being a minority

"... some disabled people call you TAPs, or Temporarily Abled Persons" (Mairs 15).  This chilling line stuck with me long after finishing the reading-  we are, after all, prone to an accident any moment of our lives.  Yet with that truth in mind, why are disabilities so hard to accept?  They are still seen as the unfortunate, the people to be careful around.  As the Mair mentioned, her disability "doesn't devour [her] wholly".  Just like the rare eye color green, such abnormalities should not become the essence of a person.

disability is only a characteristic, not a person

We talk a lot about minorities in this class, from African Americans to those with disabilities to females.  As an asian, I can whole-heartedly agree with many of these people's claims of disadvantages. One of the problems with Troy High is that many people do not understand what it feels like to be an minority- especially asians.  Students are eventually stratified with their own nationality as classes become more varied, and it's often rare to see different cultures mixing.  Just take a look at the tables during lunch: groupings are almost strictly by race.  However, in reality, only 5.6% of the population is Asian; that is for sure a minority. Yet according to the 2010 census, nearly 1 in 5 people have a disability.  Then why is the idea of being disabled seems so far away and unreachable?

alumni of Troy High, and experiencing the limitations of being asian in the adult world

Throughout this post I have made it sound like a disability is as limiting as being asian; however, in reality, a disability can truly consume one's life and activities, preventing them from doing daily acts. Nonetheless, is not how the disability affects the person, but rather how the TAPs view them.  Minorities will continue to be unproportional in numbers to their more prevalent peers, but the characteristics that stymie them should not control their potential.