The Main Challenges of the Disabled Persons - Assignment Example

?Order 668391 Critically discuss the following ment: “Attitudes towards disabled people are now more positive than they have ever been” Disabled people experience differential treatment in the society from different corners (Swain et al., 2004). They generally get a feeling that majority section of people will take a final decision on all important matters in the society and the views of the disabled people are not given much importance. The pain experienced by the disabled people is more in the form of psychological agony than lack of access to physical facilities. The main challenges of the disabled persons are in the form of personal tragedy, dependency, group discrimination and social oppression. In general the performance of students with disability is found to be inferior to that of people with out any disability (Klein, Wiley, & Thurlow, 2006; Thurlow, Bremer, & Albus, 2008; VanGetson & Thurlow, 2007). This makes them to undergo severe mental stress and trauma and constant struggle. Group discrimination can be reduced by counseling the people about the right way of treating disabled persons. The disabled people will feel handicapped if they are subjected to some form of discrimination or barriers in accessing to various systems of the society. This may be in the form of cultural, social or physical barriers. In other words, the handicap is basically a function of relationship between the disability and their environment (Barnes, 1991). Hence, the normal people as part of environment should behave in such a manner that the disabled persons don’t get a feeling of discrimination. This is our social and moral responsibility and we should strive to take care of the genuine interests of the disabled persons. Disability occurs accidentally, but the handicap occurs only through our ill treatment and attitudes which can be very much corrected through different means. In the earlier period, the extent of negative and ill attitudes of normal people towards the disabled persons was found to be quite higher. The disabled persons had undergone severe setbacks in the form of lack of access to several means and services in the fields of education and employment. They were considerably discriminated in the name of physical and mental disability. This led to severe mental harassment and psychological agony among the disabled persons. However, in the recent days, there has been a remarkable change in the attitude towards this section. The approach towards the disabled people has turned more positive than ever before in our society. The role of legislation and judiciary in bringing positive change towards the disabled people is praiseworthy (Lawson and Gooding, 2005). In this context, attention is drawn to Public Law 94-142, Education for all the handicapped children act and Rehabilitation Act of 1973. These laws paved the way for better access of the disabled people towards education and employment. The Public Law 94-142 (Education of All Handicapped Children Act) is presently known as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act brought tremendous prospects for the disabled children in United States of America. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits the discrimination on grounds of disability in having access to means and services provided by Federal agencies in United States. This confirms the fact that the legislation played vital role in enhancing the living standards of disabled people in the recent years. However, the desirable change in the mindset of the people would provide a better and permanent relief than the forceful implementation of rules and legislation. It heartening to note that the positive attitude towards the disabled persons in the society has witnessed a phenomenal rise in the recent years. Thorough understanding of the causes and consequences of disability is vital in bringing a desirable change in attitudes and behavior of general public towards the disabled people. In several cases, the causes of the disability are not in the hands of the people as they are of genetic origin. In some cases, due to accidents and other unfortunate circumstances, the people are becoming disabled partially or completely. In both the scenarios, the disabled people have no role in acquiring the disability. Hence, the general public must understand that it is our minimum courtesy to extend cooperation towards the people with disability. This thinking process will certainly improve their positive attitude towards the disabled persons. As several individuals and organizations came forward to protect the interests of the disabled people, they helped in pumping this positive thinking among different sections of the society. The attitude of service providers towards the disabled persons would play vital role in motivating them to shapen their role in society (Benham, 1988). In several occasions, it was revealed that the educationalists have been serving their roles mechanically with out refining their ethical responsibilities (Lyons, 1991). Hence there is a need to conduct research on attitudes and behavior of students and professionals and train them to take up the job more effectively (Duckworth, 1988). The academic and professional education must integrate the principles and practices of ethical behavior of professionals towards disabled persons and the ideology and practice of social responsibility (Wolfensberger, 1983). There were times when disabled people were neglected in representing their difficulties and problems in decision making. Some other sections of society used to represent the woes of disabled people which was found to be ineffective. Later, some individuals and organizations have come forward to address the basic issues of disabled people that resulted in the meaningful representation of their challenges in media. This has also led to educate people to take up and realize their social responsibility towards treatment of disabled persons. In general, since 1950s, irrespective of the region, considerable number of organizations emerged which witnessed tremendous growth rate in the recent past. The disability is a condition in which person suffers from some impairment that results in difficulty in performing physical and mental tasks. In other words, it is a state of disadvantage or restriction of activity due to disability (Barker et al., 1953). Hence, the disabled persons require utmost care from different sections of the society, other wise they will be subjected to discrimination and mental depression which is unhealthy. The law of equality states that no person in the society should be discriminated on grounds of physical impairment (Wadham et al., 2010). People with impairments, like every other mentally healthy person, can learn to place their highest values on what they have or can attain and lesser value on what they don’t have or can’t attain (Meyerson, 1955). As mentioned now, the origin of higher number of voluntary organizations helped in better treatment of disabled persons through different means. The role of Disability Alliance, Disabled Drivers’ Association, British Council of Organizations of Disabled People, Voluntary Organizations for Anti-discriminatory Legislation and Disablement Income Group in improving the living condition of disabled persons in United Kingdom is noteworthy. Some organizations involve in training the people how to treat disabled persons and they motivate people to perform their social responsibility towards the disabled persons. Efforts were also made to train the disabled persons how to represent their rights in the society. The medical and welfare service functionaries have a greater role in addressing the challenges faced by the disabled persons and they must be trained properly. Majority of these functionaries are under control of Government or State and hence, the provision of in-house trainings regarding the effective means of treating disabled persons would be effective. An understanding of the consequences of the social model of disability for disabled people and their families and careers would certainly help in addressing their problems in a better manner. The people with different types of disabilities have to be tackled with different approaches. For example, the people with specific learning disabilities will have problem in understanding any mathematic calculations, logical interpretations due to mental impairment caused by brain injury. They may be subjected to remediation techniques or compensatory techniques or by applying the combined methods for bringing desirable improvement in their learning abilities (Gresten et al., 2001; Thompson et al., 2004). Remediation techniques will help in identification of specific problem areas in learning process and diagnosing the same where as compensatory techniques aim in developing additional learning areas through modern tools and techniques. This will certainly make the disabled persons more competitive and confident about their improving personality and hence their sensitivity level towards other people would be minimum. This would also result in better attitudes of general public towards the disabled persons. The role of legislation in ensuring the protection of rights of the disabled persons is remarkable. The positive attitude towards the disabled persons was also contributed by the introduction of some legislative acts which not only enhanced the awareness among the general public about the issues of disabled persons but also made them aware about their moral duties and created some sense of fear about the punishment in cases of violation of Acts. For example, the introduction of Education Act (1944), Education Act (1981) and Education Reform Act (1988) brought remarkable improvement in the status of disabled children in accessing higher quality of education in schools in Great Britain. At global level, one must appreciate the efforts of United Nations in safeguarding the interests of the disabled persons. The UN clearly states that it is highly committed to prevent the disability and it fights for equal opportunities for all the human beings in all the fields. The positive role played by Commission of European Communities in enhancing the standard of living of disabled persons also helped in witnessing better attitudes of general public towards the disabled persons. One significant development for protection of rights of disabled people in United Kingdom occurred recently in the form of The Equality Act 2010 which targets for preventing any form of disability discrimination. Most importantly, it aims in providing legal rights for disabled people in the spheres of education and employment. This also paves the way for better access to different types of goods, services and facilities. In some instances, the people who have an association with disabled persons are being discriminated directly or indirectly which is strictly prohibited according to this Act. Overall, it may be concluded that the combined and dedicated efforts of some individuals and organizations helped in bringing desirable positive attitudes of people in the present era compared to earlier period towards the disabled persons along with necessary amendments in the legislation for better implementation of the equality acts. References Barker, R.G., Wright, B.A., Meyerson, L., and Gonick, M. 1953. Adjustment to physical handicap and illness.New York: SocialScience Research council. Barnes, C. 1991. Disabled people in Britain and discrimination. A case for anti- discrimination legislation. C. Hurst & Co Publishers. P:264. Benham, P.K. 1988. Attitudes of occupational therapy personnel toward persons with disabilities. American journal of Occupational Therapy, 42, pp.305-311. Duckworth, S.C. 1988. The effect of medical education on the attitudes of medical students towards disabled people. Medical Education, 22, pp.501-505. 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Blackstone’s Guide to the Equality Act 2010. Oxford University Press, P:494. Wolfensberger, W. 1983. Social role valorization: A proposed new term for the principle of normalization. Mental Retardation, 21, pp.234-239. Read More