Week 4: People with Disabilities


I agree with the first article you posted in that usually people with disabilities are only put in the news when they have overcome their challenges, medical stories or updates. That I can recall, the only time on broadcast news that they have interviewed handicapped people was when there was a story about them or a story about what they are doing to adapt to regular life. They are never used as just regular sources on regular stories, but instead are only used when the story is about them. People with disabilities shouldn't be used just for special stories where they are a subject or a category instead of real, individual people. Whether it's a story about politics, new buildings, the economy, society, ectera they should have an equal chance to get interviewed like any other citizen.

Most of the time, people with disabilities are viewed as helpless and dependent on others to help them with their lives. On the other hand, I am constantly amazed by the blind here on campus. There is no way that I could do what they do. They have took their lives and ignored their disabilities and concentrated on things that they do have. I couldn't imagine memorizing the entire campus, knowing how many steps between the building and where everything is located on their mental map.

Another amazing person I know is my friend, Crissy, who cannot walk without the aid of crutches and she usually has to use a wheelchair. She is not even phased by her disability at all. Instead she makes jokes about it and whacks my friends with her crutches whenever one of them makes her mad. She's just like me: short, loves Turner Classic Movies and always wants to watch musicals. She's constantly singing and I never notice that she walks slower than the rest of us because I walk slow with my little legs right next to her.