There are many people, who deal with several types of Physical Disabilities. According to Canadian statistics, disabilities escalate with age. Statistics show that only 3.7 percent of children 14 and under will have a disability compared to the 43.4 percent of adults 65 and older with disabilities (Disabled world, 2008). According to this data, as you get older you are more likely to get a disability due to injuries obtained in any of the following areas: workplace, sports, motorized accidents, old age.etc
Reflecting off the experience of an individual who I knew very well, relates to the topic of individuals diagnosed with Physical Disabilities. At birth this girl was diagnosed with a minor cause of Cerebral Palsy. This physical disability affects your muscles as well as balance. This is caused from loss of oxygen to the brain during the growth of the baby. This physical disability limits the amount of active movement a person can do (Shevell, 2010).
This individual has difficulties learning but she was still active in class room activities. She was able to walk, but with difficulty. During my high school years I witnessed, the way my school dealt with children with Physical Disabilities. This girl was a very dedicated individual who happen to love the sport baseball. Throughout elementary, she would participate to the best of her ability. As the years went by the competition got harder and that meant only the “best” play. This girl who attended all practices and was always there for the team, felt as though she wasn’t wanted anymore. I worked with her this past summer and she told me that the reason she no longer was on the team was because “she saw herself as a set back and that she would slow down the team”. After hearing what “she thought” about herself, I felt ashamed that our school as well as her teammates didn’t do more for her. This girl had spent every summer until grade 10 playing her favourite sport and now felt unwanted and incompetent. It has affected her thoughts toward both the sport and herself.
There are many children and teenagers going through similar emotional problems where they feel unwanted on sports teams due to their lack of skill, but in even more cases these children are not permitted to play at all. The emotional stress that these children suffer through may result in depression. I think that schools need to include more policies into their physical education. This would result in all kids getting a chance to participate in team building and would help reduce depression. I wish my school would have done something like this for her.
Sara
Disabled World, (2008).Disability Statistics Canada
Retrieved from: http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/statistics/disability-statistics-canada.php
Shevell, M.I. (2010). Classifying cerebral palsy subtypes, Future Neurology.
Wow. It is so sad to hear that the individual mentioned in your blog no longer feels welcome or accepted on the baseball team. It sounds like it's obviously something she loves to do, and she has every right to do it! Her teachers and peers should absolutely be doing everything they can to make her feel more welcome, and be way more understanding of her physical disability. Society needs to stop singling out individuals who differ from the norm and start accepting and accommodating everyone.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa
I agree completely with Alyssa. Society should not be singling anyone because of physical differences. It is shocking to hear that the individuals friends and peers were not more supportive and helpful to her. No one deserves to feel unwanted and to feel like they would be a setback.
ReplyDeleteThis story is so sad, but so necessary to tell as it will only create awareness. Schools and teams should be promoting diversity and acceptance instead of focusing on winning! I believe in inclusion within our schools but that may also lead to more discrimination toward our disabled community. Mainstream kids, let say in gym class, may not want the disabled person on their team and policies need to be put into place so this does not occur. How can we do this?
ReplyDeleteShauna Richardson
I absolutely agree with you that society needs to figure out policies to help these individuals out. Reading your blog just made me think of my own personal experience. I don't have a physical disability but i needed to have surgery one year and that affected my ability to play the sport i best enjoy which is also baseball. I was still with my team but it didn't feel the same! So i could only imagine what it feels like for those with a physical disability...
ReplyDeleteSamantha
I am so upset that your school didn't do more to help your friend. I'm happy to say that my high school had very good programs for youth with physcial disabilities. They didn't have the chance to play on the sports teams as the same level as the "best", but we provided a team just for them where no one was turned down and all levels of skill were accepted. School Divisions need to make it more of a priority to help those with disabilites.
ReplyDelete-Nicole (Nikki) S.
Personally, the school I came from was small and had little to no students with physical disabilities. Do you think there should be a school specific for children with disabilities?
ReplyDelete-Kerri
Sara,
ReplyDeleteI just posted about CP, too and I enjoyed hearing this young lady's story. It makes me sad that she feels like she is burdening her friends and team, but I'm glad by the sounds of it that her team was very supportive of her. Thanks for sharing!
Kelsey
I think providing them with a team to play on with people of the same physical ability like Nikki's school did can be one option of helping. As long as the team with physical disabilities is not looked at in a bad light; it should be just as important as the other team. And I do not think there should only be schools specific for children with disabilities; those are the kinds of things that drive us apart and enable children to be accepting of others. We all need to be exposed to people from all walks of life and include them in the same activities and paricipate together for equality to happen.
ReplyDeleteBrittany
I feel so sad to hear about your friends story. It is especially sad because it seems like baseball was more than just a sport to her. I agree that the team mates that played with her in previous years, should have stood up and said something. Every person, no matter what disability, should have the equal right to play in school sports.
ReplyDelete-Morgan
I think people need to stop looking at people with disabilities in a negative light. There disability may prevent them from doing things that other people can but that does not mean it takes over there self worth and the person that they are. I feel that it is our duty to make them feel like they are a part of society and just like everyone else.
ReplyDelete-Iresha
I totally agree. School need to change something so that everyone has an equal chance.
ReplyDeleteIts upsetting knowing she put so much time and efford and ends up thinking like that about herself. There should of been something the team could of done for her to make her feel like part of them team.
~Joelle
School sports have the potential to boost self-esteem and increase academic involvement. However, as you point out in your blog, people with disabilities are quite often excluded from being part of the team. They may be involved by being the manager or the coaches assistant, but they are denied to opportunity to be competitive and truly be part of the team. It is unfair that we are constantly telling people what they can and cannot do!!
ReplyDeleteKim