Entry #8 Changed Perspective

 In my psychology 101 class, I was required to read an autobiography written by Arielle Silverman called Just Human. She explains how she went around life being blind. It wasn’t easy for her but she didn’t let her disability stop her from pursuing what she truly wanted. Before reading this book, I didn't have much empathy for people with disabilities and didn't care much about what she had to say. The more I read, the more she proved me wrong and changed my perspective. I was also able to understand where she was coming from because of my own personal experiences.

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One things she goes over in her book is how many people had judged her ability to do things all throughout her life. This is known as stereotyping. In the novel, she mentions how she saw her disability as a good thing and not negative like some people. There were instances when people would underestimate her since she can’t see. For example, Silverman went to the gym one time to work out. After her workout, a man approached her and told her “I think of you coming to the Y, and realize I don’t have an excuse to stay home” (Silverman 70). She thought about his comment and explained how she also thinks about skipping the gym, but it’s not because of her blindness. Although it wasn’t a rude comment, it still came off wrong from her perspective since he misjudged her purpose of going to the gym. People also underestimated her ability when it came to school as well. Students would over praise her for doing something so simple, but since she’s blind it’s more of a surprise than ordinary. Our society sees disability as a bad thing and there seems to be a sorry feeling when we hear the word or see someone with a disability. 

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Silverman watched a TedTalk from a woman named Stella Young. Stella described the phenomenon of “inspiration porn”, meaning disabled people are labeled as inspiring or amazing for doing everyday things. I have done this before but my intention wasn’t to objectify them. My senior year of high school, I participated in an event called Powderpuff and it’s where the upperclassmen girls play football and the guys are cheerleaders. One of the players on my team was a special ed student. The night of the game, the other team let her score and every one cheered louder than normal. At the moment I thought it was a nice thing to do since we were letting her be involved in the game, but I can understand how that can come off wrong and “... accentuates the ‘otherness’ of disabled people…” (Silverman 71).

In conclusion, this book completely blew me way and made me want to change the way I think. It's definitely a book I would pick for fun but I highly recommend you read it because she has so much more to say. It might even change your perspective too!