Title: Disadvantages of the Disabled in a Social Environment
Purpose: The topic I have chosen to investigate this semester is the disadvantages of the disabled in a day-to-day social environment. I chose this topic because I have witnessed first-hand some of the ways disabled people are treated differently. I am very passionate about working with people with special needs, so this topic is interesting to me. I hope that through performing research I can find statistics to back my beliefs up and that I will be able to bring awareness to this problem. I hope that I can also devise several ideas and ways I can do my part to help put a stop to the ill treatment of disabled people. The topic my group chose to research is "the oppression of people with disabilities". My personal topic fits in with my group because I am researching the oppression and mistreatment of disabled people in any social environment. My topic fits in with the course theme because I am researching about how people, (children and adults) with disabilities are treated differently, and how some of their needs, such as ramps, elevators, or wheel chair accessibility are not always available when they are needed.
Problems to be investigated:
What are ways that disabled people are mistreated?
Why are there such negative attitudes toward people with disabilities?
What are the policies businesses have (shopping, going to the movie theaters, dining) for making accommodations for those with disabilities? Are these required by the local/ state laws? Is it up to each individual company?
What are the transportation barriers for people with disabilities? What effect does this have on their everyday life?
What can others in the public do to help those with disabilities?
Are their any advocates that help bring awareness to these problems?
The main goals of my research are to:
First, I will examine the different ways and to what extent disabled people are mistreated. Then, I plan to go into different social factors, such as what businesses accommodate to disabled people, and a few other factors I feel are important. Then, I will try to find ways those who want to help put a stop to the mistreating of the disabled can help. I think the biggest problem that those with disabilities will face is transportation.
Methods of Research:
I plan on mainly using Galileo as my main source for finding sites. If needed, I will use Google Books. I also might watch some videos prior to finishing my research so I can get a good idea of some scenarios of the mistreatment of disabled people in my head.
Michell, Lawrence. "Physical Disabilities: Perspectives, Risk Factors and Quality of Life." Disability and the Disabled Issues, Laws and Programs. Accessed September 4, 2020.
Jumma Bader, Cerkez Yagmur. "Parents' Mistreatment towards Physically Disabled Children." International Journal of Economic Perspecties. 2017, Vol. 11 Issue 1, p527-532. 6p 3 Charts. Accesssed September 4, 2020.
Merrells, Jessica, Buchanan, Angus, Waters, Rebecca. "'We feel left out':Experiences from the perspective of young adults with intellectual disability." Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability. Mar2019, Vol. 44 Issue 1, p13-22 10p. 1 Chart. Accessed September 5, 2020
Heslop, Pauline, Read, Stuart, Dunwoodie, Stirton, Fred "The hospital provision of reasonable adjustments for people with learning disabilities: Findings from Freedom of Information requests." British Journal of Learning Disabilities. Dec2018, Vol. 46 Issue 4, p258-267. 10p. 4 Charts. Accessed September 5, 2020
Dirth, Thomas P, Branscombe, Nyla R. "Recognizing Ableism: A Social Identity Analysis of Disabled People Perceiving Discrimination as Illegitimate." Journal of Social Issues. Sep2019, Vol. 75 Issue 3, p786-813. 28p. 1 Diagram, 4 Charts. Accessed September 5, 2020.
Nario-Redmond Michelle R., Kemerling, Alexia A., Silverman, Arielle. "Hostile, Benevolent, and Ambivalent Ableism: Contemporary Manifestations." Journal of Social Issues. Sep2019, Vol. 75 Issue 3, p726-756. 31p. 1 Diagram. Accessed September 5, 2020.
Westergard, Craig. "Unfit to Be Seen: Customer Preferences and the Americans with Disabilities Act." BYU Journal of Public Law. 2020, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p179-215 37p. Accessed September 5, 2020
Ryan, Sara. "'Busy Behavior" in the 'Land of the Golden M': Going Out with Learning Disabled Children in Public Places." Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities. 2005, Vol. 18 Issue 1, p65-74. 10p. Accessed September 5, 2020.
Rojas, Susana, Haya, Ignacia, Lazaro-Visa, Susana. "'My great hope in life is to have a house, a family and a daughter': relationships and sexuality in intellectually disabled people." British Journal of Learning Disabilities. Mar2016, Vol. 44 Issue 1, p56-62. 7p. Accessed September 5, 2020
Hill, Eve, Blank, Peter. "Future of Disability Rights Advocacy and "The Right to Live in the World." Texas Journal on Civil Liberties & Civil Rights. Fall2009, Vol. 15 Issue 1, p1-31. 31p. Accessed September 5, 2020.
O'Day, Bonnie, Goldstein, Marcie. "Advocacy Issues and Strategies for the 21st Century." Journal of Disability Policy Studies. Spring 2005, Vol. 15 Issue 4, p240-250. 10p. 2 Charts. Accessed September 5, 2020.
Yeon Woo Park, Shu Cole, Ye Zhang "Accessibility of Travel and Hospitality Services as Percieved by Travelers with Mobility Impairments" Tourism Review International 2015, Vol. 19 Issue 1/2, p31-42. Accessed September 5, 2020.
Field Research Idea:
For my field research, I plan on using Galileo, and maybe Google Books. I also think it might be a good idea to try to find videos to be able t o get some more scenarios of the oppression of disabled people in a public area.
Annotated Bibliography Portion:
Jumma Bader, Cerkez Yagmur. "Parents' Mistreatment towards Physically Disabled Children." International Journal of Economic Perspecties. 2017, Vol. 11 Issue 1, p527-532. 6p 3 Charts. Accesssed September 4, 2020.
Summary:
This study was performed to determine both the most exposed gender to neglect, but also to find some of the reasons of the mistreatment of disabled children in Duhok. The authors begin the introduction by defining child mistreatment and abuse. Then, they go into the Methodology. Their research design was a method that consisted on 201 participants. There were two research tools used in the study- a questionnaire, which rates the intensity of the abuse, and a Child Exposure to Domestic Violence Scale, which is used to measure the violence impact to the child without addressing the specifics of the abuse. The study was approved by the head of special education school and the vocational training center to ensure it would not be too traumatic for the children. The study concluded that "the divorced parents are more likely to maltreat disabled children than married or parents in a polygamous marriage. (530)" The study also showed "an increase in maltreatment scores as the disabled child's order in the family in the family increased. the birth position is a significant representation of number of siblings since mos parents are afraid to have more children after they give birth to a disabled child.(530)"
Assess:
While this article was interesting to read, and had some of the things that my topic is related to, I did not find it very helpful. I felt that it focused more on gender than just disabled children in general. I did not find that the information was biased by the experimenter, but I think it could have been by the participants, as they were asked to answer a questionnaire. I think the information was reliable, as it was informative and it was also a scholarly site .
Reflect:
I found this article very interesting to read, however, I do not think I will use it for my project. It had some useful information in it, however I found that it was things that most would already know. I feel that there was too much information about gender, and less about children with disabilities. Some aspects of the article could fit into my project, but I do not feel there is enough to use it in my project.
Michell, Lawrence. "Physical Disabilities: Perspectives, Risk Factors and Quality of Life." Disability and the Disabled Issues, Laws and Programs. Accessed September 4, 2020.
Summary:
This article dives into the actual lives of those with an intellectual disability. Ten people, aged eighteen to twenty-four, all diagnosed with an intellectual disability were interviewed about how their time is spent, how they form relationships, and if they feel included. The data taken from the results formed two themes: segregated and left out, and experiencing trouble with making friendships- both of which are negative. "Participants appeared to have very few friends... Conversely, participants in this study were only able to list two or three names of people they considered to be friends and did not see these people regularly. (20)" This article closely correlates with my topic. It shows the struggles people with disabilities face in social environments. This quote is stated in the conclusion of the article "Despite being long-term recipients of individualized, community-based coordination participants discussed significant experiences of segregation and exclusion impacting negatively on their lives. (20)" This article shows how segregated people with disabilities are from the rest of the world, and that they know it.
Assess:
I found this article very useful. It shows, once again, the problems people with disabilities face in a social environment. I think the article does a great job of expressing the true problems people face, and I think that it helps the readers to understand how the people with disabilities feel about their social lives. I feel the information is reliable because I have seen many situations where a disabled person had felt left out. I do not think that the source is biased or objective because they took the information from people who experience it.
Reflect:
I will definitely use this source in my project. It directly answers one of the questions in my "problems to be investigated". The article did not change my belief on the matter. The source was helpful in proving my belief on the topic as well as giving me statistics to use in the article. This article will be very helpful in my project.
Westergard, Craig. "Unfit to Be Seen: Customer Preferences and the Americans with Disabilities Act." BYU Journal of Public Law. 2020, Vol. 34 Issue 1, p179-215 37p.
Summary:
This article talks about disability discrimination and the Americans with Disabilities Act. " In general, the ADA prohibits employers from discriminating against disabled employees and job applicants. (179)" The article expresses some ways that people with disabilities are wrongly treated, as well as the history of ill treatment. The conclusion of the article states "Congress and the courts can uphold the ADA's policies and protect persons with disabilities from discrimination by expressly repudiating the "unfit to be seen" strain of this defense; they can also further the act's policy goals by adopting heightened standards in evaluating all employer defenses that are based on untoward customer preferences. (179)" This article does a great job of covering many things, particularly protecting the ADA to help protect our disabled people.
Assess:
I found this article extremely useful. I do not think that the source is biased or objective, and I think the information was mostly facts, so it is reliable. It shows that people, in this case, specifically the government, is aware of the mistreatment of disabled people. It also shows that they are taking action against it, and they are working to put an end to it.
Reflect:
I will definitely use this article in my project. It was very helpful and it answered one of my questions. The article has changed how I thought on my topic just a little. I still believe that people with disabilities are oppressed, and my view on that will not change. I now know, though, that there is action being taken by the government, so it shows me that someone is aware of it, and gives me hope that people will one day help put an end to it all together.
Rojas, Susana, Haya, Ignacia, Lazaro-Visa, Susana. "'My great hope in life is to have a house, a family and a daughter': relationships and sexuality in intellectually disabled people." British Journal of Learning Disabilities.Summary:
This article interviews the lives of disabled adults. It is normal for people to want to grow up, get married, and have a family. Unfortunately, many people with disabilities never get to do this. This is what the article pertains to. "For Ismael, it is the most important aspect in his life project, 'because I want (to have a life partner), and I see that in my family they are married and have children and all that... well it makes me cry, but my great hope is to have a house, a partner and to have a daughter. (60)" This quote shows the wants the disabled people have- and they are the same as people without disabilities. It shows that we are all the same, yet for some reason, not everyone believes that and therefore, the mistreatment of disabled people continues.
Assess:
I found this source very helpful. It shows real life people with actual disabilities and explains how they truly feel. I think it could make readers really understand what people with disabilities go through. It also shows that people with disabilities know that they will probably never get to live a "normal" life, and it shows how upset that makes them. I do not think this source was bias, as it used people with disabilities that are actually experiencing these situations .
Reflect:
I will be using this source for my project. It is probably my favorite source I have found thus far. It shows how people with disabilities are affected in everyday life. It answers several of my "problems to be investigated", and also gives me room to make a few more questions or re-word some of them.