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katherine's picture

disabled or differently-abled?

I definitely agree that disability is a social construction.  What interests me is that many times when people are disabled--according to society—they often have developed other abilities beyond what is considered the norm.  For example, Autistic people often have remarkable music abilities.  What is it about the organization of their brain that allows for this quality to repeatedly be expressed in Autistic people?  Another example is deaf people.  At first, all I could think about was all the things that they miss—the sound of people laughing, music, birds singing.  But then I realized all the abilities they develop as a result of their “disability” as a result of having to rely on their other senses.  It is probably safe to say that these people are more attuned to visual cues than those without audio impairment.  In this sense, these people are not disabled, but merely differently-abled.  Perhaps society needs to take a look at the positive qualities that can emerge when one is not born with what is considered the norm.  That being said, I think it is incredible that methods that researchers have developed (for example hearing aids) in order for disabled people to fit in with the mainstream population.  Research on these disabilities not only provides people with new opportunities they would not have had otherwise, but also gives us a deeper understanding of the nervous system in general.      

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