Society's Disability

In Nancy Mairs' essay, "Disability" she highlights society's attitude towards disabled people. People think that someone with a disability is only that disability. Mairs aims to disprove this. She talks about how she, like everyone else, "drive[s] a car, talk[s] on the telephone...". By showing that she is just like everyone else, Mairs shows that society separates the disabled for no reason at all. 

Unfortunately, I think society does unknowingly separate handicapped people  For example, my close friend has a brother that is mentally disabled. I don't think anything of it when we are with them, however, I can tell that other people do. When I was in seventh grade, my friend's mom came to pick us up with Alex, her brother. I didn't mind being with him but I noticed that other people were staring. I thought this was sad because it just shows how society isn't accustomed to people with disabilities. Mairs argues that people think that handicapped people are different from the rest of us, and I agree with her. I don't think they should feel isolated just because they have a disability. I think her point was strengthened by the video that Ms. Valentino showed us in class this week.

The video showed the reactions of people to mannequins modeled after people with a handicap. Many stopped to stare, some took photos, while one girl mimicked one of the mannequins. I thought this was kind of sad because it just shows how people think seeing disabled people is strange. They aren't used to seeing disabled people. Unfortunately, Mairs was correct when saying that people with a disability are isolated in society because others can only see the disability, not the person.