Ableism

The first time that I watched this video was in my RMP 502 course. I am again simply amazed at these people. I think about people that are fully capable of doing these things with half of the amount of effort of the people in this video and they choose not to. The person in this video that struck me the most was the girl with no legs, her upper body strength was impeccable! It’s amazing how often I hear the words “I can’t” from various human beings. Don’t you think that this woman in this video could use this excuse and have it be some what valid? But she did not. She worked hard and made it happen. This video is more than inspirational to me. This dance expands notions of the human body, but I think it is more of an example of the notions of the mind. You can truly do anything you set your mind to. I believe that it took a lot of will power, courage and motivation for the people in this video more so than body strength.

This video can help address the issues surrounding disability by bringing forth the issues that “able bodied” people avoid.  It also focused on what these people were able to do instead of what they were not. This can help bring about awareness about the strengths and differences that both people with and without disabilities have. When people without disabilities see that people with a disability can do the same activities or share something in common with them, they may relate to them and become an advocate. Ableism structures our culture heavily. If you have a disability, sometimes you are left in the dust. Not everything is handicapped accessible, and children that have disabilities whether physical or intellectual are segregated. Disability from social security is not enough to live off of, so it’s really difficult to get a job and create a decent living when physically disabled. Society also advertises beautiful, “normal” people and does not feature anyone outside of their model norm. Unless Americans personally know someone who is disabled, it is unlikely that advocating for people with disabilities is a priority to them.