Emphasizing Ability
I question a lot our world's insistence on a single standard of normality for human beings.
A person with a specific set of physical, emotional, and intellectual capabilities, who meets certain arbitrary standards, is acknowledged as normal, more or less. Those who have a different set of physical, emotional, or intellectual capabilities are designated as less normal than others. Normal people are able. Non-normal people are dis-abled. Normal people need no special classification. Those deemed as not reaching this status are classified as developmentally challenged/delayed/disabled.
As a Biblical Christian, I tend to think that we're probably being terribly shortsighted in our approach on this matter. If a person is born blind, does that mean that this person is somehow less of a person than I am, because I can see? Do they deserve my pity for lacking a particular ability that I possess? Or are they enabled in ways that I can't even understand? Does my sight blind me to things that a blind person sees clearly? Do we unhealthily focus on dis-abilities, rather than seeking to understand and embrace and honor the abilities that a person might have, even if those abilities differ in expression from mine?
So I found this brief blurb pretty inspiring. It's from a larger piece that Wired has run on ideas that could change the world. I don't agree with all the ideas, or even most of them. They're thought provoking though, and thinking is always a good thing in my book. Rather than focusing on what people aren't able to do normally, he focused on the particular gifts and abilities that they possess in abundance, and built a business model that honors and seeks those out. Rather than focus on a person's difficulty in interpersonal situations (and don't all of us feel inadequate interpersonally at some point or another!?), he focuses on the skills of concentration and perseverance that certain individuals may possess in spades.
Nice to see someone recognizing the possibilities where so many others only see limitations.
A person with a specific set of physical, emotional, and intellectual capabilities, who meets certain arbitrary standards, is acknowledged as normal, more or less. Those who have a different set of physical, emotional, or intellectual capabilities are designated as less normal than others. Normal people are able. Non-normal people are dis-abled. Normal people need no special classification. Those deemed as not reaching this status are classified as developmentally challenged/delayed/disabled.
As a Biblical Christian, I tend to think that we're probably being terribly shortsighted in our approach on this matter. If a person is born blind, does that mean that this person is somehow less of a person than I am, because I can see? Do they deserve my pity for lacking a particular ability that I possess? Or are they enabled in ways that I can't even understand? Does my sight blind me to things that a blind person sees clearly? Do we unhealthily focus on dis-abilities, rather than seeking to understand and embrace and honor the abilities that a person might have, even if those abilities differ in expression from mine?
So I found this brief blurb pretty inspiring. It's from a larger piece that Wired has run on ideas that could change the world. I don't agree with all the ideas, or even most of them. They're thought provoking though, and thinking is always a good thing in my book. Rather than focusing on what people aren't able to do normally, he focused on the particular gifts and abilities that they possess in abundance, and built a business model that honors and seeks those out. Rather than focus on a person's difficulty in interpersonal situations (and don't all of us feel inadequate interpersonally at some point or another!?), he focuses on the skills of concentration and perseverance that certain individuals may possess in spades.
Nice to see someone recognizing the possibilities where so many others only see limitations.
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