Anonymous (2024) Artifact Transcript
We’ve created this transcript to ensure the accessibility of this course. We find it important to note that the content covered in the transcript is not our intellectual property and was authored by others.
[0:00] Hi, so, um, because my hometown is about three hours away, every time I go home I usually listen to a podcast or two. I’m very new to podcasts, but I have found that I really do enjoy them. So, I decided to do this project in a sort of podcast style because as it is stated in the project, this needs to be able to be available to us and easy to use in the future and I think this is a great way to keep record of what I have learned, um, because I can just come back and listen to it at any time, so yeah.
[0:39] Um, what I’m going to be talking about today is Modules 3-5 of SED 101, and the topics discussed were normalcy, dominant ideas about disability, and disabled ideas about disability.
[0:54] So first of all, normalcy. This is kind of like relating to disability it is referring to, like, the idea that disabled people are not normal, quote unquote. I have always, um, not agreed with this concept, um, and a lot of it does have to do with how I grew up. My grandparents are completely d/Deaf and they use sign language to communicate. So, as my mom was growing up, um, she was taught that they were completely normal, um, and that they could do everything else that another person can do, besides hear, obviously.
[1:32] So, um, these ideas and values have been passed onto me as well. So I try to view, um, you know people that are disabled as, you know, they’re just, they’re normal people. They don’t, like they’re not, nothing less, there’s nothing less about them than there is about anyone else just because that their needs are different.
[1:53] And, you know the idea that they are not normal because they are disabled, um, which they might get that idea from how people treat them, especially in schools, is very very bad for their confidence and for, um, their self image and self worth. So we need to try to not give them that idea.
[2:15] I mean everyone, you know, they may be different and that’s okay because everyone has different needs, but that does not mean that they are not normal just because they are not exactly like everyone else.
[2:29] Okay, so the next topic is dominant ideas about disability. So, some dominant ideas can be that, you know, kind of going along with normalcy, like that disabled people are not normal, that they are less than, um, we talked a lot about this referring to Aristotle’s quote, um, which talked about how basically that, like, disabled people, like children, should almost be, like, taken out of this world, which is just crazy to me that some people could think that. And I think, you know, that these kind of ideas that they are less than stems from people not having experience around disabled, um, people that have disabilities because, you know, I have been around it with my grandparents, I have two cousins, who, um, one has cerebral palsy and Autism, and the other one has a rare disease called Coffin-Siris syndrome, where he is, um, nonverbal.
[3:33] And you know, I, I do understand, like, some people do not get that experience of being around people with disabilities, but like, once you do have that experience you can see how much you can relate to them and how much you love them, and how, like, they really, they’re people too, like, they are, and you know we should respect them and treat them that way.
[3:56] And then another dominant idea about disability is that, like, for example, when someone in a wheelchair cannot get somewhere because of, like, stairs, you know, we say that it’s because of their disability. However, we have learned a different perspective in this class about how, you know, when someone cannot access something because of the stairs, you know, it is not the fact that they are in a wheelchair that makes, that is the disability. It’s just the fact that the building is not accessible, that that is the disability.
[4:29] And that goes right along with disabled ideas about disability, which is our third topic. This is kind of the mindset that they have, like, it is not their fault that they have different needs. It is, you know, the building’s fault or the company’s fault, that is the disability part of it. It is not them that is disabled, it is the building or the company or, you know, wherever they’re going to.
[4:54] And I think that this is a great perspective to have especially as an educator, because I will be going into education, um, because, you know, all these three topics they tie together and, like, you want to treat children, you know, even if they have different needs, you want to treat them as just any other kid and, you know, be aware of the differences they do have and making sure everything is accessible for them, like busses and buildings and field trips.
[5:26] And like, you know, I kind of can maybe see someone’s perspective, like a teacher doesn’t want to cancel the field trip for the whole class just because there’s one person who would not be able to access it. But like, as an educator, like, you know, these people with disabilities, they have to go through so much, and you just wanna be able to include them. You don’t have to do a field trip every year, like, you have to be able to, you know, change your plans and be very flexible because as an educator, your childrens’ and your students’ needs, they do come first, and that includes every single student, not just the complete able-bodied ones. (sniff)
[6:13] So, yeah, that’s all I have to say about it. Um, I hope that I can remember all of these things when I am an educator in the future so that I can be the best educator that I can be for every single type of student, whether they have completely able-bodied, um, body types or if they have a disability.
