Ok here it is!

I told you guys that I was writing a paper for my sociology class about culture shock in the Disabled culture.  Well here it is.... I got an A so it can't be that bad.

Culture shock: A look at Disable Culture in America

Connection Paper 1

Brianna Hartmann

Brian Fogarty

When one thinks of Culture shock they often think of a person going to another country and the feeling of inadequacy they feel in terms of knowledge of the culture of that country.  However we often over look a very important type of culture shock that takes place right within our own country.

 Every day Millions of people are diagnosed with disabilities and as such they enter an alternative culture within America, “The disable culture”.  A culture that in America has many stereotypes associated with it and also a stigma.  A culture that makes people look at you differently and a culture that to the people who are a part of it is simply a way of life.

The disabled culture is a prevalent but alternative culture and way of life in the United States.  For some it is the only way of life they have known. Born at birth with a medical condition that rendered them disabled these people have never experienced any other type of life.  They have grown up with their disabilities and are very confident with them. They know all about the stereo types about disabled people and don’t really care because they know that there is nothing they can do. With heads held high these people make up about half of the disabled culture.

 The other half of the disabled culture is made up of people who have gone through hell and back.  They lived what is deemed to be a normal life in The United States and have lost it.  They have experienced a life altering moment. In some cases it was a car wreck that resulted in a severed limb, in others an infection that left them Deaf, in yet another a flip over a couch that left them paralyzed from the waist down.  No matter what the cause all these people were thrown into a new category. They had to reevaluate their lives.  They have to figure out how this fit in. How were they going to go on and live their life? Could they still do what they were doing before? These are questions that are asked everyday by newly disabled people. They are trying to reevaluate their lives and the culture they are in. They are trying to figure out what the norms are now that they no longer can do things like they did before and that they are in a new culture. 

A lot of disabled people go through a period of anomie.  They feel as though they have been alienated from society. Their world has been turned upside down. There is definitely a lack of normalness in their lives.  As they adjust to their disability their feelings of anomie turn around.  They begin to realize that there is this whole other culture and all these other people experiencing the same thing they are.

Many disabled people are dealing also with changes in Roles and Statuses. Before they may have been a mother, a daughter, a father, a son, now they are a disabled mother, a disabled daughter, a disabled father, a disabled son. Also depending on the disability they may have identify themselves with another status such Deaf, or Cancer survivor.  Either way other people now see them as disabled. That is now their status. It doesn’t matter what else they are to most other people they will always be disabled first. This causes conflict in the disabled person because they see themselves as so much more than just disabled and the outside world just sees them as disabled. 

They are also dealing with the Stereotypes associated with being disabled.  In America, if you are disabled, most people pity you.  You are expected to be helpless, and to accept help with grace.  You are expected to be limited in what you can do, and to give up when something gets hard.

In actuality most disabled people are the exact opposite of the stereotypes.  They independent, and hate pity. They can do anything just in a little bit different way and they are hardworking and persistent. So when a newly disable person comes in they have these stereotypes in mind that they have been taught and learned through our society, and they are confused and shocked because this culture that they are now a part of is nothing like what expected and either are the  other people that make up this culture.

In short it is a huge culture shock. They are dealing with the physical trauma of an injury, but also trying to figure out where they belong.  They are dealing with anomie in a sense because they no longer belong in what is considered the normal society, but they don’t understand the disabled culture.  They are experiencing conflict because what society taught them is not matching up to real life.  They are dealing with changes in Roles and in Statuses in way they never expected.  It is a very confusing time, but just like any culture shock it is thankfully short lived. In time every disabled person, begins to understand the disabled culture. They learn about their lives now, and how to make things work. They confidently take on the challenges that are caused by their disability and they confidently accept changes in role or status. They meet other disabled people and they become a part of this unique culture.