Stereotypes for people with disabilities - any good?

I'm on the autism spectrum myself, to give an example, and each time I mention it to someone, they say I can't be because I'm "not like Rainman". I have a high IQ, went to a regular school and wasn't diagnosed until 23 years old. (for those who are wondering, I was diagnosed with a mild form of PDD-NOS)



People with a speech impairment (and I know a few of those too) are often seen as stupid because of it.



Is there any point to these stereotypes at all or does anyone else feel that they really ought to be publicly dismissed and that children should be taught in school and at home that everyone's different whether they're "normal" or have some sort of disability and shouldn't be judged for it?Stereotypes for people with disabilities - any good?
Normal is a dirty word in my house.



In Psychology 'normal' is defined as the 'average calculated by the limits of social acceptability' (I think I said that right)



Personally I think it's a load of horse eggs, normal should be relative to the individual.



I don't have a phsyical disability, I have a mental illness. I never feel normal.



People with disabilities are people and shouldn't be treated any differently than anyone else. Before anyone jumps on me, I don't mean that specific needs should not be attended to, just that there is no reason for different treatment.



That said I do have to disagree witfh the user above me somewhere about the schooling aspect. One sad fact of humanity is that kids can be cruel and teachers already have a hard enough Job having to cater for the spectrum of abilities within students. I have a cert in disability studies and I've have worked as a teachers aide in a primary school with a child that has cerebal palsy, spina bifida, autisim and O.D.D, yes that was one child. While he was a gorgeous boy and we had a great time, intellectually he was just not capable of acheiving the levels expected by the powers that be. This child needed special education, with one on one qualified teachers, who would've been able to analyse his strengths and weaknesses and target them specifically to maximise his learning abilities.



Unfortunately schools do have standards they need to maintain to be able to maximse the outcomes for the majority of the students, there are a lot of kids that have disabilities that are capable of learning within a mainstream environment they fit within the spectrum of ability, others not so much.



It's all about what is best for the kids. not the parents. not the teachers.



In response to the main question, Stereotypes are absolute garbage and should be dismissed as nothing more than the opinions of the ignorrant because they can not be bothered finding out the facts for themselves.



This is just my opinion, it might be total crap.



I hope you find what you are looking for.



Keep fighting the good fight.



Take Care

Sami.
When people do not understand something they fear it. Some "Normal" people, whoever they are, see people with a disability as not quite equal to themselves.



I believe everyone is equal at the feet of Jesus so I try not to dismiss anyone. People with a disability have gifts that I do not have.



Stereotypes are wrong no matter who they are placed on.



It is necessary to separate some people from others for their physical or emotional safety but it would be wrong to do so purely because they are different.Stereotypes for people with disabilities - any good?
Hi we have had to go through things like this and as much as i hate the word 'Normal' my twin son Thomas (who you can see in my picture) looks very normal but he has severe autism he is nine and non verbal i have been asked if he is 'Simple' or retarded ..i just find myself saying he has autism and i get the reaction oh yeah i seen 'Rainman' ...my daughter Thomas twin sister is a lot more understanding to anyone she sees is different and knows how she feels if someone says anything about her brother...parents and schools should bring this into education ..we are all different in our own way
No. Because it hurts those who are disabled emotionally. I was born with Type III cerebral palsy (mild form of it which impairs some motor and neural functions, but allows me to function somewhat 'normal' in society. The only noticeable side effect is that I'm slower in development than other kids, and I have severe mood swings--which later was diagnosed as bi-polar; and ADD/ADHD), and growing up was a living hell.



Even though my IQ is somewhere in the upper 90s. lower 100s, it didn't matter to my classmaters. I was just utterly tormented through elementary and junior high school (some of it I deserved), but high school I couldn't handle and had to be put in private school--where I endured another 2 years of the same peer abuse before I finally had enough of it and started fighting back.



So no, there's no 'safe haven' for children with disabilities. Home-schooling may be an idea, but you'd have to be well-educated in a number of subjects to be able to home school your kids.



The point of people picking on those whom are different than they are--is because they feel either neglected or emotionally traumatized themselves--at some point in their lives--and the disabled are just a natural target for their aggressions.



They need to feel like they are in control of *something*.



I didn't know this fact until one of my tormentors had a mental breakdown of sorts while I was in private school--and I realized why he was always picking on me.



So instead of doing the same back, I reached out to him as a friend and told him he wasn't alone. (Parental abuse and issues.)



He finally stopped because he knew that he wasn't alone. He asked about my disabilities, and I told him that I would have them for the rest of my life. There's no cure, they aren't contagious--they are all upstairs. (In my head.)Stereotypes for people with disabilities - any good?
Stereotyping people with disabilities has become the last bastien of labelling people by society. They figure it's still ok, because well of the stereotype that disabled people are too "stupid" to care and wouldn't know how to stand up for ourselves anyway.



Once you are labelled disabled society decides you probably have all kinds of disabilites, rather than the ones you have.



It's not become politically incorrect yet, with most of society due to their fear and ignorance around disability.



Is it right , nope.



Hopefully one day will come when we are all treated with dignity, no matter our race, religion, ability, ethnicity and we will be judged on the" content of our character" rather than other things.
My children were taught that way--they are now 24, 25, and 27....and the LEAST judgemental people ever.

Stereotypes, derogatory racial terms or other demeaning names were simply NOT TOLERATED in my house.
Stereotyping accomplished nothing. But as long as all people have are the images they have from tv and movies that is what they are going to continue to think. Special education is partially the cause of this. Special...separate...different...strange鈥?like me...OK to treat unlike I would want to be treated myself



SO the solution is not homeschooling - which does exactly what special ed did.



We need good quality inclusive classrooms. Where everyone is together....similar....friends...like each other in some ways....accepted...appreciated

Teachers need to be taught differently. They need to be able to teach different ability classrooms. They need to be taught tools to help kids with different abilities to work together. There are schools that do this in their teacher education programs. And these schools do have quality inclusive education. And the children who go to these schools are not teased. And the changes in how people with disabilities are appreciate for simply who they are last long past school age.



I FOUGHT to have my son included in kindergarten in 1988. He stayed included thoughout his school years. He was not teased. He was accepted as an equal. He has stayed friends with some of his school mates - he is now 24. He sees them in stores and they are happy to see him and they chat awhile.



Stereotypes are based on ignorance. Eliminate the ignorance and the stereotypes will disappear.
What is normal anyway ?
Not a good idea.People tend to put people into groups and judge them which is a big mistake.Being disabled I see things from many views and have learnt to adapt to make my way in life.
There is not point in these stereotypes because "normal" people don't exist. Besides, that one disabled person might just do something that no "normal" person was able to do before hand. Look at Albert Einstein. He had a learning disability when he was a child but he was the one that came up with The Theory of Relativity and this theory has since been proven right many times over.



Yes, you are right! People with speech impairments are oftened viewed as being stupid. The Communist-Wealth of Virginia proved this stereotype to me back in 2004.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;鈥?/a>



Edit: To the person that gave me the thumbs down, you can believe what you want but this act just proves me right when I say "Society tends to view all people with disabilities as being stupid."
No, stereotypes may be based on truth, but they limit the imagination of the people who use them and disrespect the person they are applied to.
Awnser To Main Question...



Nope!



I.M.P
Stereotypes are never a good thing, they lead us to pre-judge people based on a particular aspect, and that is just wrong. Everyone is different, and I totally agree that stereotypes should be publicly dismissed. I think it is important to learn from an early age that stereotyping someone is wrong.
Me and my only child are PWD from birth. We both have been negatively stereotyped due to being PWD.



To negatively stereotype a person can hurt and harm the person in various ways. I should know because I speak from experience!



***PROUD Members of the PWD Community!***



(PWD = Person With Disabilities)
Yes there is a good stereotype out there in the States at least--for Down syndrome folks. People say they're "just the sweetest people ever!" This, of course, indicates limited experience with Downs folks because there is nothing in the disorder that "causes" them to be sweet. Some are pretty ornery and cranky because they're first and foremost people.

However it is odd that this is the common perception of Downs' folks.



I can't think of any other disability issue where there is supposedly a favorable stereotype.



As a disabled person myself, I don't see the point in getting excited about stereotypes either good or bad--that is the way that people process information. We are all given numerous stereotypes--from sex to age to region where we live to anything else. It's life. Unless it results in a real harm, and I mean a REAL harm, not just someone making an inaccurate assumption, let it go.