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Enabling the Disabled

Today in our neuro class, we watched Aimee Mullin's Ted Talk. She spoke about people's different perceptions of the word "disabled," and how it can affect the mindset of individuals with disabilities. She began her talk by listing the different synonyms for the word "disabled" from a thesaurus. This part of the talk is what struck me most. Harsh, unforgiving words such as "useless" were used in the thesaurus, followed by antonyms including "whole." I could not believe that this is how the idea of being disabled was described. As Ms. Mullins stated in her talk, using words or casting ideas about disability such as these could be causing a major threat to the potential of those with a disability. If these individuals also believe they are broken and useless, what hope could they see in their futures? I think that society has come a long way in opening their eyes to the idea of disabilities; however, we still have a long way to go. Advances in medicine, adaptive equipment, and technology give individuals a chance at living a fulfilling lifestyle. I look forward to learning about different neurological disorders in this class so that I too can one day help individuals with all types of disorders live the most meaningful life possible.

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