Description: Disabled People in Sports
Image copyright: 2008 Beijing Olympics: http://www.2008beijingolimpics.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/_41081544_paralympics_pa_4161.jpg
The physically disabled are excluded from numerous parts of society. A major place where they are excluded from is buildings that can’t accommodate them because they don’t have the ramps that need to be used and things like that. Since buildings aren’t ready for them then people who are physically disabled have a limited number of places where they can go, which in the end makes them even more marginalized then before.
Another place in society where they are excluded from is the work place. People aren’t supposed to judge someone and not give them a job just because they are disabled. But, it happens anyways. That makes it hard for them to live in their own and become more independent.
The physically disabled are also excluded from doing sports activities when people who aren’t handicapped. This makes it hard for them to participate in activities because they would have to find a place where the disabled can all play together, in like a league, and those might not be very common in some places.
They are also excluded from possibly hanging out with people that aren’t disabled. Others might not want to associate with them or give them a chance to see who they really are behind their disability. That poses as a problem because it’s not fair to judge someone just because they have a disability.
Challenges for the Physically Disabled
The physically disabled are marginalized because a lot of people don’t consider them as “normal.” It could be because some people that are physically disabled can’t walk, see, hear, talk, and can’t live on their own.
Some challenges that are holding them back are the fact that not all places are accessible to them. For example, buildings that are downtown wouldn’t be constructed with wheel chair ramps and other things like that because of the limited space. Also, some buildings think they are okay because they put in a door where a person in a wheel chair can just push a button and then the door opens for them. But, in reality that’s not enough. The counters in some buildings are too high for them to see over and that makes it difficult for them to interact with others.
Challenges that a person who can’t see would be that signs outside of doors don’t always have the brail underneath the writing. So, that would make it difficult for them to navigate themselves around a building or find the place that they need to be. Another challenge is adjusting to their surroundings and becoming familiar with all the places they go. If they go to a place where they haven’t been before then there would be a great chance that they could run into something. An additional challenge would be that not all blind people can afford the Seeing Eye dog. If they have that dog, then they have an advantage because they can rely on something else to help them get around.
A challenge for a person that can’t talk is that it would be very hard for them to get a job. Since most jobs require someone to talk they are basically out of luck. Also, if they go somewhere alone there might not be a person at the place where they’re going that knows sign language. So, that would make it difficult for them communicate with others and tell them what they want.
Stereotypes People with Disabilities Face
People with disabilities face many stereotypes from the majority of people that do not understand how they live with their conditions. One of these stereotypes is that people with disabilities cannot take care of themselves. For examples people might think that a blind person can’t get around their own house. This, however, is not true at all. Blind people can get around their house fine. And once they become familiar with their own house they can know every bump on the floor and every corner that they might run into. On the other hand people in wheel chairs have to make everything in their homes wheel chair accessible.
Another stereotype that people with physical disabilities face is that they are depressed because of their condition. People think that because they are stuck in a wheel chair or they need a Seeing Eye dogs to walk down the street that their lives aren’t as full as a “normal” person’s. However many disabled people live life to the fullest, and possibly better than people without disabilities. For example, wheel chair basketball is a popular sport for many people to become active in the wheel chair community.
Stopping the Marginalization
Some things need to happen in order to help this group to be able to become a part of society that people hang out with a lot. A few examples of things that they can do are. They need to go out and play with others and function with society. Another thing is that the society can help by giving them the benefit of the doubt and ignoring things they hear then they can get to know them better before judging them based on their appearance. People always say don’t judge a book by its cover and they can’t help but judge the physically disabled by the way they appear.
A really good example of this is my sister she has a brittle bone disorder and people don’t ask her anything about it they just kind of stare at her. Children are the worst at this but mostly just because the children don’t know any better however the adults which stare really should know better and get to know better than that so they should really get to know the people before they judge them. There are a few people who help the matter of communication by talking to her and then getting to know her.
Some other things are that many of the physically disabled people don’t always try to help people to get to know them. Some of them are very quiet and keep to themselves a little bit too much. Some of the physically disable people only talk to other physically disabled people so they could help themselves by not being prejudice toward people without physical disabilities.
