Disability-Clare

The freak shows are especially interesting because they provide a niche for people with disabilities. After they were stopped due to the 'exploitation', many of the workers actually complained because they lost their job and their community. This may not speak for all of them, but at least some of them felt they belonged in these shows because it would be hard to make a living otherwise. When people lose their jobs, they have lost a drive, a purpose, a contribution to society. It can be depressing to be given free handouts because you feel unworthy when you do not work for it.

Though everyone realizes those with disabilities are human beings, many people do not actually know it. There is something inherent in society which has the need to categorize people, but it is due to our sin nature and therefore not good. People are equal and deserve equal treatment by everyone else. For my field, which is education, knowing about kids with disabilities will be extremely helpful. Before, I had never really thought about disabilities in depth. I just accepted it. Now, being forced to actually think about it and wrestle with different people's world-views, I have realized the importance of thinking about these things. In education, I will actually make the effort to accommodate to all of my students and learn about their different needs to help them learn successfully instead of delegating the task to the students or other faculty members. To add to all of this, knowing about people with disabilities should be important to all people because they are human beings and deserve to be a part of society just like everyone else.

Because our class is focusing in on this subject this semester, I have noticed how much disability actually comes up in daily activities. If I would have been asked a couple months ago if disability still lingered in society as a form of entertainment, I would have said no way because that would be really messed up. However, to my dismay, I have found that disability is throughout entertainment. People thrive on the new and different, especially in horror films in which the antagonist is always a person with mental disabilities. It is kind of sad to realize that we are trained in our subconscious to be weary and cautious of that which is different.