This week’s discussion regarding people with disabilities and the social and medical model of disability was very eye-opening and emotional for me to learn about. My mother is a burn victim that lost all function in her left hand, and still has some function in her right. Her incident happened 21 years ago, so she has adapted very quickly, although when she is in public some people stare or give her weird looks. The video of Judith Butler and Sunuara Taylor reminded me of me and my mother, and it was emotional for me to watch. My mother is an empath and she is very sensitive to how people perceive her. If she gets a disapproving look from anyone, she will automatically stop running errands and go back home. She will ask me to run errands for her instead. I get so worked up and angry at people, a look can say a thousand words. I would always ask myself, does her disability offend you? Are the slight imperfections in her skin becoming an inconvenience for you to look at? Why do people value being nice and accepting and preach about it but never practice what they say?

I have always stood for not changing yourself for others, but I supported my mother when she underwent all the cosmetic plastic surgeries to love herself. But, I believe it was other people’s perspective of her that needed altered, not her. The social model of disability focuses on making the world an accessible place for all kinds of disabilities. But I don’t think anyone would wait until everyone in the world got the memo, to be able to live life happily. To be able to feel comfortable, and not as a liability. I believe this is why some people depend on the medical model of disability, for an instant fix to a life-long impairment.

A happy ending that inspires me everyday, is after all the years of my mother struggling with her disability, she finally overcame everything and is now completing her Pharm. D. to become a pharmacist as she was pursuing before her accident. My views and opinions of disability fall in-between the social model and medical model of disability. My mother needed both to lead a successful life. She needed to somewhat conform with societie’s views by changing her appearance through surgery, which is what the medical model of disability stands for. But she also needed many accommodations throughout her undergraduate and graduate education to succeed, which is what the social model of disability stands for. Although the system of getting accommodations is not perfect, because it almost shames students for needing help. It is better than what other countries, as we’ve experienced, have. I believe in the soon future we will see a normalization for people who need are not totally independent, because it is about one third of the population. We need better education in schools about disabilities and how treat people with disabilities. There also needs to be a way to educate people about what accomidations are, because a lot of people do not even know it is available for them. Having an impairment is a struggle that no one should over come alone. Especially in today’s time, we have the resources and ability to make any opportunity the world accommodating to everyone.