had a long history of maltreatment in America. From being thought of as possessed individuals in need of exorcism, targeted for heinous experiments, unknowingly sterilized, being labeled imbecile, feeble minded, and retarded, to being shipped off to state schools or mental asylums, those with disabilities were given no consideration as a valuable and able to contribute member of society. In a speech to congress, Frank Bowe, a highly educated deaf-man highlighted this claim by stating, “we are not even second-class citizens, we are third-class citizens” (Bowe, F. 1977--need citation), and Jim Cherry (2001) furthered the ideal in his words, that prior to “1970 we [disabled citizens] had no right to education, to employment, to transportation, to housing, or to voting. There were no civil rights laws for us, no federal advocacy grants. Few people looked beyond our medical needs” (Cherry, J.L, 2001 http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/0701/0701cov.htm). Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 attempted to fundamentally change how disabled people were reguarded.

In 1973 the section 504 rehabilitation act banned discrimination on people with disabilities. “For the first time, the exclusion and segregation of people with disabilities was viewed as discrimination” (Mayerson). People thought that people with disabilities that were unemployed and uneducated was “inevitable” (Mayerson). People fighting for the disabled proved that this was wrong and needed to be changed. The Americans with Disabilities act changed nothing for the employment for them, and by 2018 people with disabilities were still getting wages 40 percent below a “healthy person’s” (Picker). But, despite some unchanged discrimination the fixing of the equality between the disabled and nondisabled, right now, is that the Americans

It is reasonable to argue that, over the last century or so, the United States has made great strides in addressing issues of injustice. Feminism, the Civil Rights movement, and activism from gay men and women have transformed laws and greatly changed the ways in which these populations were once perceived as inferior. There are still major conflicts regarding race relations, just as issues remain with other minorities and women's rights. At the same time, there has been remarkable progress, indicating a nation more aware of its ethical obligation to treat all equally. To some extent, this same awareness goes to the disabled. Unfortunately, this is a population still very much victimized by bias, and because

Disability in a socio-cultural context can be defined as "a barrier to participation of people with impairments or chronic illnesses arising from an interaction of the impairment or illness with discriminatory attitudes, cultures, policies or institutional practices" (Booth, 2000). The traditional view of disability often focuses on the individual, highlighting incapacities or failings, a defect, or impairment. This focus creates obstacles to participation on equal terms since an individual who seems to lack certain capacities may not be able to attain autonomy.

According to the Legal Information Institute (2015), Congress concluded that “discrimination against individuals with disabilities persists in such critical areas as education, transportation, communication, recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and access to public services.” The finding in this case, together with the extensive record of disability discrimination that underlies it, makes it clear beyond peradventure that inadequate provision of public services and access to public facilities was an appropriate subject for prophylactic legislation (LLI,

The amount of people who live with disabilities is a controversial number. Depending on what law and diagnostic tools used, a person may have a visible disability, or one that may lie beneath the surface of his or her appearance. Some people believe that the term “disability” is merely a label use to hold back, or prescribe helplessness. Meanwhile, individuals who have been properly diagnosed with disabilities struggle to maintain respect and acceptance every day. In plain language, there is a lot of misunderstanding between people with disabilities and those without. It is firstly important to get everyone on the same page regarding the definition of disability.

With nearly 20% of Americans having a disability, the voice of the disability community is growing stronger and louder. The disability community has worked long and hard to ensure that people with disabilities are included in conventional American life and not sent away to institutions such as mental hospitals and nursing homes. While the disability community has made large strides towards equality, there is still much to come until people with disabilities are truly integrated in mainstream life. For example, Scott Randolf, a Vietnam veteran who lost his sight and legs from duty, complains that he is not getting the help he needs. His wheelchair is unable to fit through several doors; if he falls on the floor, he is not able to get up until the ambulance and

The degree of ability or disability may vary over time and across different life domains. Furthermore, continued disability has been linked to institutionalization, discrimination and social exclusion as well as to the inherent effects of disorders. Alternatively, functioning may be affected by the stress of having to hide a condition in work or school etc., by adverse effects of medications or other substances, or by mismatches between illness-related variations and demands for

The United States as a whole suffers from numerous social controversies in the form of discrimination, most taking the form of “isms”. Americans exhibit prejudice “isms” such as sexism, ageism, racism, as well as classism; additionally, one discriminatory ism less known to the public but still affecting countless Americans each day is ableism. Ableism can be interpreted loosely as “the practices and dominant attitudes in society that devalue and limit the potential of persons with disabilities” (“What Is Ableism?”).

The health care system in the United States is complex, highly fragmented, and sometimes overly restrictive in terms of program eligibility. This leaves some people with disabilities with no health care coverage and others with cost-sharing obligations and limits on benefits that prevent them from obtaining health-preserving prescription medications, medical equipment, specialty care, dental and vision care, long-term care, and care coordination. Health and Health Disparities Research Dissonance is evident in the research goals and objectives of key agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) between the longstanding public health goal of eliminating disability and disease

Persons with disabilities from minority communities have higher unemployment rate and little access to services than non-minority communities. While presenting the National Council on Disability findings, Leung & Wright, (1993) in their report to the President and Congress stated that persons with disabilities as a group “are more at risk, have fewer personal and family resources, have less knowledge and understanding of externally available resources, and fare less well socioeconomically than do minorities without disabilities” (Leung & Wright, (1993 p.

As we all know our health is the most important thing we as human have, without good health we have nothing. it doesn’t matter how well we take care of ourselves one day age is going to catch up to us and we will become disabled. Even though Americans live in the only industrialized nation without universal health care, those with disabilities can generally find adequate levels of subsidized support from a variety of sources. In the 2010 Census, disabled people were defined as those who have difficulty performing certain functions such as seeing, hearing, talking, walking, climbing stairs, and lifting, or performing activities of daily living. Americans

Ableism is discrimination and social injustice against people with disabilities. Here, “injustice” is essentially the same thing we mean as when we talk about racism or sexism, except that it’s leveled against people with disabilities.

An article in the American Journal of Public Health discussed how a disproportionate amount of individuals that are diagnosed with disabilities are from the lower class or of a lower level of education as well as from racial and ethnic minorities (Miller 2014). One would like to think that those suffering from disabilities would receive not only a greater amount of care but also a higher level of care, however, this study found that that was not the case. In fact, the people of racial and ethnic minorities that were diagnosed with disabilities were less likely than their healthy racial/ethnic counterparts to receive adequate care and exponentially less likely than their white counterparts (Miller 2014). The question that spurred these findings was how one’s race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status produce differences in health insurance and health care. Sociologists did this by compiling data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey of 2001 to 2007 in order to measure the data in relation to race, ethnicity and SES. The results provided useful data, as discussed above, however it did lack in certain areas; the