Disability Awareness by Chad

Disability Awareness by Chad - March 2017 Scholarship Essay

Disability Awareness
I would want to give a speech about disability awareness and the importance of recognizing that those who do have disabilities, whether mental, physical or both, they are people and deserve just as much respect as anyone else. I want to talk to a school wide setting about realizing that having any disability does not make a person any less of a Human Being, and that we should all learn to respect people as people.
Hi, my name is Chad Corbett and I want to talk to you today about disability awareness, when I was in Middle School I was diagnosed with Dyscalculia which is a learning disability making learning arithmetical calculations severely difficult. When I was diagnosed with Dyscalculia I had an Individual Education Plan (IEP) put into place and I was taken out of my regular classes and put into special education classes and had to work very hard to get out of those classes and back into the ones I had had to leave behind. Going through this experience gave me the insight I wish to share with you today and that is that people with disabilities are people too.
People are mean, especially kids and when you’re in school and you’re different from everyone else around you, it’s not a very fun time. People look at you weirdly and treat you differently and they generally just treat you like you’re not capable of understanding or being around them. Granted, there are some disabilities that don’t allow a person to understand a “normal” person, but for the vast majority of people with a disability, we’re perfectly capable of understanding you. Just because it takes me a while to grasp a mathematical concept doesn’t make me any less of a person than someone that can do difficult equations in their head. Just because someone is in a wheelchair, or is blind, deaf, paralyzed, etc., doesn’t mean that they are any less of a Human Being.
The main point of my discussion of this topic is to try and help people to realize that we just need to slow ourselves down and look at everyone as an individual. I went through High School, I know how it works and how a kid views life during this point in time. I’m asking you to take a moment and stop. Look at that kid in the wheelchair, look at that kid with a learning disability and don’t see their disability; instead see them as them, as a Human, as a fellow student, see them as someone worthy of your respect, your time and your good will. History is filled with people who cast aside their fellow citizens with disability’s because they view them as less worthy of life; learn from our past and start a new trend.
Life is so much more than being cool, having the hot girlfriend or boyfriend, it’s more than the car you drive and the clothes you wear; it’s more than the friends you have, because sadly, you probably won’t even stay in contact with half of them. So, take this time and befriend someone you normally wouldn’t and help them, because what might be an hour of your time could easily turn into making the day, the year or even the life of someone with a disability. We’re so used to being cast aside, standup and make a difference and start a new trend.
We can make this world such a better place and more bearable for people who have already had such a difficult time in their lives. The disability does not define the person, it is skin deep, but it is not soul deep; it is merely what we call it…disability. If you give someone the chance, you might make a friend or a lifelong relationship you might have never had to begin with. So please, give it a shot and befriend someone with a disability and see where it can take you.