#disabilityvisability

[productiveborg]

I read this book earlier in the year and it will go down as one of my favorites. It should be required reading. 

[paigejakuszewski]

Unit Post: Disability Visibility

I bet many of you don’t know that Atticus Shaffer aka Brick from the TV show “The Middle” has osteogenesis imperfecta type IV a genetic condition. According to The National Library of Medicine, Osteogenesis imperfecta is a disorder in which the body doesn’t make enough collagen.  Since collagen provides structure for the bones, children with this disorder break bones much more easily. So why do people believe the way Brick walks and looks is part of the directors and Atticus’ acting choices?  By this show failing to address Atticus’ condition when it’s evident in the way he walks, it’s almost like they are ashamed of it or hiding it, but the truth of the matter is people could have disabilities and still live productive lives

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Many people view disabilities as a physical condition that limits a person’s movements, senses, or activities. However it doesn’t have to be visible to the eye, it could be a mental condition as well. Not everyone is born with their disability, but it can derive from an accident or just plain overtime. A statistic from disibilityfunders.org states that of the 69.6 million families in the United States, more than 20 million have at least one family member with a disability. So why then are disabilities rarely represented in pop culture? What movie/TV show can you name that depicts the life of a person living with a disability outside of the typical stereotypes? Not that many right?

Well “Push Girls” is one of them. “Push Girls” follows the life of four L.A. women who were all born able-bodied but later become paralyzed. The show depicts their daily lives and struggles of being in a wheelchair. It is the first of its kind to represent disabilities in this light. The women are happy and overcoming of obstacles, it shows that they are just like everyone else. But the problem is that these women don’t represent people with disabilities as a whole. These women are privileged; they are beautiful, have money, and none of them were born with this, they became injured in car accidents (with the exception of one).

Although “Push Girls” does a great job showing that not all people with disabilities are unhappy and would chose to be able-bodied, it needs some work. Let’s be honest, society listens to the media and yes disabled people need to be better represented, after all, they are the largest minority in America. But they don’t need to be represented in the stereotypical person in a wheelchair, or insane person way that we see in many movies. It’s crazy to think that society and the way people think is what defines a disability, if everyone stopped caring about what other people looked like, or their physical ability then no one would ever be disabled.