Handling discrimination Jake Lawson Apr 26, 2011
“As a parent of children with special needs, you need to be aware of the impact of discrimination in the life of your children. Discrimination against people with special needs includes:
* Negative attitude or stereotyped beliefs people have about those who are ''different'' or those with disabilities.
* Suspicious lack of trust or uncomfortable way in which people react to the announcement that a child or adult has a disability or special need.
* Fear, worry and dismay on the part of relatives and friends who find it difficult to maintain ongoing contact with parents of a child recently diagnosed as having a disability.
* Ignorance, lack of information and lack of understanding of people who disregard, neglect or avoid the parents and children with special needs.
* Cultural and societal stereotypes, prejudices or bigotry against main streaming people with disabilities or special needs into ''normal'' society.
* Hidden or unidentified lack of pressure on the school systems to improve, increase the funding and innovate in providing services to exceptional education students.
* Lack of advocacy in terms of full funding, legal action and policy formulation in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for the full ''normalized'' employment of people with disabilities or special needs.
* Lack of full funding and advocacy for adult day programs, sheltered workshops, supported work programs and subsidized work programs to meet the employment needs of those with disabilities.
* Lack of full funding, advocacy and appropriate zoning laws for group homes, supported living and supervised apartments and subsidized apartments for people with disabilities”
* Suspicious lack of trust or uncomfortable way in which people react to the announcement that a child or adult has a disability or special need.
* Fear, worry and dismay on the part of relatives and friends who find it difficult to maintain ongoing contact with parents of a child recently diagnosed as having a disability.
* Ignorance, lack of information and lack of understanding of people who disregard, neglect or avoid the parents and children with special needs.
* Cultural and societal stereotypes, prejudices or bigotry against main streaming people with disabilities or special needs into ''normal'' society.
* Hidden or unidentified lack of pressure on the school systems to improve, increase the funding and innovate in providing services to exceptional education students.
* Lack of advocacy in terms of full funding, legal action and policy formulation in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for the full ''normalized'' employment of people with disabilities or special needs.
* Lack of full funding and advocacy for adult day programs, sheltered workshops, supported work programs and subsidized work programs to meet the employment needs of those with disabilities.
* Lack of full funding, advocacy and appropriate zoning laws for group homes, supported living and supervised apartments and subsidized apartments for people with disabilities”
The points made above agree with the barriers I have addressed throughout my inquiry they highlight the problems facing discrimination and those of awareness. Jake Lawson also highlights the key points surrounding funding which is affecting the accessibility. He also discusses the cultural and societal serotypes against people with disabilities this all coincides with what I have discovered throughout my inquiry. Interestingly he uses the word “lack” seven times throughout the nine statements. That in its self-highlights the need to raise awareness and accessibility.
“You will know it is discrimination when:
* You bring your child into a public facility like a mall, restaurant or park and you sense people staring or whispering.
* People stop you and ask cold, cutting and insensitive questions about your child.
* Public or private buildings lack appropriate ramps, access points and other physical supports for people with handicaps and disabilities.
* You want to talk to someone about your feelings, worries and concerns and everyone either ignores, avoids or reassures you that everything will be OK.
* Your friends and relatives begin to avoid you and your child.
* There are major cuts at the federal, state and local levels in funding educational, medical, social and rehabilitation programs for people with disabilities.
* Parents in the neighborhood do not allow their children to associate with your children for fear that they will ''catch'' the disability.
* You realize that people only see the handicap or disability and do not recognize the people with the handicaps or disabilities as "people.''
* Your church or synagogue offers no special programs or support to you or your child.
* Support programs are not offered to parents of children with disabilities by the agencies that serve them.
* There are waiting lists of three years or more for day employment programs or residential services for adults with disabilities.
* You continue to hear derisive slang expressions used to refer to people with disabilities, such as ''retard, crip, geek, gork, gimp, tard, bozo, imbecile, dumbo, dumdum, boom boom, bimbo, stupid, weirdos, dummies, stupos, nerds.''
The statements jack Lawson highlights are the ethical issues that are facing anyone with a disability interested in dance or not. They are the harsh truth is happening throughout are society. I feel this honest account may be one of the main problems leading to the lack of disabled dancers attending my classes. This is a vital part of my inquiry as this type of information could help other dance teachers and parents in raising awareness with this type of education.
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