Diversity And Disability

Diversity and Disability

By Group #2

Disability

What does it mean to be disabled? …

Is it a state of mind?

A physical state?

How do I approach it… and how does my approach effect others and myself?

What is the proper term used to describe people who discriminate against the disabled?

Disabilities…

Come in different forms.

They can be visible and invisible to the eyes and knowledge of the person.

Everyone is effected by a disability, it is how we cope with it that makes it our strength.

Have to be dealt with through the 90/10 percent rule… that we cannot control 90% of what happens around us but that we can control 10% of what happens by how we decide to react.

Famous Historical Figures With Disabilities…

Louis Braille, who was born in 1809 in France. Louis was born with sight but suffered an injury in one of his eyes at the age of three while playing with his father’s carpentry tools unsupervised. He later became blind in both eyes after infection spread from one eye to the next. He was accepted at a school for the blind, where he suffered hardships and neglect. Later on a military captain came and introduced a method of communication with raised dots and dashes on paper that served to represent sounds and letters. Louis Braille perfected the captain’s dot and dash method, later sharing it with his classmates. The form of communication became popular, despite the teachers’ and university’s disapproval.

Louis Braille

Ann Sullivan Macy

Helen Keller

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Famous Historical Disabled Individuals

Louis Braille (Created the Braille reading and writing system for

the blind.)

Ann Sullivan Macy (Was born with normal functioning senses but suffered later on from an infection to the eyes which left her blind for more than 9 years. She later underwent several surgeries before some of her sight was returned to her. She learned to read, write and to sign language with great proficiency and later on went to school the famous Helen Keller, who was infected with an illness at 1 year and 7 months and became deaf, blind and mute. Helen Keller became a successful student and lead a wonderful and full life through her newly discovered senses, thanks to Ann, her teacher.

Harriet Tubman (An African slave, Harriet Tubman was dealt an injurious blow to the head when she refused to help tie down a slave who tried to escape. She later suffered from visual impairment and seizures. She later ran away to Canada where she was granted freedom. Not long after, she went back south to help other slaves escape to freedom the “underground railroad” to cross over to Canada. She is nicknames “the Moses of her people.”)

Ludwig Van Beethoven (One of the most famous music composers, who became deaf but continued to compose excellent pieces of music.)

Famous Disabled Individuals of The Twentieth Century

Terry Fox (Was diagnosed with cancer in his left leg, which was amputated above the knee. He ran over 5,000 km to help raise awareness and money for a cure for cancer. He later died of traces of cancer found in the lungs.)

Stevie Wonder (Suffered from complications at birth due to lack of oxygen directed to his eyes, which became damaged and could not be fixed by surgery. This did not stop him from mastering the piano, harmonica and other musical instruments from the early age of 6 onwards. He musical career took a while before he became famous to extraordinarily famous for his singing and music.)

Stephen Hawking (Was born a healthy child but later began to notice in his college years that he was losing balance and tripping on occasion with no known cause. He was later diagnosed with motor neurone disease “MND”, which lead to multiple health problems due to loss of muscle and inability to do simple bodily functions. Many doctors simply give him only a couple of months to years to live, with which he proved them wrong. He has greatly contributed to the world of mathematics and science, married happily and has children and a grandchild.)

Sports Associations for the Disabled.

Sports That Can Be Played Despite Disabilities…

Famous Disabled Athletes and Sports Figures/Figurines…

Vehicles Made For Special Needs…