It has almost been a year since The Voiceless Minority
started. At that time, we have published nearly 50 blogs here on the blogger
website.
As the New Year begins for The Voiceless Minority, it is time
that we make a move. We are moving our web address and hosting over to word
press. The new address will be: http://thevoicelessminority.wordpress.com/
Nothing about the blog will change content-wise; the only
thing that will change is the look and the usability of the blog. There will be
an archive section for those of you who haven’t got a chance to read all the
old blogs on the blogger website. There will also be a contact page and a
discussion page so that those in the community or those interested can interact
with one another. Please post resources or questions you may have!
Finally, we hope that this move will allow the Voiceless
Minority to connect with those who read it easily. Apart from my traditional
blog posts with our new host, we will also post things and videos. We will
experiment with video podcasts with me, Jason Hahr, so you get to know the
writer behind the Voiceless Minority.
I want to say a quick thank you to those who helped me at
blogger and those who helped me design the blogger webpage. I am grateful for
your year of service and help, and I hope that the next year will be just as
successful as the previous one. Thanks! -Jay
Friday, March 21, 2014
The Move
Thursday, March 13, 2014
We Are Athletes Too
This past February marked an event in sports that brought the world together.
There are very few of these. Even though sports is a universal activity in
almost every country, only two events tend to get the world together and stop
the fighting; they are The World Cup in soccer and The Winter and Summer
Olympics. Every four years or so, these events take center stage, and everybody
forgets about the drama going on in the world for a couple of weeks, but there
is an event that also occurs every four years that many people are not aware
of.
Every four years at the same site as either the Summer or
Winter Olympics, there is another sporting event. It is known as the
Paralympics. It is not only sad that the rest of the country does not keep up
with such Paralympics activities such as hockey in the winter and basketball in
the summer, but it is also sad that the United States is the worlds leading
supporter of disability rights but has very little support for its disabled
athletes.
This time the Paralympics are in Sochi as were the Winter
Olympics. For the first time this year, the NBC family of networks presents an
unprecedented 54 hours of coverage of the Paralympics. While the “able-bodied”
Olympics drew a record audience in February, the Paralympics are living up to
low expectations and not drawing nearly as much of an audience. In the United
States or worldwide, credit must be given to other nations as their margin of
support is much greater than that of the United States. This is sad for me because
I recently graduated from a school that promotes disabled individuals; they
even promote a small contingent of disabled sports. So I guess it hits me more
challenging than most who will read this, but I must raise a
question. If we are the world’s leader on disability rights, and we
do not even support disabled athletes, what does that say about our treatment
of disability in this country at all? Just some food for thought. We are not
our disabilities, but we are people and athletes just like everyone else.
The Paralympics close on Sunday, and we will have to wait four
years for the cycle to repeat itself as far as winter sports are concerned.
However, in 2016, the Paralympics summer games will be held. It is my hope by
then that disabled sports are brought into the 21st century and
given the respect and support they deserve, but I doubt that will happen.
For further reading or information, please visit http://www.teamusa.org/
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Teachable Moments, We can be Teachers Too
What does it mean to
teach? In simple basic terms, according to the dictionary, it is a verb. It
means to impart knowledge of or skill in; give instruction in, and impart
knowledge or skill to; instruct to. We all understand the basic definition of
teaching. The question is, how do we define teachable moments or teachers
themselves?
I recently graduated
with a Master's in education. Still, my institution told me that I could not
get a teacher's certification, according to Pennsylvania, because I was too
disabled to teach. At first, this statement, to put it nicely, perplexed me.
What did it mean I was also disabled to teach? How could they judge me without allowing
me to try? As time has gone by, I have begun to understand their position. I disagree
with it, but I understand it now.
They look at disabled
people in a traditional box. Due to my physical limitations, they could not
look past my lack of physical capability and see the great deal of knowledge
that I can pass on to others. They were afraid to go to bat for someone so
different, even if they had great knowledge to pass on. I've also changed my
perception of what a teacher is in general. Yes, a great deal of teaching
occurs in the classroom, and eventually, that is something I want to do.
However, I have learned that disabled teachers can exist, and often they have
greater mobility than traditional teachers.
Until society and those
in higher education stop putting disabled people in a box, we need to take
ourselves out of that box. For the time being, we might not b able to be
traditional classroom teachers, but every disabled person has a story to tell
and lessons they can teach those around them. Often the most powerful learning
occurs outside the classroom, not in it. Disabled people in general
and society need to expand their definitions of a classroom and realize that
there are teachable moments every day in the life. You can teach your aides,
and they can teach you. You can lead a stranger on the street and change their
life forever. To do so, there are a few necessary components, none of which
involve the traditional four walls of a schoolhouse.
To be an effective
teacher with a disability, one needs first to understand themselves and their
limitations. Second, they need to view events in their lives as having a
purpose, even the small and bad ones. Third, they need to find their outlet.
Mine happens to be writing at this point; others might find their outlet in
other ways. However, one finds their outlet; it is essential to develop it.
Finally, for disabled people to be effective teachers, we need to not give in
to what society says it has mandated for us. If we develop our voice and tell
our story and it touches one person, we have been influential teachers.
Traditional classroom
teachers and teachers who teach online are often knowledgeable about content. With
the way teaching is now, they have minimal opportunity to bring their
experience into the classroom. It is those teachers that do so that turn into
great teaches. Disabled people have a leg up on the second crucial teaching
element that great classroom teachers excel at. While some of us, hopefully,
myself included, will eventually be a classroom teacher, disabled people must
look for unique teaching opportunities until society realizes that we can be
teachers in the traditional sense just like everyone else. These traditional
opportunities may include writing a blog like this one, teaching a class online,
or just having a conversation with someone who asks a question about
disability. Whichever way you choose to be a teacher, it is clear that we need
more disabled teachers in this world because there is so much we learn daily
from one another. Why not be a part of that conversation if you have a
disability?
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
The Protection Complex
What does it mean to
teach? In simple basic terms, according to the dictionary, it is a verb. It
means to impart knowledge of or skill in; give instruction in, and impart
knowledge or skill to; instruct to. We all understand the basic definition of
teaching. The question is, how do we define teachable moments or teachers
themselves?
I recently graduated
with a Master's in education. Still, my institution told me that I could not
get a teacher's certification, according to Pennsylvania, because I was too
disabled to teach. At first, this statement, to put it nicely, perplexed me.
What did it mean I was also disabled to teach? How could they judge me without allowing
me to try? As time has gone by, I have begun to understand their position. I disagree
with it, but I understand it now.
They look at disabled
people in a traditional box. Due to my physical limitations, they could not
look past my lack of physical capability and see the great deal of knowledge
that I can pass on to others. They were afraid to go to bat for someone so
different, even if they had great knowledge to pass on. I've also changed my
perception of what a teacher is in general. Yes, a great deal of teaching
occurs in the classroom, and eventually, that is something I want to do.
However, I have learned that disabled teachers can exist, and often they have
greater mobility than traditional teachers.
Until society and those
in higher education stop putting disabled people in a box, we need to take
ourselves out of that box. For the time being, we might not b able to be
traditional classroom teachers, but every disabled person has a story to tell
and lessons they can teach those around them. Often the most powerful learning
occurs outside the classroom, not in it. Disabled people in general
and society need to expand their definitions of a school and realize that there
are teachable moments every day in life. You can teach your aides, and they can
teach you. You can lead a stranger on the street and change their life forever.
To do so, there are a few necessary components, none of which involve the
traditional four walls of a schoolhouse.
To be an effective
teacher with a disability, one needs first to understand themselves and their
limitations. Second, they need to view events in their lives as having a
purpose, even the small and bad ones. Third, they need to find their outlet.
Mine happens to be writing at this point; others might find their outlet in
other ways. However, one finds their outlet; it is essential to develop it.
Finally, for disabled people to be effective teachers, we need to not give in
to what society says it has mandated for us. If we develop our voice and tell
our story and it touches one person, we have been influential teachers.
Traditional classroom
teachers and teachers who teach online are often knowledgeable about content. With
the way teaching is now, they have minimal opportunity to bring their
experience into the classroom. It is those teachers that do so that turn into
great teaches. Disabled people have a leg up on the second crucial teaching
element that great classroom teachers excel at. While some of us, hopefully,
myself included, will eventually be a classroom teacher, disabled people must
look for unique teaching opportunities until society realizes that we can be
teachers in the traditional sense just like everyone else. These traditional
opportunities may include writing a blog like this one, teaching a class online,
or just having a conversation with someone who asks a question about
disability. Whichever way you choose to be a teacher, it is clear that we need
more disabled teachers in this world because there is so much we learn daily
from one another. Why not be a part of that conversation if you have a
disability?
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Lets Get Intimate
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Mental Health and Disability Part Two: Where Society Needs to Catch Up
Late last year, I brought up an issue that was not discussed very much in the
disability community, disability and mental health. As I thought about this
blog, I remembered a recent email that I got, and it inspired me to revisit the
issue. In the email was a story about how colleges are flunking mental health
treatment.
The
article described a young boy, Dan, who had mental health issues and made a
wrong choice one night in an attempt to overdose. To summarize, he did not
overdose. He was having trouble dealing with a new medication, and once his
medicine was adjusted, he was fine. However, his college did not treat him
appropriately.
His
health center referred him to a hospital, which they should have done, but the
administration's actions were incorrect. Instead of recognizing a
student in trouble, they treated Dan as if he was a criminal.
My
previous blog on mental health dealt with how society doesn't view depression
correctly. This latest article in News Week confirms what I had written.
Depression is still such a stigma that it is almost a dirty word even in higher
education. What does this have to do with disability? It has everything to do
with it. Depression and disability in general in our society is seen as
something dirty. When it is said that someone is depressed or disabled, they
are seen as unclean or unworthy. It is a shame that places of higher education
are perpetuating this stereotype. I can speak from personal experience when I
say that even higher education places view depression as a dirty word. Not only
did they kick Dan out of his school involuntarily, but also they did a similar
thing to me.
It
is said that the American land of immigrants is so afraid of difference. We
will not be able to progress as a society if we do not understand that
differences are fundamental to the growth, and not everyone is given the same
skillset. Some of us must deal with obstacles that sometimes overwhelm us. We
should not criminalize those who have depression or other mental health
afflictions; instead, we should strive to ease their pain.
This will not happen if we do not
admit that depression is not necessarily a bad thing. Depression, instead in
most cases, is our body's' way of telling us to reexamine what is going on
around us. I know most of society doesn't view depression the way I do, but
regardless of whether you agree with me or not, you have to agree that society
needs to be more accepting of mental health issues. If places of higher
education are so educated, why can't they lead mental illness acceptance? The
answer is simple.
Places of higher education are
scared of mental illness for the same reason society is scared of mental
illness. They are afraid that if we embrace mental illness for what it is, it
is an admission that the human consciousness is not as self-reliant as society
thinks it is. We need to accept that it is a part of the human condition to ask
for help. It is a part of our condition to be reliant on others. Keeping up
with the Jones's individualist type mentality that we currently live in, it is
taboo to admit that you go against the grain and do not subscribe to the
emotionalist culture we live in.
Colleges could be on the front lines
of helping those who are depressed, but instead, they sit at the back of the
class. It is time for a societal-wide change in disability and depression, and
change can happen if it starts now.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
The Hero Complex
Being a new disability advocate,
I find myself continually plugged into various publications. One publication I
get news from is the American Association of People with Disabilities.
Every week they put out a handy newsletter entitled Disability Weekly.
In a recent issue in a segment
called In the News, they had a story about a mom who wrote a
somewhat controversial piece. Her piece was entitled My Child with a
Disability is not My Hero. As the title suggests, Miss Sarah Sweatt
Orsborn asserts that disabled people but disabled children are not heroes. At
first glance, even I, the non-politically correct writer, that I was taken
aback. However, after looking further into Miss Orsborn's premise, I have to
say I agree with her.
The premise of the article is quite
simple. Orsborn suggests that the term can be more harmful than
positive. From my perspective, as a disabled person, I cannot help
but agree. Every time I hear "Oh, you're so amazing," or
something of the like, I cringe. This occurs even when I listen to it from my
own family. How can I be fantastic for doing such everyday tasks such as
getting up in the morning and going to school? Every time someone comments on
these lines, I feel like it diminishes me as a person.
I am not saying that complimenting
someone for his or her accomplishments is a negative thing. I am realistic and
understand that we all have egos that need a little inflating now and then. The
point that Miss Orsborn and I are trying to make is that complementing somebody
is fine but merely complimenting them because of the obstacles they face
diminishes their self-worth and the work they have accomplished. Let me put it another
way; it is like saying that we did not expect you to set the bar so high for
yourself because you have this infliction. That not only causes a problem
individually, but it results in a group problem.
What is that group problem? Disabled
people as a whole have always expected less of themselves because society, in
general, expects less of them. If we begin this second-class citizen in the
doctor nation at an early age, it is no wonder disabled people set the bar so
low for them. I am a 27-year-old person with cerebral palsy who just
graduated with my master's in education. However, I did not graduate with teacher
certification, even though I had a 4.0 cumulative grade point average in the
program. So why am I not a certified teacher, one may ask?
Simply put, I listened to society
when they set the bar so low for me. Some at my school thought it was so
amazing that I was getting my masters, but they saw me as too disabled to teach
in a classroom. Even though it was not said directly, this was an example of
the hero complex. It's so amazing that I got so far; they did not expect me to
go any further and were unwilling to invest in me to help me do so. I should
have done not settle for such low standards, but I did, and I have learned from
it. It has helped me develop my voice as a disability advocate. It has also
taught me that as good intentioned as parents are, or even family members are
when they say to a disabled child, look how much you have accomplished with
what you have had to go through, this has to stop.
Based on their accomplishment, judge
their achievement, don't put a star beside it with a little footnote that said
he or she had a disability too. Changes in culture and society do not start in
Washington in the political arena. They begin with everyday people. If disabled
people and those who support them want to change the way disability is
perceived in this country, we have to start with ourselves. It is time that disabled
people's expectations are just as high as everyone else's because we may have
visible or not visible obstacles, but that doesn't make us any more or less of
a person.