Introduction
America is known world wide for the diversity and multitude of its cultures. There are ethnics cultures, religous affiliations, and more recently a culture defined by disability. A culture marked by disability is a relatively recent idea and is faced by many challenges. The word disability has had a negative connotation and is historically associated with other terms such as crippled, impaired, limited, and handicapped. The idea of a disability culture looks to break free from those definitive and restraining terms that many associate with the disabled. By redefining what it means to be disabled, members of this culture are creating a unique identity. This identity gives community and a sense of belonging to any individual with a disability. A misconception may be that disability culture is the way in which disabled people interact with other cultures, but this is only part of it. It is the membership to something larger than the individual and how that membership can provide insights about the self, others, as well as the ways that members interact amongst themselves and with all other individuals.
Task
Before continuing, I think it is important and worthwhile to reflect on your own beliefs. What do you think it means to be disabled? Do you believe that a disabled culture exists? UW-Whitewater is an excellent place to interact with many different forms of disabilties. How have you seen traces of this culture around campus, or a lack thereof?
So what is disability culture?
"Disability culture is the difference between being alone, isolated, and individuated with a physical, cognitive, emotional or sensory difference that in our society invites discrimination and reinforces that isolation – the difference between all that and being in community. Naming oneself part of a larger group, a social movement or a subject position in modernity can help to focus energy, and to understand that solidarity can be found – precariously, in improvisation, always on the verge of collapse."
Petra Kuppers, an activist for disability culture and Professor of English at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, offers her own insights on disability culture. There is no focus on differences amongst the various disabilities, instead the importance is placed on moving away from isolation and towards community. Community not only provides a safe place for members, it also makes the learning about disability easier for people who are not disabled.
The disability culture is all encompassing and incorporates all forms of disability. This creates a common bond for a vast amount of people, something that is easy for many people to connect with. An individual with a cognitive disability can relate to a person who is missing a leg. On one level or another, the two can find something in common and that is comforting.
http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/343/433
The above link features an article attempting to answer the question "What is Disability Culture?"
Take a look at the last couple of paragraphs and reflect on the final paragraph. Do you agree that mainstream society needs to meet the needs of disabled individuals? Or do you think that people with disabilities have a responsibility to integrate into the mainstream? What is and has been your own role in either meeting the needs of people with disabilities or failing to do so?
Evaluation
This video opens with the reading of synonyms for the word disabled from a thesaraus that was published in the early 1980's. A few minutes later an updated definition, from 2009, is given. Do these definitions surprise you? What do you think this indicates about both the mainstream society and the disability culture? Look up synonyms of disabled at http://www.thesaurus.com How does the way we talk about others influence the way that we perceive and interact with others?
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTwXeZ4GkzI align:center]
How can you use language in your own life to encourage others to achieve more than they believe is possible?
The speaker, Aimee Mullins, suggests that we make a change in the way that we view ourselves. She states that it is important to get rid of the perception that disabled people are broken and need to be fixed. Instead, she says, it is more beneficial to think of the value of each individual and to focus on all the possibilities this person can achieve. Have you seen evidence of this belief in your own life?
The disability culture is a movement that is still progressing today. It has brought more clarity to the people that do not fully understand disbility. It is an identity that crosses numerous cultures and groups. This identity is manifested in the arts through mediums suh as poetry, dance, performances, sculptures, and drawing. The following article is a report on the Bodies of Work Festival of Disability Arts and Culture from 2013. When you open the hyperlink be sure to click on "PDF full text" on the left of the screen. Read over the article and conisder how the aspect of art adds to your understanding of the disability culture.
https://libproxy.uww.edu:9443/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/log…
Conclusion
Disabled people are not weak or broken but they are faced with challenges produced by mainstream society. The disability culture helps to combat some of these challenges by offering a significant identity to disabled people. This culture also helps people who are not disabled to understand disabilities because it gives a cultural background. People can see more easily where someone is coming from and what their journey has been like.