Multiple Perspectives Editorial

     

           Many people around the world today would argue that the ill-treatment of mentally disabled individuals is not an issue that should concern them if it is not a problem that occurs right near their home. However, if everyone would take a moment to think about what it may be like to spend a day in a mistreated ill individual’s shoes, they would gain a new perspective on how this ill-treatment is not just a detriment to these individuals, but to society. Individuals who have been diagnosed with mental disorders are unable to find a voice in this large, oppressive world. It takes others who do have a voice to change this. After realizing first that this is a huge problem, this can only be accomplished through taking a new perspective on just how harmful this issue is to individual beings as well as to society. 

One example of the oppression that these individuals face is the story of a young college student, Micah Fialka-Feldman. Micah was diagnosed with Down Syndrome at an early age and when it came time for him to attend college, he was not able to room in the dormitories. He fought the school and finally won, scoring a room in a normal college dormitory, however he was faced with much discrimination and detrimental stereotypes during his fight. In the article about his journey, the author states in discussing Micah’s desire to not be the victim of a single story perspective, but rather as a normal college student, “To live on campus, he says, ‘means I would have the full college life and ... I could go to Friday night things in the dorm, like Friday night activities like a film night or like a basketball game and going out with friends’” (Shapiro). Many people, no matter if the issue is in their backyard or on the other side of the globe, have chosen to turn their backs to it if it does not apply directly to them. That is the problem with the unawareness of mental and intellectual disabilities: it is easy for one to turn away from the issue if it is not found right in their home. Micah’s professors and other personnel at his school, for example, only had one perspective about how they assumed Micah would act and learn, therefore hindering any chance he had to be a typical college student.

A similar theme is found in the world renowned graphic novel, Persepolis, written by Marjane Satrapi. Marjane tells the story of her childhood as she grew up during the harsh time period of the Iranian Revolution. She has recited many times since the book was published in the year 2000 that her purpose in telling her story to the world was to make the Iranian Revolution more than something that people, say in the United States, view as a simple historical event that happened years ago in a foreign country that made women wear head scarves. Satrapi wanted to change individuals’ views on the Iranian Revolution, similar to how many people’s views on Mental Disabilities need to be altered (Satrapi). So often, mental disabilities are viewed as a disease that just affects individuals in a foreign country like the Iranian Revolution was viewed prior to the release of Persepolis. Everyone with a mental disability is still a human being and deserves to be treated like one, not like a distant creature bestowed with an unfortunate disease. Ridding of one's fixed perspectives is a key step in raising respect as well as awareness for the mistreatment of individuals with mental disabilities.

Works Cited:
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis the Story of a Childhood. New York: Pantheon Book, A Division Of

Random House, Inc., 2003. Print.

Shapiro, Joseph. "Intellectually Disabled Student Wins Dorm Suit." Npr.org. NPR, 29 Dec. 2009.

Web. 28 May 2014.