Privilege & Disabilities

In the beginning of Chapter 2 ableism, the discrimination against the mentally and physically disabled, is briefly discussed. It is said that ableism is a direct result of social factors that actively create standards of normality against which ability or disability is constructed.

This past week I spent my spring break in Charlotte, North Carolina working with Lifespan, which is a nonprofit organization that works with adults and children with developmental disabilities. It was easily the best week of my life. The main thing I learned from the trip is that the disability does not define the person.

Naturally, I have been thinking about this topic a lot and I am now thinking of this in terms of the privilege wheel. On the wheel it shows able-bodied people as privileged and on the reverse side it shows people with disabilities as being the oppressed. This is unfortunately sad, but true. As I saw first hand this past week, people with disabilities are less likely to have the skills and credentials that those without disabilities. In turn, this affects their likeliness to have jobs; however, this trend is slowly beginning to change. Organizations like Lifespan are working to train and help find jobs for the disabled, and recently this has been working. Now more than ever individuals with disabilities are working towards becoming active members of society. This is exciting and new and could very well change the trend that individuals have been experiencing for decades. Although it will take time before people with disabilities are completely integrated into society and thus change the privilege wheel, it is nice to see that progress is being made.