Growing up within a world that was constructed through the naturalized standards of body movements, I noticed my brother’s body stood out. As he stayed wheelchair bound and I walked beside him as my mother lifted him upstairs I felt this desire to want the world to be more accessible to my brother. With small inconveniences becoming the reason my brother’s nurses refuse to take him out his room, I saw that my brother’s impairment in which he did not cause nor create was what caused the world to seem unfair to him. Being diagnosed with something as debilitating as cerebral palsy and having infrastructure built off the assumption that you are an able bodied person creates disability. Tom Shakesphere, an English sociologist sees disability to be “the disadvantage or restriction of activity caused by a social organization which takes little to no account of people who have physical impairments and thus excludes them from participation in the mainstream of social activities.” This depiction of disability seems to be fairly accurate as places such as college campuses do the bare minimum to ensure that people’s impairments don’t stop from being productivity. For example, on my college campus they provide ramps on extremely steep hills reflecting a lack of thought of those who have to wheel themselves up and down these structures. With non-disabled people creating the structures and tools for those who are disabled it continues the cycle of ignorance. It is easy to understand why disabled people have created political movements in the past because it’s not their physical deficits that is making their lives difficult, it is the social oppression and isolation which is created by those in power.My brother shouldn’t have to be able to stand to be treated like another human being. Our capabilities should not measure our visibility and our society’s inclusivity. Our physical limitations are created by the world around us but it’s time we build a world that allows all bodies to exist freely and actively participate in society by having those with disabilities to be the creators of buildings and have a voice on issues such as urban renewal and healthcare.
Unruly Bodies 
I wholeheartedly agree! People in those positions of power often don’t or refuse to notice individuals who don’t fit the “norm.” Cis, able bodied, heterosexual, middle aged white men making the decisions for the rest of the country simply can’t work anymore. I particularly like this sentence from your post: “Our physical limitations are created by the world around us but it’s time we build a world that allows all bodies to exist freely and actively participate in society…”
I can see why and agree with the disabled would start movements! I am very sorry that your brother had to struggle with his disabilities in today’s society, that would rather turn down people’s needs because it’s outside the ‘norm’. I also feel that my college campus doesn’t do enough for those with those suffering from disabilities. As a healthcare administration and public policy major, I had to do a paper on UMBC and it’s accessibility’s for the disabled. I found that the campus has few ‘almost hidden’ ramps/elevators/wheelchair accessible spots. Not only is it dibiltating to the disabled, but it’s discouraging for the elderly. I hope in the future my college will relook into fixing these issues
I’m sorry to hear about your brother. I most definitely agree with you that society needs to accomadate to people with disabilities. No one should have to wonder if they can get to their class because of a flight of stairs they might not be able to get up. I think it’s good that the college has ramps because it makes life easier for those who need it, but they should have more elevators, etc. I understand why people fought so hard to receive the necessary needs for those in need. I hope everywhere makes adjustments if they needs so for those who are disabled.
Thank you for sharing this story! I think your closing statement was extremely powerful and I agree that our limitations are created by the world around us. Similarly to my own blog It appears to be hard people to understand differences that people are faced with if they haven’t had some sort of personal experience attached to it. In this particular instance people with disabilities aren’t carefully thought of to someone who doesn’t hasn’t dealt with or been exposed to individuals with disabilities and it hinders, for example the contractors who built UMBC, the ability to think about how could someone who isn’t as abled body as myself be able to move freely around this campus.