According to the World Health Organization disability is refered to as "any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function" as well as "any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being"; "handicap" refers to a disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment or a disability, that limits or prevents the fulfillment of a role that is normal (depending on age, sex, and social and cultural factors) for that individual( United Nations Division).
Violence against disabled women in other countries is more common within this society than that of women who are not disabled. Also, research has showed that disabled women are abused just as women who are not disabled. The extent of abuse is from caregivers, medical facilities, and people who are in constant contact with these women.
Conception and women with disability is not looked at in the same light. I have found that women who are disabled are not encouraged to reproduce. What needs to be understood is that the problem is not the disability because the disability does not lie in the impairment of function but instead in the area in the relationship with "normal people" (Crawshaw, 1994, 27).
Work Cite
Crawshaw, G. (1994) "Is there an urgent need for the development of a social model of impairment?". Australian Disability Review; Vol.4, pp.27-35.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Percentage of women with disabilties in relation to receving an higher education
Some findings that I found was that minorities with disabilities are not encouraged to pursue a higher education. Also, I found that these minorities who were not encouraged to plan for a higher education were predominately women. According to the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, and National Postsecondary Student Aid Study reported as following:
Sex, age, race/ethnicity, and enrollment and
All students No disability With disability
Gender
Female 44.3 43.5 57.2
Male 55.7 56.6 42.8
Age (years)
15–23 15.1 15.6 7.5
24–29 44.8 45.0 41.4
39 and older 40.1 39.4 51.1
Race/ethnicity
White 59.7 59.0 70.5
Asian 22.4 23.3 9.4
Black 7.1 7.2 5.5
Hispanic 6.3 6.2 8.5
American Indian/ 0.6 0.6 0.0
Native Hawaiian/ 0.7 0.8 0.0
Other 1.4 1.5 0.6
Mostly full time 70.0 70.4 64.9
Mostly part time 25.9 25.4 32.3
Citizenship status
U.S. citizen 73.0 72.0 88.1
Resident alien 5.8 5.8 5.8
Foreign/ 21.2 22.2 6.1
International Student
Sex, age, race/ethnicity, and enrollment and
All students No disability With disability
Gender
Female 44.3 43.5 57.2
Male 55.7 56.6 42.8
Age (years)
15–23 15.1 15.6 7.5
24–29 44.8 45.0 41.4
39 and older 40.1 39.4 51.1
Race/ethnicity
White 59.7 59.0 70.5
Asian 22.4 23.3 9.4
Black 7.1 7.2 5.5
Hispanic 6.3 6.2 8.5
American Indian/ 0.6 0.6 0.0
Native Hawaiian/ 0.7 0.8 0.0
Other 1.4 1.5 0.6
Mostly full time 70.0 70.4 64.9
Mostly part time 25.9 25.4 32.3
Citizenship status
U.S. citizen 73.0 72.0 88.1
Resident alien 5.8 5.8 5.8
Foreign/ 21.2 22.2 6.1
International Student
Sunday, November 18, 2007
WwDs (Women with Dissabilities)
Since the 1970's an increase awareness regarding disabled women has come to play in today's society. It is estimated that over 36 million people in the U.S. have some kind of disabling condition. The population of disabled is increasingly higher with women then it is with men. Many factors make it possible for these figures to hold truth. Women now a days live longer then men and women out number men in general. However, when it comes to the work field, disabled women are discriminated against more then disabled men. "Although, physical restrictions play a significant role, social restrictions generated by negative attitudes impose greater hadicaps, because socially created barriers effectively prevent full community participation."(Deegan and Brooks,1985). Despite the attention to the disability movement, no recognition has been given to the disabled women.
Disabled women are being sterotyped, assuming the are not capable of performance, eventhough she may have the same disability as another disabled man. The reason is because a lot of the energy has been focused on male experiences. For example employment issues. It is estimated that between 65% to 76% disabled women are unemployed. The numbers are higher unfortunately for the disabled older women. These are the ones who live longer and out number men. This is an epidemic because most of these elderly women do not have family members that would take them in or offer some kind of support.
The movement has made a change for the better. Many disabled women have accomplish personal goals, that a bodied able women would never conquer. A perfect example is Helen Keller, not only did she help the movement as well, she was a public speaker who represented disabled women with more then one disability. Her story is a perfect example of someone who was blind, deaf, and mute and yet was able to communicate with the world about her experiences.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Gender, Class, Sexuality Issues...
A person with a disability includes learning disability, developmental, cognitive, emotional, physical, as well as sensory impairments that limit the performance of a major life activity. Society targets people with disabilities because some people are more equal than others. The disabled play an inferior role in which people that are not disabled dominate. The disabled are not treated equal, on the contrary they are discriminated. Discrimination is when a person is treated as less, inauspiciously because of certain traits without justification or not adjusting to their needs. Gender, sexuality, and class are crucial factors –double discrimination- in which their disability is the target.
Gender
Discrimination is more prevalent among females with disabilities. When a woman gives birth to a child with some type of impairment or disability the family places the burden on her. The father of the disabled child leaves all the work to the mother including care for child, feeding, bathing, clothing, and nurturing. Baring a child with a physical disability also puts the blame on the mother. “It is her fault that the baby was born this way.” It is not unusual for the husband to want a divorce because of this. Husbands do not want to be married to women that bare children with disabilities. I find this striking because the burden should not only be placed on the women nor the blame. Both helped conceive the child so it is not about whom is to blame but work together to care for the child.
Women with disabilities are more prone to being abused, with acts of violence. Women and girls are sexualy abused, physicaly abused, or raped. It is a “silent act” because women are not capable to accuse these acts of violence because of their physical or mental disability. They are also not as likely to report these acts.
Class
Females with disabilities have a higher risk of having health problems, becoming poor, and death. The overprotection of parents and dependency leads to these factors. Society also makes disabled individuals feel like they need to depend on their family as well as others. Families overprotect their children because they do not want them to get hurt but do not realize that their children might not able to function and survive in society or on their own. Individuals with disabilities think that they are in fact helpless therefore are isolated from others, social learning, don’t experience on their own, and think that making mistakes is not normal.
In developing countries people are just uneducated about this subject. Parents and people do not know how to deal with individuals with physical impairments, cognitive, visual, and so forth. For example, when I went to Central America in December of 2006 I noticed that there were no type of programs or services for people with disabilities. Society does not want to deal with them so they just push them aside. Students with disabilities are not included in the mainstream. I met a child that was bind. His family did not have the resources, or education so did not send him to school, and just stayed home. His family was so overprotective because they neither wanted anyone in school making fun of him nor him getting hurt. They did everything for him therefore the child was so dependent that he could not even brush his teeth on his own.
Ways Individuals are Discriminated
People with disabilities in Norway have lower a education compared to the rest of the population. Jobs are not available for the disabled. They are discriminated against because of their physical disability or physical characteristics. People would prefer to hire a "normal person" than a person whom is blind or in a wheel chair. The individuals that do not work rely on special assistance or services and are on pensions. 9 out of 10 young individuals on a pension say they would prefer to work than to be home. They would like to work and be to survive in this society but people do not permit them to be elf-sufficient. Society makes them become dependant and tells them they are helpless. 31% of persons with physical impairments never visit cafés or restaurants, compared to 9% of the population at large (Ziesler). The law in Norwegia excluded the disabled from any type of services, which are available to the rest of the public. They are secluded from any type of normal or everyday activities because they are portrayed as lesser beings.
Sexuality Issues
People with disabilities face different types of issues with sexuality during early childhood, adolescence, and early reproductive years. In childhood gender lays the foundation for gender roles. Gender roles include female and male activities or the way society influences the way we act with masculinity or femininity. A person with a physical disability may have limited exposure to gender roles and may not be able to experience them spontaneously. In “Reproductive Issues for Persons with Physical Disabilities,” the author states that a person with physical disabilities has limited development of psychosexual and social maturity (Haseltine 4). Individuals with disabilities have limited development in these areas because they are too dependant, families are overprotective, and are not allowed to experience on their own. They also do not have the ability to develop social skills needed to function in society. Most of the information that we acquire about sex comes from our peers or the media. They lack awareness as well as comprehension of sex education and normal behaviors. Most families do not allow them to experience sexuality because it is not "normal."
Women with disabilities say that their experiences with sexuality happened later than women who do not have disabilities (Haseltine10). When intimate with a disabled female or male one needs to consider playing gender roles. He/she would need to have initiative, be playful, and confident.
Society and people are to blame at some degree because they reinforce dependency. The disabled are influenced to think that they are helpless and need assistance to communicate and act. Therefore it leads to difficulty in social learning, educating themselves about special services, sexual behaviors, sexual relationships, sexual development, health problems, poverty, death, and so on. We need to stop this endless cycle of hate and oppression, and love everyone.
Resources
Haseltine, F., Cole, S., and Gray, D. (1990). Reproductive Issues for Persons with Physical Disabilities. Maryland: Paul H. Brookes.
Ziesler, M., (2002) Double discrimination against disabled women in rich and poor countries. Retrieved November 12, 2007,
Web site:http://www.disabilityworld.org/index.htm
Gender
Discrimination is more prevalent among females with disabilities. When a woman gives birth to a child with some type of impairment or disability the family places the burden on her. The father of the disabled child leaves all the work to the mother including care for child, feeding, bathing, clothing, and nurturing. Baring a child with a physical disability also puts the blame on the mother. “It is her fault that the baby was born this way.” It is not unusual for the husband to want a divorce because of this. Husbands do not want to be married to women that bare children with disabilities. I find this striking because the burden should not only be placed on the women nor the blame. Both helped conceive the child so it is not about whom is to blame but work together to care for the child.
Women with disabilities are more prone to being abused, with acts of violence. Women and girls are sexualy abused, physicaly abused, or raped. It is a “silent act” because women are not capable to accuse these acts of violence because of their physical or mental disability. They are also not as likely to report these acts.
Class
Females with disabilities have a higher risk of having health problems, becoming poor, and death. The overprotection of parents and dependency leads to these factors. Society also makes disabled individuals feel like they need to depend on their family as well as others. Families overprotect their children because they do not want them to get hurt but do not realize that their children might not able to function and survive in society or on their own. Individuals with disabilities think that they are in fact helpless therefore are isolated from others, social learning, don’t experience on their own, and think that making mistakes is not normal.
In developing countries people are just uneducated about this subject. Parents and people do not know how to deal with individuals with physical impairments, cognitive, visual, and so forth. For example, when I went to Central America in December of 2006 I noticed that there were no type of programs or services for people with disabilities. Society does not want to deal with them so they just push them aside. Students with disabilities are not included in the mainstream. I met a child that was bind. His family did not have the resources, or education so did not send him to school, and just stayed home. His family was so overprotective because they neither wanted anyone in school making fun of him nor him getting hurt. They did everything for him therefore the child was so dependent that he could not even brush his teeth on his own.
Ways Individuals are Discriminated
People with disabilities in Norway have lower a education compared to the rest of the population. Jobs are not available for the disabled. They are discriminated against because of their physical disability or physical characteristics. People would prefer to hire a "normal person" than a person whom is blind or in a wheel chair. The individuals that do not work rely on special assistance or services and are on pensions. 9 out of 10 young individuals on a pension say they would prefer to work than to be home. They would like to work and be to survive in this society but people do not permit them to be elf-sufficient. Society makes them become dependant and tells them they are helpless. 31% of persons with physical impairments never visit cafés or restaurants, compared to 9% of the population at large (Ziesler). The law in Norwegia excluded the disabled from any type of services, which are available to the rest of the public. They are secluded from any type of normal or everyday activities because they are portrayed as lesser beings.
Sexuality Issues
People with disabilities face different types of issues with sexuality during early childhood, adolescence, and early reproductive years. In childhood gender lays the foundation for gender roles. Gender roles include female and male activities or the way society influences the way we act with masculinity or femininity. A person with a physical disability may have limited exposure to gender roles and may not be able to experience them spontaneously. In “Reproductive Issues for Persons with Physical Disabilities,” the author states that a person with physical disabilities has limited development of psychosexual and social maturity (Haseltine 4). Individuals with disabilities have limited development in these areas because they are too dependant, families are overprotective, and are not allowed to experience on their own. They also do not have the ability to develop social skills needed to function in society. Most of the information that we acquire about sex comes from our peers or the media. They lack awareness as well as comprehension of sex education and normal behaviors. Most families do not allow them to experience sexuality because it is not "normal."
Women with disabilities say that their experiences with sexuality happened later than women who do not have disabilities (Haseltine10). When intimate with a disabled female or male one needs to consider playing gender roles. He/she would need to have initiative, be playful, and confident.
Society and people are to blame at some degree because they reinforce dependency. The disabled are influenced to think that they are helpless and need assistance to communicate and act. Therefore it leads to difficulty in social learning, educating themselves about special services, sexual behaviors, sexual relationships, sexual development, health problems, poverty, death, and so on. We need to stop this endless cycle of hate and oppression, and love everyone.
Resources
Haseltine, F., Cole, S., and Gray, D. (1990). Reproductive Issues for Persons with Physical Disabilities. Maryland: Paul H. Brookes.
Ziesler, M., (2002) Double discrimination against disabled women in rich and poor countries. Retrieved November 12, 2007,
Web site:http://www.disabilityworld.org/index.htm
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