Examined Life video- Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor (2008)
"Eliminating Ableism in Education" by Thomas Hehir (Sections "Ableist Assumptions," Ableism and Schooling," and "Education of the Deaf," "Toward Ending Ableism in Education") (2002)
QUOTES
1. "Help is something that we all need and it is something that is looked down upon and not really taken care of in this society when we all need help" (Butler and Taylor's conversation).
This quote stuck out to me when I was watching the video because it unfortunately feels very true. Many people refuse to ask for help and perpetuate this mindset of help being something that only weak people need and looking down on it. There is a "false idea that the able-bodied person is somehow radically self-sufficient." It shouldn't be thought of this way and it made me sad to hear about the ways that this has negatively impacted Sunaura Taylor's life. Another part of the video that stuck out to me was when they mention that physical access (like accessible public transportation, curb cuts, and accessible buildings) leads to social acceptability due to "more disabled people out and about in the world.
2. "While disability is not a tragedy, society's response to disability can have tragic consequences for those who have disabilities" (Hehir 2).
Hehir mentions the lowered expectations that people have for disabled people and this reminds me the some of the conversations we have had in class. For example, differently-abled people are not always challenged in the classroom and sometimes are given very easy work. This does not give those people the opportunity to really learn.
3. "In her landmark study of the impact of a high percentage of dead people living in a Martha's Vineyard community, Groce found that graduates of [the American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb] had achieved higher levels of literacy than many of their hearing neighbors... Deafness was so common on the island that most hearing people learned to sign. As a result of their relatively high education levels, deaf people held many positions of leadership in the community" (Hehir 5-6).
I chose this quote because I thought it stuck out to me as an example of deaf people receiving a good education and surpassing their peers-in terms of completing school.
4. "Studies of deaf children whose parents are deaf are revealing. These children start school with vocabularies comparable to their hearing peers and have higher levels of educational and occupational success than most deaf children with hearing parents" (Hehir 7).
I chose this quote because I thought it was interesting research. I wonder if their were more early educators that could use ASL and if this alongside the hearing parents use of ASL would put those children in a similar spot, vocabulary-wise, as their peers. I wish that/I hope that I have the opportunity to learn ASL. I am wondering if their are any good online resources for this.
Hi Taylor! I like the quotes you have selected. I also agree with you that when expectations are lowered for people with disabilities, it does not provide them with the opportunity to learn. Instead of lowering expectations, it is important to help people with disabilities make sure they get the resources they need so that they can meet the same standards and expectations as able-bodied people.
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