| Second, education will show people that everyone has something they are not able to do. There are people who are unable to hit a baseball and nobody thinks anything about it. They just say, �They are not athletic�. Yet if someone is unable to read, then people ask, �What is wrong with them?� Just because someone has different abilities does not mean he or she has something wrong with them, it only means he or she does things differently. Maybe instead of walking, they ride in a wheelchair, or instead of speaking, they use sign language. This will teach people, we should not focus on what a person cannot do, but on what they can do. Third, education will teach everyone that just because someone has one disability does not mean they have another. �That is, a blind person may feel that he [or she] is often treated as if he were also mentally retarded [�]� (Marinelli 163). Even though this statement is from the 1960�s, it still happens all too often. I have seen people raise their voice and slow their speech when talking to someone that is blind. That is not appropriate when speaking to a person with a hearing impairment either, as I have learned having a hearing impairment myself. All it succeeds in doing is distorting your face and making it harder to understand what you are saying. Fourth, education would help people to observe some common courtesy when meeting someone with a disability. When talking to someone, look at him or her. It doesn�t matter if they have a disability, it will make communication easier for everyone. Don�t ask personal questions of strangers. Usually people with disabilities do not want to discuss the origin of their disability when first meeting someone new. Save those questions until you have become real friends (�Wake Up World� 28). Do you share your personal life with everybody you meet? As with anyone else, people with disabilities prefer to be identified by name. Just because someone happens to have a disability does not mean that he or she is any less a person than you are. Most importantly, education will show that making accommodations is not the same as special treatment. Some people will argue that it costs a lot to widen doorways, but it�s a one-time adjustment and will allow more customers into your business. How would you feel if every door you tried to use was too small? Also, allowing guide dogs into grocery stores is giving a person with a vision impairment independence and security to know they will not bump into anyone or trip over anything. It�s not the same as allowing a pet in. A pet is a companion and may not be trained; a guide dog is doing a job and is very well trained. Everyone has a right to participate in his or her community to the best of their abilities. The cost is insignificant compared to the benefits. What price can you put on children learning about compassion, understanding, and acceptance of differences? As understanding and accepting disabilities increases the time it takes to teach will decrease. With proper education people with disabilities will not feel the need to explain their disability or to defend their right to independence. Instead, they will be proud of their abilities. In turn we will all benefit. |
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