Module 2: Reflection Paper

1. What can persons with disabilities do despite their handicaps?

Disability doesn’t mean “zero ability” it means that a percent out of a hundred is
not functioning. Some says that when you are disabled you are half alive and
half dead, but I strongly disagree to this statement, it is indeed that disabled
people may feel discouragement the moment they step their foot in the outside
world, however, we as part of the community has the responsibility to let them
realized that their situation is not a burden but somehow a gift for them to use
and figure out what are the things they are able to do. Living in the 21 st century
as a disabled person has gone a lot of benefits to continue surviving and living as
a disabled in normal way of living.

Most of the time, the problem is with our society because they assumed that
people don't seem perfectly normal are therefore unable to function in society. A
blind person for example, they may think that blind people won’t be able to get a
job, but in the contrary even if we undergone research, it will always showed up
that there are people who have achieved high marks and became professional
despite of their blindness. Second is being deaf, hearing or not hearing does not
impair your ability to achieve what you want to achieve. While there many
careers for which they are less suited, the same would apply to anyone
searching for a career path. Each person has skills, talents, and limitations. One
good instance of a job is being a sign language interpreter. Now imagine being
born without arms. It means no arms to wrap around a friend; no hands to hold
the ones you love; no fingers to experience touch; no way to lift or carry things
but how much more difficult would life be if you were living without arms and
hands? Well, people who have been in this situation since birth is undeniably
difficult. In addition, they may get more discrimination and feel a lot of self-
discouragement compared to those who are blind, deaf, or mute. However,
despite of these disability there are still people who continue to live their life as a
normal way. It may seem difficult to think if how they be able to do a certain job
without their arms and legs but inconsideration these people do have eyes to
read, ears to hear and mouth to speak. So, they may lack in some part of their
body, but they still have other sense to use to live a good life. To support, my
argument we can refer to the newly concluded Paralympic 2020 where in some
athletes there don’t have arms and legs but they able to represent their country
as a hero of their nation.

Lastly, let’s not add fuel to the fire. These people have already suffered enough
from discrimination and negligence. Let us treat them equally and fairly, with the
respect they deserve, so that they may see life in a more positive light.

Cite examples of persons who overcome their disabilities and what

realizations have you gained on a personal level?

Nick Vujicic was born with no arms and no legs – but he didn’t let this stop him.
At 26, he has practically only torso enjoys playing golf and football, he swims and
surfs despite having no limbs. He has a small foot on his left hip, which helps him
gain balance, write, type, and pick up things between his toes. His parents
decided to send him to mainstream school. And, as Nick says, it was probably
the best decision they could have made. Even though he had to face hostility
from classmates this eventually made him stronger. Nick also had a special
wheelchair and a team of people that would care for him. Due to the pressure
that was put on him by peers and people around, at the age of 8, he was deeply
depressed and told his mother that he wanted to die. However, with the help of
his family and friends, he able to overcome his fears and depression and has
become a motivational speaker, travelling to over 24 countries speaking to
groups of up to 110.000 people. Nick Vujicic is the living proof that no one
should be discouraged by the difficulties that show up during life, no matter how
big they might be. Although at the beginning even we had to face our
own discouragement and the prejudice of people around us, we need to learn to
managed to overcome everything and succeed in many domains and to become
a role model for everyone.
 Ludwig van Beethoven is an aspiring composer began to lose his hearing in his
20s and overcame deep bouts of depression to continue writing music. Many of
his celebrated works were written after he was almost completely deaf. Today he
is regarded as one of the most famous and influential of all composers.

Stephen Hawking is a renowned theoretical physicist who was diagnosed with

ALS, a form of motor neuron disease, when he was 21. Despite of having only
two years to live, he went on to become a celebrated physicist, author, lecturer,
and professor. In the year 2014, he was the subject of the film “The Theory of
Everything in 2014”.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was nearly 40 when stricken with polio, a disease that
dramatically limited his ability to use his legs. He was an accomplished politician
and government servant by that time. He became governor of New York and, in
November 1932, was elected President of the United States and remained in
office until his death in 1945, becoming the longest-serving president in U.S.
history.

I came to realize that disability isn’t always come at birth but also happens in the
darkest tragedy. People we used to adore and appears normal in their daily life
might turn to become disable unpreventably. Life is unpredictable, today were at
the peak of our career discriminating helpless disabled people tomorrow we
might become the same people we used to laugh at. In relation to my reference,
they have proven that disability is unbecoming, but it doesn’t stop them to have a
meaningful and successful life.

2. Write your own unique title based on the content of your paper.

Title: “Disability is not zero ability but one percent possibility”