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Running Head: HUTTON HOUSE REFLECTION

Hutton House Reflection

Aristaia Levac

251041991

April 1, 2019
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The Hutton House uses specialized inclusion for the majority of their programs. They

offer a variety of programs for people with disabilities such as life skills, art, and a job program.

The job program helps the members of the Hutton House to develop skills for that specific job.

One of the benefits offered by Hutton House is that they provide trained staff to create a

welcoming environment for people with disabilities. “Out in the world, you have to constantly

think about how people are reacting to you, how different you are… At camp, that pressure fell

away and the sameness of everyone was a joy” (Whaley, 2015). This implies that specialized

inclusion is a needed aspect of the disabled communities lives. Although classes are offered to

non-disabled people, they do not usually attend unless they are in direct contact with Hutton

House. Meaning that people with disabilities who are a part of these programs do not have

integration between disabled/non-disabled people. This limits the opportunity to reduce the

stigma around these classes.   

For the individual model, skills are being developed to be able to become more

independent in society and the workplace (person fixing). This represents the individual model

because its focus is on the impairment as the problem to be fixed for the independent person.

“The construction of disability as, perforce, a problem interferes with its being viewed as an

issue, an idea, a metaphor, a phenomenon, a culture, and a construction” (Linton, 1998). The

Hutton Houses daily classes represents the IM model. This is influenced by it because the

Hutton’s house vision is “In a safe, supportive and respectful environment, we will work

together, with open and honest communication, to enable you to discover and achieve your

goals”.

Hutton House puts heavy emphasis on society to show that people with impairments can

have jobs and that the disablement is socially created. The way the Hutton House is using the
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societal model is by partnering with companies in society and helping them be open to having

employees with disabilities. This is helping the businesses they are working with break the

stigma and will help society take steps closer to a “society fixing” view on disabilities. Hutton

House directly helps these employees to understand their job/roles because of their ideology of

the social model for helping them find jobs. “Those with disabilities remind us, “Many of us

growing up with disabilities have few peers with disabilities. We do not have playmates, friends,

or confidants who share our unique identities and perspectives” (Goodwin & Staples, 2005).

A barrier that Hutton House faces is the high demand of members wanting to join and

having little space and staff to accommodate such demand. Hutton House is well known

throughout the community of people with disabilities, resulting in a lot of disabled people

wanting to join. As a result of space and staff restrictions, it can be hard to find suitable staff that

can accommodate for people with disabilities.

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References

Whaley, Kayla. (2015). Chasing “Normal”: My Summers at a Camp for Disabled Kids. The

Toast. Retrieved from: http://the-toast.net/2015/11/10/chasing-normal-camp-for-disabled-

kids/

Linton, Simi. (1998). Disability Studies/Not Disability Studies. Claiming Disability: Knowledge

and Identity. New York: New York University Press. (PP. 132-156)

Goodwin, Donna and Staples, Kerri. (2005). The Meaning of Summer Camp Experiences to

Youths with Disabilities. Adapted Physical Quarterly. 22 (2), 160-178.