Could you imagine not being able to see with both eyes, not being able to walk with two feet, or not being able to communicate thoroughly? Sadly, for many people in this world, this is their reality. However, many of them do not consider their lives to be inadequate. It is clear that their living conditions are nearly impossible to go unnoticed, but most do not let this alter their quality of life. These situations can modify many things about people physically and mentally. It not only affects them, but their loved ones who stick by their sides throughout their unique circumstances. These situations often change the way both the subject and their loved ones see and communicate with the world. They have the power to alter the mindset of many people and change the way people make first impressions, assist others, or even conversate. While these circumstances which categorize these people as disabled are not normally positive for the people they affect, it is not impossible to have positive effects that develop from these unfortunate circumstances.

My sister has a unique situation which affects the entire family and the way we have been raised. When she was two, doctors found a tumor behind her right eye. My parents were left to make the decision to remove the tumor, and risk the vision of their two year old daughter’s right eye, or allow the tumor to continue to grow, possibly risking her life. Before the decision needed to be made, my sister completely lost vision in her right eye. This is when my parents decided that she needed to have surgery to completely remove the tumor, which would leave my sister blind in one eye. Being only two years old, she was able to adapt quickly to this. While in the beginning, she would run into walls and turn corners a bit too quick, she learned how to acclimate to this drastic change. However, this was not the end of her journey. Thankfully, after the first surgery, she was able to keep her original eye, but with no vision in it. After eleven years, her eye lost the ability to receive enough nutrients and she had to remove it. This was a difficult choice for her, as removing an eye is not a simple surgery. The time in her life also meant that she was going to be entering high school the next year. She not only had to take into account the time line but also what she would be giving up. The recovery time was three months, this means she would either miss out on a quarter of the school year, or she would have to sacrifice her entire summer vacation. She made the brave decision to remove the eye over summer vacation. This was not easy for anyone who loves her to see. She was in excruciating pain for the majority of her three month recovery time. However, when she returned to school that September, you would have never been able to guess that just a few weeks before she had a life threatening surgery. My entire family thought that this would be the end of my sisters painful story. However, just last year we found out that there was damage to her skull during the original surgery. This meant that her surgical journey wasn’t over. Her next surgery entailed implanting coral prosthetic to her skull to fix her facial structure and make it appear symmetrical. This journey has not been easy on anyone in our family, definitely not my sister. However, all of us came out better people. My sister has a greater appreciation for the life which she has. She says, “Living my life the way I have for as long as I have, I wouldn’t want to change anything at this point. Going back to the way it used to be, would almost be a more drastic situation than the one I’m in now.” My sister has learned how to live her life fully given her situation. However, she is not the only one this situation has changed. I believe that because I grew up knowing my sister's circumstances, I have learned that you do not actually know what is going on in another person’s life. By looking at my sister, you would never know the hardships that she had to go through to get to where she is. I like to keep this in mind when I first meet people and I believe my entire family does this as well. 

Many studies have shown that most people make their judgements of others in the first moments of meeting. Although there are many sayings such as “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” most people do not keep this in mind when they originally meet someone. This study shows that no matter how much time a person has to make a judgement on someone, majority of people will stick to their first impressions and assume they are correct. Most do not realize this, however this is a type of discrimination. Discrimination is defined as “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things” (dictionary.com). When people judge others without knowing who they really are, they discriminate based on characteristics that have no correlation to someone's true personality. Often times, this goes on unnoticed when the discriminatory factors include hair color or clothing. However, when the sole basis for discrimination is a disability or abnormality, it is easy for people to feel pity for that person immediately. Growing up around my sister, I have learned that although many people have it rough, you are not able to tell how they handle their situation simply by looking at them. When I meet people, I try my best to keep in mind that. It is important that your first impression of someone does not dictate what you think of them for the remainder your relationship with them. If I did not know what my sister has been though, I don’t think it would be as easy for me to keep this in mind and not judge someone just a few seconds after meeting them. 

Disabling Barriers-Enabling Environments is a book written by four different authors, all of which are professors at various universities specializing in disability studies. It is composed of forty two chapters, each of which address different social and mental problems commonly associated with disabilities. In one chapter, a theory is mentioned called the personal tragedy theory of disability, by Mike Oliver, a disability rights activist. Basically, this states that by social standards, disabled people are an oppressed group in society. John Swain and Sally French states that “the explanation refers to dominant values and social ideologies, particularly through the association of disability with dependence and abnormality.” This is not true however. Technically my sister is disabled, however she is not dependent on anyone in her life to help her live. This is not only true for her situation. Society today often refers to disabled people as burdens on others. However, what many people do not notice is that simply because one is disabled, does not mean that they are unable to live their life on their own. In the chapter, “A Non-Tragedy View on Disability”, Swain and French state, “ To become visually impaired, may be a personal tragedy for a sighted person whose life is based on being sighted, who lacks knowledge on the experience of visual impairments, whose identity is founded on being sighted.” One particular line sticks out in this quote, “who lacks knowledge on the experience of visual impairments.” This proves that when people are not exposed to those who are not “normal” by societal standards, they are often closed minded to how those people could possibly function without help from others. However, when you are exposed and aware of unique situations, such as my sister’s, you are able to better understand how being slightly offbeat in society does not mean you have a disadvantage at life. 

“Perhaps, at the most basic level, impairment is simply a fact of life”(Swaine).  Having an experience with a disabled person often allows people to have a different viewpoint of many situations. Swain explains, “having an experience with disability may also give disabled people a heightened understanding of the oppressions other people endure.” This is a valid point. It is easier to understand the viewpoints of others when you have experienced other who are in those situations. When you have a stereotype or an assumption already in your mind about all types of people, an experience with a person who defies the stereotype can often alter your mindset. That being said, anyone who is aware of the hardships my sister has been through and how she still lives her life to the fullest is also aware that a disability does not hinder a complete and normal life. My sister states, “When I was a kid, there was a girl with glasses in my class. Some people would pick on her and call her four eyes. I knew this was wrong and if they knew about my situation, they would surely tease me too, so I stood up for the girl and we quickly became friends. She was the first person outside my family to know about my situation.” The mean girls in the class would not have known about my sister’s situation, however because she was blind in one eye, she was more equipped to understand and show compassion towards the girl with glasses. This is not to say that if you have had a completely normal life that you do not know how to show compassion or kindness to another person, however it does prove that living through unique situations can help you to see people in a different light and better understand the position of the underdog.

My sister’s condition was in no way easy for any member of my family. My parents spent countless hours worrying about the wellbeing of their child and imagining every possible outcome for their daughter’s future. They were unaware of how others would view her situation and were nervous this would alter the way that people see her. My sister’s and I spent a lot of time in different doctors offices and hospital waiting rooms. We grew up knowing the dangers of death. When many people would find out about my sister’s condition, they would ask my parents how they allowed her to do all the “dangerous” activities that she did. These “dangerous” activities included soccer, swimming, basketball, and dance. It is obvious that these sports and hobbies are not dangerous for an eight year old except for a slight chance of a broken arm. However, people who did not know the capability of my sister questioned her ability to do simple tasks such as these without putting her sight on the line. Due to the fact that my parents understood that she was still a normal child, and still wanted to engage in normal activities with her friends, my sister was able to live a normal life. This proves that many people look at a family with a disabled person as a family who must exercise extreme caution, or alter their lives drastically. However, if you grow up in one of these families it is obvious that is it completely with normal love between each member. “Families with disabled children: Stress and social networks in three sample”, by Anne E. Kazak; explains the results of a study performed on families with both disabled children and normal children. The study tested different support networks, levels of stress, and marital satisfaction. The results found that the family dynamics are actually very similar whether you have a disabled child or not. The main difference between the two types of family actually shows that families with a disabled child actually have a broader support network behind them. Mothers with disabled children obviously had slightly higher stress levels, which is to be expected from the constant doctors visits and occasional worry. All in all, the study showed that the families actually share a very similar dynamic. This proves that just because there is a disability in the family, it does not change the way the family runs or treats their children. Mothers and fathers look at their disabled children and often see potential where others would most likely see pity.

Maysoon Zayid is an actress living with cerebral palsy. She has had this disease her entire life and is no stranger to the judgement and ridicule that comes with being disabled. In her TED talk, titled I Got 99 Problems… Palsy is Just One, she discusses the struggle of trying to live a normal life while others judge you for your disability. One story she shares is about an acting role she went for in the play called “They Dance Real Slow In Jackson”, the character had cerebral palsy. She had been a member of the theater department at Arizona State University for four years at this time, yet she had never been cast for a single role. This seemed like her time to shine, the perfect part, considering Zayid in fact does have cerebral palsy. The reason she did not get the part was because “they didn’t think she could do the stunts.” She had been living with CP her entire life, learned to walk despite the challenges, was an A student, and a very talented actress, yet the theater department still discriminated against her, so much that they did not even think she would be able to play a part that mirrored her everyday life. Zayid does not let the doubt of others stop her from pursuing her dreams, she is now a successful comic and continues to work to break the stigma against those with a disability by living a successful normal life, despite others doubting her.  

In Disabling Barriers, Enabling Environments, John Swaine states, “In order to locate the problem in the disabling society it is necessary, therefore, to break the impairment-disability link. However, ‘impairment equals disability’ is a core value of the modern ‘body-perfect’ culture and extremely resistant to change.” This means that until people are able to understand that because a person is technically “disabled” it does not mean they are impaired and live lesser of a life. However, in today’s society, people see differences as inferiorities. Any person who does not fit the mold of normal in today’s society is deemed unable to live a functioning life. However, this is not the case. Every year there are new technologies, teaching methods, and breakthroughs in the disabled community. For example, just last year, the United States had their first down's syndrome kindergarten teacher. Everyday, boundaries that were once thought to be immovable are being broken. However, people are stuck in the old ways so much that they ignore all the progress that has been made and still believe that disabled people are completely impaired and unable to function similar to the average person. In my sister’s case, when people find out that she is blind in one eye, their first question normally starts with , “how do you..?” The answer to this question is very simple, yet many cannot grasp it, “The same way you do.” The most common first question is , “How do you drive with only one eye?” My sister, with her sarcastic humor always replies, “Well, when I push on the right pedal the car starts to go, when I push on the left pedal the car slows down. The hard part is when I want the car to turn, then I have to rotate that big circle thing in front of me.” My sister is technically disabled by the definition of disability, however she is in no way impaired or living a lesser life. 

There is an abundance of disabilities in this world. The disabilities that are easily noticed are often those who are exposed to the most discrimination. However, learning disabilities affect about ten percent of the population. In her article on HuffPost article, “People with Disabilities as Social Outcasts: Shifting the Perspective from Victim to Advocate”, Helen Okobokekeimei discusses growing up with a learning disability. She was exposed to bullying and constant teasing from her classmates. Even her parents punished her for her disability and resented their daughter for not being “normal”. However, Helen is now a journalism student at the University of Maryland. She has decided not to let other people stop her from working to achieve what she wants in life. She is proud of who she is and what she has accomplish in life, despite those who tried to hold her back. She states “I am proud of having a disability. I would not change myself for what society would find more comfortable. The lesson here is to accept people with disabilities for who they are” (Okobokekeimei). Okobokekeimei is using her disability as a way to persuade the world to be more accepting of things they cannot fully understand and to reinforce the idea that a disabled life does not have to mean an inadequate life. 

It is clear that living with a disability is far different from a normal life. Some disabilities do in fact make many everyday tasks difficult to perform. This is not a secret to the world, this is why there are acts such as Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, handicapped spots at the mall, and special education classes for those with learning disabilities. However, many people mistake these forms of help as an excuse to look at disabled people as weak or less than. However, when you consider things such as handicapped spots or special learning programs, it is clear that their purpose is to make it is easy as possible for disabled people to have a normal life and do normal things. When considering the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, it is clear the purpose of the act is not so much to assist those with disabilities, or give them a leg up, but rather protect them from the ridicule and discrimination that they face by those who do not understand their situation. There are many differences between a disabled and nondisabled person’s life. However, everyone experiences hardships and struggles unique to their life, so why are disabilities viewed so drastically different than other misfortunes? 

My sister’s “disability” may not be the most severe case, it has taught both her and my family a lot about how the world works. Many scholars have tried to explain how disabilities are often over emphasized and how just because someone has a disability does not mean that they do not live a normal life. This is hard for many people to grasp, however if you know someone with a disability and are able to see that they do not let it define their life, it is much easier to keep in mind that a person is not their appearance, rather they are their attitude. None of my family would be the same people or look at others the way that we do if my sister  had been a “normal” child. I do not think that everyone who has not experienced a disability is unaccepting or closed minded, however it is much easier to keep in mind that differences do not define people if you grew up loving and caring for someone who is so different than most. The most clear and precise way to put it is, discrimination is often a result of ignorance, the only way to fix the problem is to educate yourself on the topic. 
