The ableist conflation by Joel Reynolds - Essay Example

The Ableist of Conflation by Joel Reynold Ableist conflation is cultural, al and individual set of practices and beliefs that assign different (lower) value to people who have developmental, emotional, physical, sensory or health-related disabilities, this is mainly caused due to transformation brought by personal initiative on how one behaves over a period of time, social culture when they associate with others and Horizontal as stated by Joel Reynolds.Disabled people have been working for social and political change in society for many years, just as other social groups like women, African-Americans, gay people and other social minorities have struggled for equality.

As many groups have done, disabled people have been engaged in what Anspach calls “identity politics”; politics that endeavor not only to change society’s conception and response to disabled people, but also to change the self-concepts of disabled people themselves. The work of disabled people in changing how they think about themselves continues, as the disability community struggles for self-definition and self-determination, as well as for civil rights. One of the most important problems facing the political struggle of people with disabilities is the necessity of developing a positive sense of identity.

The very idea of a positive disability identity flies in the face of long-standing social “wisdom” about disability. The reason for this lies in the cultural beliefs about disability that have determined the status and perceptions of disabled people in our society today. Historically, disabled people were viewed as social and moral deviants, violations of the natural and cosmic order of the universe (Reynold, J). The response to such “deviance” was to protect society by separating disabled people from society in asylums, jails, basements, attics, etc.

Disabled people were not considered fully human, had no role in society, and no basis for a positive social identityThe theories of psychosocial identity development in onset disability, particularly minority identity development, provide a useful framework for exploring the concept of disability identity development as a minority culture phenomenon. Within the literature of identity development, few theorists have explicitly addressed the issue of disability, yet the models provide fertile ground for exploration.

In contrast, an extensive body of rehabilitation literature exists that is grounded in the medical view of disability that has generated research findings that support and reinforce a medical zed view of disability( Reynold, J). Such a literature may provide an understanding of the context out of which a positive disability identity must struggle for development, but is insufficient as a framework for exploring disability identity development itself.A final element of disabled people’s stage towards wholeness explored in this research is the expressed need to be valued and accepted as a human variation, one of a myriad of possible diverse human forms.

Understanding the sub-optimal worldview that hierarchically categorizes those diverse human forms provides the tools for reconstructing a worldview and personal/collective identity that can claim an equal place at the human table. Understanding how that worldview structures, and influences relationships of the spirit, body, and nature can provide a means of integrating ones’ sense of self within the body and across the body politic of the disability community. And in experiencing unity with others, and within oneself, be able to extend the disability identity development beyond its essential roots in disability rights into the less concrete, but no less essential, place of experiencing spiritual unity.

The work that must be done now is to develop a knowledge base that truly reflects the disability identity development process. Without the knowledge of how that process actually unfolds, effective strategies cannot be developed to nurture that development. References:Reynold, J. The Ableist Conflation.