Personal Narrative: Maintaining A Spinal Cord Injury

A time I had to overcome adversity in my life was when I became injured during the middle of cheer tryouts. At the time I was very passionate about competitive cheer, and my goal was to make the junior five team. When I got to tryouts everyone was tumbling, stunting and doing the dance routine. My adrenaline was pumping as I went to warm up my tumbling and throw a roundoff, back handspring, layout. I was determined to accomplish this for tryouts and impress my coach, but I was still very nervous. As I was running into the roundoff back handspring, I knew something was bound to go wrong. The next thing I knew I was in the middle of the air and suddenly landed on my knees, with my ankle twisted under me. My face got bright

The amount of people who live with disabilities is a controversial number. Depending on what law and diagnostic tools used, a person may have a visible disability, or one that may lie beneath the surface of his or her appearance. Some people believe that the term “disability” is merely a label use to hold back, or prescribe helplessness. Meanwhile, individuals who have been properly diagnosed with disabilities struggle to maintain respect and acceptance every day. In plain language, there is a lot of misunderstanding between people with disabilities and those without. It is firstly important to get everyone on the same page regarding the definition of disability.

3.3. Explain the social and medical models of disability and the impact of each on practice

The Medical Model regards disability as an individual problem. It promotes a traditional view of disability, that it is something to be ‘cured’, even though many conditions have no cure. The problem is seen as the disabled person and their impairment, not society, and the solution is seen as adapting the disabled person to fit the non-disabled world, often through medical intervention. Control resides firmly with professionals; choices for the individual are limited to the options provided and approved by the 'helping' expert.

“The medical model is presented as viewing disability as a problem of the person, directly caused by disease, trauma, or other health condition which therefore requires sustained medical care provided in the form of individual treatment by professionals. In the medical model, management of the disability is aimed at a "cure," or the individual's adjustment and behavioral change that would lead to an "almost-cure" or effective cure.” (Langtree, 2012)

The statement said by Aimee Mullins, "…the conversation is no longer about overcoming deficiency…,” is an eye opener type of statement. From watching the video, I believe she is implying that, what we know about a disability, and how we respond to it is somewhat coming to a change. What I mean by that is, when we are informed about a disability, and/or told of a person having a disability, some are quick to offer sympathy, empathy, and their act of assistance. However, for others, some, not all will see an individual’s disability as a disadvantage. Based on the statement, Mullins, and the perspective of her friend, the way in viewing a disability internally is less important than viewing it externally as society progresses. A disability is

There’s things in life that everyone takes pride in, things that they won't ever be ashamed of. I have so much to be proud of especially in myself. After having Spinal Fusion surgery, i’ve done things I never thought I would be able to do, and one of them is learning to find my balance and walk again.

The medical model of disability views disabilities as a problem that belongs to the disabled person. It is not seen as a problem that needs the concern of anyone else apart from the disabled individual affected, for example if a wheelchair user is unable to get into a building because there are steps then, the wheelchair is seen as the problem not the steps, according to the medical model.

Society often focuses on what a person lacks in terms of disability and focuses on condition or illness or a person’s lack of ability. Medical model of disability which views adults has having an impairment or lacking in some way

Disability in a socio-cultural context can be defined as "a barrier to participation of people with impairments or chronic illnesses arising from an interaction of the impairment or illness with discriminatory attitudes, cultures, policies or institutional practices" (Booth, 2000). The traditional view of disability often focuses on the individual, highlighting incapacities or failings, a defect, or impairment. This focus creates obstacles to participation on equal terms since an individual who seems to lack certain capacities may not be able to attain autonomy.

PURPOSE: To inform my audience about people in the United States living with spinal cord injuries

I decided to take on the role as a wheel chair bound individual. As I took on the role as a wheel chair bound individual I quickly realized how much I needed the assistance of others to help me to be able to function as a whole body. Being wheel chair bound restricted my mobility a great deal. I did not realize how much a wheelchair could limit a person’s mobility until I personally carried out this exercise on my own (Smith, 2015). Many of my daily activities that I normally performed on my own became impossible without the help from others. The wheel chair did not allow me to access certain areas in my home due to the fact that the wheelchair limited my mobility because of the size. The wheelchair put me at a lower position versus a

Another obvious physical disability is an individual's confinement to a wheelchair. People who cannot walk under their own power are usually at a great disadvantage. Many times there are no special considerations made for these people. Even some typical expressions demonstrate this lack of compassion, such as "I have to run to the store", or "I'm going for a walk." People in wheelchairs are often considered weak and unable to care for themselves. However, some advances have been made in our society that encourages the independence of these people. Wheelchair ramps, handicap parking, and cuts in the curb of sidewalks are just some of the more obvious changes that have been made to better accommodate these people. But some problems may still occur for people in wheelchairs. Some hallways and doors may not be wide enough for the chair to fit through and when it is icy outside it is very easy to slide if the pavement is not sanded properly.

The dominant model of disability for the majority of the 20th century was the medical model. The medical model’s emphasis is on impairment; this is the cause of the disadvantage disabled individuals face and therefore the site of interventions (Crow, 1996). It is based in the biomedical and clinical. It views disability as a personal tragedy, an idea which is often implicit in work around disability based on the medical model. (Oliver, 1990).

Disability is a human reality that has been perceived differently by diverse cultures and historical periods.  For most of the 20th century, disability was defined according to a medical model. In the medical model, disability is assumed to be a way to characterize a particular set of largely static, functional limitations. This led to stereotyping and defining people by condition or limitations.