More Than What Meets the Eye

This picture was taken from ama-cycle.org.

On closer examination of the image it is evident that the motorcycle is no ordinary bike but rather it is specially made for disabled individuals. The man that is shown in the picture is actually an amputee who lost his right leg when he met with a motorcycle accident (this information was provided in the caption of the image). One can learn so much from just looking at this picture. It is wonderful to see how individuals with disabilities don't have to stop doing things that they love just because of their disabilities. Advances like the motorcycle featured in this image demonstrate how assistive technology has enabled disabled individuals to live more independent lives.

When I first saw this image I found it to be quite interesting. Although it appears that the image has been photoshopped and the image on a whole is not very clear, I still feel there is a strong message that comes across. The shorter player appears to be representing individuals who have some type of disability while the taller player in the back represents the rest of society. Today, individuals with a disability are often viewed as being less than human, incapable, and not worthy of being given respect. Rather than calling these individuals “disabled” a more appropriate term would be to call them “abled” because these individuals can do everything that a normal person can but they might have to work harder to do things a bit differently (which has become so much easier today with all the new assistive technology). As the image demonstrates, the shorter player has a disability in terms of her height but that does not prevent her from being any less of a player than the taller one behind her. Also the facial expressions and body language of the taller player demonstrates how society often misunderstands and overlooks disabled individuals but if only we could get past our stereotypes and lack of understanding we would be surprised at how much disabled individuals have able to overcome their disability. Image courtesy of: diversityrules.typepad.com

This image is a good illustration of how individuals with some type of disability are allowed into mainstream society. I like how in this image, the individual who appears to have down syndrome is the main focus while the people and object in the background are out of focus. It is a common misconception that individuals with disabilities cannot lead independent lives and most of all cannot have jobs of their own. This picture shows otherwise because it is evident that the individual with the disability is working in some type of office environment and by observing his clothing one can assume that he is not holding any menial type position. It has been proven that with individuals with disabilities, can perform the same tasks as a “normal” individual but may require more assistance or assistive technology. For example, a blind person can still work as a computer engineer with the help of voice recognition software. Recent developments in technology have opened the doors to disabled individuals to become more active members in their community and to play a more involved role in the workforce. This goes to prove that when disabled individuals are provided with the necessary education and technology they can overcome their disabilities to become active members in their communities.