Laserfiche WebLink
Sometimes a result from the people that feel sorry for those i n <br />w heelchairs is speaking in an overly s y m pa thetic or senti may. <br />One day when I w about four years old nay dad took m e to a local <br />playground. A lady who was there with another child navy nee and started <br />saying things to dad like The poor angel! She' so sweet!" Peop will <br />also touch you when they wouldn"t touch an able bodied person. I heard <br />about a case w here a politician running for office literally pa tted a woman <br />in a wheelchair on the head! <br />The point I would like to make is that sometimes stereotyp <br />prejudice, and discrimination can be deceiving; at first they night app <br />"just being nice." For e one stereotype I have experienced is the <br />belief that if you are in a wheelchair, you are somehow "childlike no <br />natter what age you actually are. This can lead to the a that <br />the person must need a great deal of help, followed by the discrimination <br />of providing help (especially in the tone of voice that's usually used for <br />thr eye r odd b -fore there' been any real indication it v as needed, I <br />think there's a difference between asking if help is needed and just goin <br />ahead and doing it. <br />The question of what to d o about these feelings and actions is <br />complicated. I do fool that the w schools are organized now (inclusion <br />is much better than when kids with disabilities were all grouped in one <br />segregated school. To nee, the basis for most negative stereotypes, <br />prejudices, and discrimination is fear of something or someone. that is <br />unfamiliar. To combat that, the first step is obviously that you have to <br />actually know s omeone with a disability. For example, the kids that I <br />have been to school with since kindergarten usually treat rye more <br />na turally than kids I' ve just reset or adults who did not grog up close to <br />anyone w ith a disability. <br />Another w that inclusion is effective is that just by doing well in <br />y classes, both regular and accelerated, I help to counteract some of <br />the stereotypes I've mentioned. Being able to think of a <br />peifi <br />