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Disability Essay

Wendell (1996) wrote an article to explore the idea of disability, which is a common issue in the modern society. Disability has generally been utilized to refer to people with certain deformities and inability to function like normal human beings. This general definition has in turn been utilized to create the category “people with disabilities”, which is erroneously based on the perception that disabled people are similar in various major ways. The article examines the concept of disability across different dimensions including the definition of disability, purposes of such definitions, disability identity, and politics of disability identity. One of the ideas emerging from this article is that existing definitions of disability are very narrow and do not incorporate the broad spectrum of issues and experiences of disabled people. Wendell (1996) suggests that definition of disability is influenced by the person/entity defining disability and their objectives in doing so. Therefore, people do not define disability as they ought to, but look at it based on their own perspectives and desires/purposes. I concur with the suggestion that existing definitions and understanding of disability are skewed and subjective. Disability is usually understood on the basis of the individual defining the concept rather than the issues and experiences...

For instance, most of the existing definitions and understanding of disability are simply based on functional impairments, which may not necessarily be the entire reflection of disability. While medical orientation has also been utilized to define and understand disability, our understanding of this issue is largely based on functional impairments (Hahn, 2016). Even though functional impairment constitutes a significant part of disability, limiting its definition to these impairments is erroneous and sometimes contribute to unsuitable treatment of disabled people.
In my opinion, the use of functional impairment as the basis for defining disability has contributed to unsuitable treatment and consideration of disabled people. First, this idea has resulted in the integration of an economic approach and vocational abilities when attempting to define disability. In this case, disability is primarily understood on the basis of what an individual can do and the economic benefits he/she derives from it. This is an erroneous view of disability because some conditions have no link to economic input/benefits and vocational abilities. Secondly, the use of functional impairment as the basis for determining disability has generated the idea that disability is always visible. As Wendell (1996) correctly points out, individuals…

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References

Hahn, H. (2016). Toward a Politics of Disability: Definitions, Disciplines, and Policies. Retrieved March 19, 2018, from https://www.independentliving.org/docs4/hahn2.html

Wendell, S. (1996). Who is Disabled? Defining Disability. In The rejected body: Feminist philosophical reflections on disability (chap.1, pp.23-33). New York: Routledge.

Zeilinger, J. (2015, July 7). 6 Forms of Ableism We Need to Retire Immediately. Retrieved March 19, 2018, from https://mic.com/articles/121653/6-forms-of-ableism-we-need-to-retire-immediately#.g9rfCzkDR


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