Chapter Update The Struggles People With Disability

No Pity
Name
Institution
Introduction
Chapter 2
No pity is a novel by JP Shapiro, that captures the segregation and hardships people who were enabled differently had to endure. Ed Roberts, a quadriplegic, went to college when the community was not accommodative to people who were different from the majority. People with a disability were segregated as they were considered helpless and dependent. Ed Roberts’ Doctor considered more humane if he (Robert) died. He would ask his doctors, nurses, and counselors whether he had a chance of pursuing his education and living a normal life, and more often than not, the answer he received was always no. The challenges he had to grapple with were immense, even when he decided to go to college; the facilities at Berkeley were not designed for people with disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to look at the struggles people with disability endured and the impact it created in the present day.
Reading through the chapter, it is heart-wrenching to believe everything Robert had to go through in order to just attend a university. From, physical requirements, to overcoming bureaucratic administration and overcoming self-pity show a man who was ready to break the silence and overcome the barriers to success. The undying urge to be an independent and self-reliant individual, Ed Roberts co-founded with John Hessler, Physically Disabled Students’ Program (PDSP). PDSP was an independent body, run by counselors who had disabilities to find out accessible apartments for people with wheelchairs (Shapiro, 2011). They also had helpers who would prepare meals, push wheelchairs and provide assistance in whatever way to make the lives of people with disabilities easier. PDSP reached out to students with disabilities to help them enroll in the university and eventually achieve self-sufficiency and independent. Today, people with disabilities have equal opportunities to education. Curriculums have been developed to cater for those with special needs.
Judy Heumann, was also at the forefront in her struggle to have people with disabilities getting recognized and their rights being respected. She organized a movement, more of a political one and saw more ramped buildings set up to help disabled students have access to the lecture room (Shapiro, 2011). I was particularly moved by Ed Robert and Judy Heumann insurmountable zeal to change the narrative and emancipate themselves from backward perceptions. Truly, they were trailblazers for disabled students.
The government constantly procrastinated the signing of the bill until people protested. The struggle was not in vain, since then, laws have been drafted for inclusivity, more notably: 1. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1993, 2. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, which was ...