Abstract
One Woman’s journey through the Trials and Triumphs of Disability, Disabled Peoples International 8th World Assembly 2011 Durban, South Africa, October 10–13, 2011. When embarking on my career as a teacher at a special school in South Africa, I never thought that a motor vehicle accident would place me in the position where my learners with disabilities suddenly saw me as an ally. Little did I realise the chasm that exists between able-bodied people and people with disabilities, or the remarkable role I would find myself in whilst actively addressing disability and Inclusive Education issues. My experiences with disability in South Africa drew encouraging attention from delegates at the Disabled People’s International 8th World Assembly when I shared my story. The resounding positive response affirmed that my experiences are not unique to nationality, gender, race or age, and are typical of the time and country in which I live, where people with disabilities are considered to have little potential, and woman with disabilities are further marginalised. In the infancy of our democracy, we are still in the early days of attending to equity amongst all South Africans. This story comprises both a narrative and a graphic presentation which run parallel, although not always telling an identical story; they complement one another and should be experienced simultaneously. Ultimately, it relates the success that can be achieved by pro-active people with disabilities as members of the South African society within their own spheres of knowledge and skill to change attitudes and practices of people without disabilities in education and local communities.
Highlights
My storyMy story starts off with a glibly-brief summary of the injuries that I sustained that should suffice for those whose focus still lies within the medical model
An ecosystemic model is utilised to view the experiences of the author, focussing on the microsystems and chronosystems which consider the systems directly interacting with the author over a period of time set within the South African context (Donald, Lazarus & Lolwana 2010, Landsberg 2004)
Study B consisted of students attending a private tertiary institution which specialises in teacher education, who were lectured by the author on Inclusive Education and were asked to evaluate the impact the author’s disability had on their views of people with disabilities as well as inclusive teaching practices
Summary
My story starts off with a glibly-brief summary of the injuries that I sustained that should suffice for those whose focus still lies within the medical model. I have a less than fully functioning body, nerve damage, loss of sensation, varying degrees of limitations in mobility and function, permanent pain, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and some loss of intellectual functioning I am still classified as being on the gifted end of the scale. On this level, I have grieved and accepted my loss and redefined my identity. If that is all there was to it, there would be nothing more to this story and there is much more to my story
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