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Disabled Access
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Overcoming disabilities
Level
C1
1.
Age
Adults
Topic
Disability
by Edgar Joycey
Grammar
Vocabulary
Conditionals
General
and illness
Imperative
Functions
Stating opinions
Skills
Reading
Read the text on ‘attitudes’ and answer this question:
Why does Claire refer to the accident at the air-show?
Sunday, September 18th, 2011
"OVERCOMING" DISABILITY
No doubt you have heard about the terrible tragedy that happened to a number of people at a Nevada
airplane show. In a newspaper article I read this morning, among those was a young man with muscular
dystrophy.
"A Phoenix man who overcame a disability to earn a college degree and start his own Internet
company was among the nine people killed in the Reno air show crash, his family said on
Saturday", so writes the author.
Newspapers and magazines just love disability "success" stories; stories of people who overcome their
disabilities or who perform some sort of extreme feat in relation to disability, as in the "Marathon
Man" who does triathlons with his disabled son. People with disabilities who "succeed" are doing "the
right thing", and this is supported and celebrated by society.
I do not want to exploit a tragedy to make a point. I simply want to discuss the concept of "overcoming
disability". I have been reading up on the concept of "the sick role" as conceived by the American
sociologist Talcott Parsons in 1951. Basically, à la Wikipedia, it's this:
•
•
Rights:
o
The sick person is exempt from normal social roles
o
The sick person is not responsible for their condition
Obligations:
o
The sick person should try to get well
o
The sick person should seek technically competent help and cooperate with the medical
professional
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This is the bare bones of the theory. Reams of scholarly material exist on this stuff. I would like to
proceed from here with the assumption that this theory, basically, does a pretty good job at
summarizing how society perceives any "sick person", and regrettably people with disabilities are
wrongly included in this category.
But disability does not fit in to this model of "the sick role" because disability can be a permanent
condition, not a transient one as is sickness. I will argue, however, that this theory reflects
significantly societal perceptions of disability, since people with disabilities who "succeed" somehow
project an image of trying to "get well", which is “doing the right thing” in terms of the sick role model.
It is interesting to note the double standard that exists in the "sick role" view in relation to the people
with disabilities. Society views the disabled as sick, therefore the disabled are exempt from normal
social roles. However society does not tolerate this exemption for long...at least not in attitude, even
though a disability may be a lifelong condition. Society does not provide many accommodations for
people with disabilities as it supports the view that it is the obligation of the sick person to
get well. The disabled are left either being isolated by virtue of their inability to "get well", as is their
expected obligation, or they are "overly" lauded for "succeeding" against the odds that society itself
stacks against them. It never occurs to anyone, under the "sick role" model, that a person with a
disability has a right to a life, whatever that might mean to them. Hence, people with disabilities are
always fighting for services... access to education, to buildings, to opportunities, to technologies that
will enable them to live as independently/comfortably as possible.
Consequently we have this strange story where a "successful" disabled person has died and that it is
considered more of a tragedy, more newsworthy, than the death of a person without disabilities, who
for whatever reason may not perhaps be considered particularly successful. That's fundamentally
because society in general does not expect the disabled to have any sort of life... or to have
expectations of having any sort of life... outside of being disabled. When they pull it off, it's a big
effing deal.
Though I am certain other theories about health, illness and disability have since been put forth,
Parson's sick role theories are alive and well and "dys-functioning" significantly in today's society. For
sure there has been some progress... but not enough to stop wrong perceptions about "overcoming
disability" that still pervade the news.
POSTED BY CLAIRE AT 8.53 AM
(ADAPTED FROM: http://severedisabilitykid.blogspot.com/2011/09/overcomingdisability.html)
2. Now read the text again and answer the following:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
What does Claire suggest is wrong with the ‘sick role’ model?
In which ways do ‘sick’ and ‘disabled’ people differ?
Why does Claire think the media likes ‘success’ stories?
What does she suggest is the likely outcome for a person with disabilities who is not
‘successful’?
In the next to last paragraph, Claire uses the word ‘effing’. What is the effect she
wishes to create by including it?
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Overcoming disabilities, by Edgar Joycey
Answer Key:
1.
To give an example of what is considered newsworthy and to explore the concept of
‘overcoming disabilities.’
2. a.
The ‘sick role’ model is wrongly seen to include people with disabilities.
b. A sick person is temporarily sick, whereas a person with disabilities may have permanent
disabilities.
c.
The media likes ‘success’ stories because they see the person with disabilities as a person
who has fulfilled their obligations according to the ‘sick role’ model in trying to get well,
which they see as very newsworthy because society at large (including the media) do not
expect people with disabilities to have any sort of life comparable to the lives of people
without disabilities.
d.
Since society perceives that people with disabilities should try to ‘get well’, it does not easily
tolerate people who are permanently exempted from normal social roles. They are not seen to
be ‘successful’. So, people with disabilities are largely left isolated and unsupported.
e.
‘effing’ = a polite way to express the well-known expletive. She uses this to emphasise her
frustration at the double standards in attitudes. i.e. society in general has little toleration
of people with disabilities who do not achieve amazing feats, yet, when they do, society
praises them disproportionately highly.
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