When the term disability is used, it has an emotion tied to it that is perceived as negative. This topic has taken huge leaps in terms of treating people with disabilities equally in our society, but we still need to continue to build. With saying that, it has been a long road to get where we are today. In the past people with disabilities have been brushed off as defective, inferior, or less than. In the early 1900s it was believed that people with disabilities were a menace, that they should be isolated from the general public because of their different needs. This led to institutions, residential programs, special schools, and education based on the labels that were put on them. Since then, the paradigms have increased significantly. Along the way there has been special classes, resource rooms, and sheltered workshops. Those were a step in the right direction on the path to fair treatment.

When thinking and learning about it further, is having a disability really that negative? I have had the great opportunity to be in a course that has taught me so much about people with disabilities. I have had my eyes opened up to how people with disabilities deserve to be treated just like anyone else. Goodley’s article states, “people with intellectual disabilities seek to be recognized as human”. As a human being, I think about how I would feel if I was treated as if I was less than or below someone else because of a disability I had. I would want to be a part of society just like everyone else. Just because a person may need assistance doing something, doesn’t mean they should be put down or made fun of because of it. People with disabilities can read, write, talk, feel, laugh, just like anyone else can. While reading an article online I came across a statement to start saying “this” ability rather than “dis” ability and it has changed the way I think when I hear the word disability. Everyone has an ability in their own way, some may be different than others, but in the end, everyone has their own unique ability.