Stella Young
Throughout my life I have always went to school with people who were disabled and/or handicapped. They have always inspired me by how well they have overcome the adversities in their life. After listening to Stella Young talk about her experiences as a handicapped woman she helped me to realize that sometimes non-disable people tend to objectify handicapped people. This stood out to me because we do this unintentionally on a daily basis and until now I never knew that I was possibly making a disable person feel that type of way.
During her speech she talked about how one of
her students in her class raised his hand during lecture and asked her, “Are you going to give an inspirational
speech?” She was confused as to why the student was asking her this question
and the student said to her, “Well most handicapped people give an inspirational
speech.” When she mentioned this during her speech I was mortified that the
student asked her that question, but I was even more surprised that she did not
get mad at the student. Instead she blamed it on the media and how they portray
disable people in today’s society.
She also mention that in today’s society the media uses disable people as an object or in her own words “inspirational porn” to motivate non-disable people to be more appreciative of their lives and be grateful that they are not in that same predicament as those who are handicapped. I completely agree with her statement because the media usually objectifies a person or thing in order to benefit someone's needs or wants. Stella Young did a magnificent job with her speech and she was very motivating to me. Because of Stella Young I will now be more consciousness of how I approach someone who is disable and/or handicapped.
Link to TED speaker: http://www.ted.com/talks/stella_young_i_m_not_your_inspiration_thank_you_very_much/transcript?language=en
She also mention that in today’s society the media uses disable people as an object or in her own words “inspirational porn” to motivate non-disable people to be more appreciative of their lives and be grateful that they are not in that same predicament as those who are handicapped. I completely agree with her statement because the media usually objectifies a person or thing in order to benefit someone's needs or wants. Stella Young did a magnificent job with her speech and she was very motivating to me. Because of Stella Young I will now be more consciousness of how I approach someone who is disable and/or handicapped.
Link to TED speaker: http://www.ted.com/talks/stella_young_i_m_not_your_inspiration_thank_you_very_much/transcript?language=en
