[. understanding + recognizing .]

so, i've been writing a lot about my Disability & Society class
and guess what????

yep

i'm keeping it up =D heehee

after watching a video in today's class (a briefing of the video is below... just keep reading ^-^), Daniel, my classmate, was so touched that he found his grade 6 poem, which he wrote about his feelings towards how he cannot hear that well, and e-mailed it to our class

after reading it, i cannot help but to e-mail him back to ask his permission to post it up
so, here it is =)



SILENCE ISN'T ALWAYS GOLDEN
by Daniel Di Paolo

I’m thinking of something you can cope with
It doesn’t happen to everyone
Some think it’s bad, and some think it’s good
I guess it’s what I’ve understood

You can do something to help this kind of person
Remember, one person can make a difference
Make it a miracle, a dream come true
A life worth living

Some do help, some won’t
Some care, and some don’t
Some remember,
And some forget

This person wakes up in the morning
Doesn’t hear a thing
Doesn’t hear the birds chirp
Children playing, or the breath of new life

There are many images in this person’s mind
But no sounds to go with them
They feel the silence and no one cares
They don’t talk, so they don’t share

This person is equal to everyone else

Now it’s time
The announcement shall begin
Everyone listens
Anxiously waiting, asking who it is

Silence isn’t always golden…
For a child who is deaf



and the video we watched today is titled:

Vital Signs: Crip Culture Talks Back

there are many issues raised in this video such as:
- people w/a disability are recognized as a political issue rather than a person
- poeple w/a disability asks to change our envirnoment rather than the environment requesting them to change
- people w/a disability are invisible, underrepresented and out of sight
- people w/a disability are commonly viewed and immediately assumed as a patient or someone who is in need
- people w/a disability does not want their human rights to be equalized based on pity
so recognize that they are human beings who deserves the same rights
- people w/a disability are misrepresented and objectified (e.g. used to raise money) [ tho, this can be both good and bad ]

so those are some of the issues raised in this video
a part from all these important issues
* is the issue that people who don't have a disability are making important decisions that infuence the lives of people w/disability..... "internalized oppresion"..... hence the video title "crip culture talks back"

stereotypes that suggests people w/disability are stupid, dumb, needy are wrong
of course, some of them will have to have a lil adjustment in doing certain things and/or need some assistance, but for many of them, they learn to adjust to life and what they need to do each day, and function well (maybe not in the same way) just as you and i do
in fact, they probably know more about how acceptance and love should be in a democratic society than any other groups or cultures

big-ups to people w/disability, people working with people w/disability, professors, designers, architectures, activists, and other people who are fighting for the rights, recognition, acceptance, accomodations and a better life for the disability culture~