My professional perspective is law, and in this post I will be describing some of the characteristics of a document one my find in this field. These characteristics are just things I have personally noticed in my research. To start off with, law documents are generally very impersonal and objective. Subjectivity and opinions can be substantiated by evidence, so they are not included. There is no first or second person language, to aid in portraying a sense of professionalism.

            These documents are always backed up by factual knowledge, using either laws or previously made legislation, or maybe even statistics. There is no feeling involved. Personal accounts may be included to prove a point, but it’s never from the perspective of the writer. The type of vocabulary that occurs within varies depending on how it has been used and its intended audience. For example, if it was meant to be used in a court setting, and scrutinized by other people of the legal profession you can expect legal jargon that will fly right over the head of someone such as myself.

            Lastly, legal discourse is used to present an argument, and persuade its audience to agree with them or disagree with something else, giving all the more reason to stick with objective terminology and language. Opinions mean absolutely nothing in court, so any sort of subjectivity is left at the door. 

The cultural representation of disability that I chose is Lenny from John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men.  Lenny is a large man that seems to have some sort of intellectual disability. He’s slow to think, and doesn’t really have a “filter” for his actions or words, which tend to get him and his best friend George into trouble. He is characterized by many of the stereotypes ingrained within our culture regarding those with disabilities. He is pitiable, laughable, burdensome, and unable to participate in day-to-day activities.          

            His presence is also used to support the other protagonist’s development and characterization, which is probably the most prevalent stereotype of all. The obstacles that Lenny must overcome with George seem to change George’s character. On top of this he provides the most important sources of conflict in the book that drive the plot. Comedic relief is also provided by Lenny’s innocence.

            I’d also like to bring up a stereotype that can be applied to Lenny that I have also observed recently in other facets of our culture. It has to do with the word “retarded” that I wrote about earlier in my blog posts. It’s very offensive, and I had no idea how it originated. I then realized that it could be applied in Steinbeck’s own, Of Mice and Men. It is the unsavory idea of “retard strength”. Essentially, it’s the idea that a person with an intellectual disability can have superhuman strength. Almost always I’ve heard it referenced directly in a comedic manner, but then I realized that Lenny is a prime example of this, because what he lacks in brains he more than makes up for in brawn. In the novel his disability is assumed rather than directly referred to, but it still has an effect on how people view people with intellectual disabilities. 

"Disability, Disabilities, Convention, UN, Rights, Accessibility." UN News Center. UN,   
          n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013.

            Since I am addressing disability and the law on an international scale, I thought that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities would be a good place to start. It’s a U.N. document that closely resembles the ADA in order to get the rest of the world on par with the United States’ level of accommodation towards those with disabilities. There is a lot to it, and consequently many avenues that I can take in my research, so my options are pretty flexible as of right now. 

I will now be undertaking a research project that investigates a professional perspective of my interest and how it relates to disability. If you haven’t read my “Introduction to the World”, please do so, as it will help make more since of the professional perspective that I chose, and what I intend to research.

            International law is my personal interest, and I chose it to be my perspective. I struggled with the idea of relating it to disability, but then I thought of my brother, who is adopted from Russia, and has a disability. There was definitely a legal process that allowed my parents to adopt him, but will there be enough there to write about? Is the topic “beefy” enough, as I like to say? I’m not quite sure yet, but I am making progress, especially considered Putin’s recent ban on the American adoption of Russian children.

            One thing I also find interesting that I have found so far is the discrimination and unrest regarding the topic of disabled parents adopting. Where do we draw the line at which a disability makes somebody unfit to be a parent? I will definitely explore this route. 

            After my years as an undergraduate, I plan on attending law school so I can pursue a career as an attorney. I would love to work in an international setting, whether that be in a corporate or governmental environment, but honestly it’s kind of hard to say where I’ll end up. However, as of right now I am positive that law is the profession I will enter, so regarding my perspective towards disability I will speak in generalities.

            If you are the type of lawyer that interacts on a regular basis with the people that could potentially be hiring you for your services (think private practice), I can imagine that the ability to cater towards those with disabilities could prove profitable. Especially when you consider that the client will most likely be visiting you in whatever building you work in, having an inaccessible building could definitely reduce your chances with customers who have to jump through hoops to meet you.

            With disability and equality being such a widely discussed topic in recent years, there are definitely cases where attorneys are hired to settle disputes between the disabled and whatever party wronged them. I don’t believe this is the sort of law I’ll end up doing, but nevertheless I think that it’s worth mentioning. I don’t necessarily know enough about the intricacies of the law profession because there is so much variation, but I think it’s most important to view a law firm or private practice as a business, in which one would want to be able to cater fully to the needs to potential customers. In my next installments, I’m thinking that I’ll delve into some of the more common offshoots of law, for the sake of the research project. 

            I’d like to address the piece of signage located outside of Harris Hall in the form of handicapped parking spaces. I assume that these are there for the hospital, which is right next to Harris Hall. One thing I’d like to address regarding all handicapped parking spaces is that they aren’t universally accessible, because if I tried to park in one I would receive a hefty fine. Not only do you have to be “disabled”, but also you have to be considered disabled by the state and brandish this label of disability on your car to be able to use the space.

            I’d also like to address the symbol they use to mark this space. It’s the quintessential “handicapped” symbol that appears to be a person sitting in a chair. What’s interesting though, is that these spaces are meant for people with disabilities other than being in a chair. For example you could make use of those spaces if you had trouble walking, and even if you are a certain height (I have a friend who’s short enough to be qualified as “handicapped”).

            It seems a bit misleading to mark it with a chair user, seeing as many more people can benefit from its existence. 

The men's bathroom on the Harris Hall first floor does an apt job at catering to those with disabilities. When you first walk in you notice that there is no impeding lip on the doorway that would affect those with chairs or abnormal gaits. There is a large handicapped shower that accommodates chair users and people that walk different for the same reason. There is also a handicapped stall with all of the usual amenities that cater to a chair user.

            There are only a few things I noticed that could be a problem. The sinks are too high for someone using a chair, and the floor is usually left wet after cleaning which could be an issue for anyone with stability issues. Also there are two doors that need to be opened to enter (imagine an airlock on a spaceship-- An inaccessible spaceship). They are heavy and would be very challenging for a chair user to use because of the limited space. I will post pictures of the bathroom shortly, in all of its glory.

            In this entry I’ll be analyzing the routes one could take from the sidewalk on the ground floor outside of Harris Hall, to my room on the 1st floor. If you are unable to use stairs for whatever reason, then you are pretty much required to go in through the ground floor and take the elevator up to the first floor, and then navigate your way to the other side of the H-shaped floor to get to my room.

            The route I prefer to take uses a door on the first floor, just outside of my room. The only problem is that you have to walk up about 40 steps and there is no ramp to be seen. However if you wish to use that door and are approaching from the Clifton Road side of Harris there is a small ramp. Good luck opening the door though because there’s not much room to maneuver. 

In this next phase of assignments, our English 101 class will be evaluating the accessibility of the campus as a whole. To start off with we are analyzing buildings individually. I chose the Dobbs University Center because of its integral role in most students’ lives.

            The Dobbs University Center has about six different entrances, and I believe that all but one is accessible to those using wheelchairs.  The only downside to this is that although 5 entrances are usable by chair users, they all require you to take the elevator to get to the level with food. The elevator is actually in a central location geographically speaking but the path to it is far off from the path students able to walk would take.            

            As far as accessibility is concerned the Dobbs University Center has it covered pretty well. I believe for the same reasons it supports chair users it would also support students/faculty with abnormal gaits, or those who have trouble with stairs. 

      In my last post I mentioned that the earliest usage of ‘retarded’ to describe mental capacity was in 1895. Even after that, the other definitions of retarded were still used to describe things with impeded function, but around 1960 the word ‘retarded’ was almost exclusively reserved for the mentally deficient. 
      ‘Retarded’ wasn’t considered derogatory at the time, and found it’s way into many nonfictional works of literature. It was used to medically and objectively describe a mental condition. Its usage peaked in the 1970s, but still was used in a non-derogatory manner into the 2000s. After its peak usage, the instances of retarded being used in a derogatory fashion increased, probably triggering the response from the disabled community to put an end to its usage in the past couple years. At the same time, government and medical institutions began to stray away from the word ‘retarded’ in favor of more neutral terms, giving organizations that are in support of the disabled community even more of a reason to attempt to stop the usage of the word.