Thoughts on Wheels:Perspectives from a Disabled Sociologist

Good afternoon friends, as most of you know I am a Disability Sociologist by trade and I came across an interesting paper that was published in 1993 arguing against disability sociology. The paper in question is written by gender sociologist Colin Barnes entitled "Disability: a Sociological phenomenon Ignored by Sociologist,"  Before we jump into the crux of Mr. Barnes argument we have to set some groundwork, First and Foremost Mr. Barnes is a Gender sociologist, and as we know disability and gender sociology is often coupled together and research in tandem as we try to see the links between the two and how disability affects gender and how gender affects disability. Secondly, Mr. Barnes lives in works in England where in fairness not a lot of disability research is coming out of England because the United Kingdom's government feels as though they give enough public support to individuals with disabilities for a multitude of reasons sure you give them free healthcare and ...

  2020, what a year huh? We have come to the end of the most difficult yet rewarding year of my life has come to an end. First, I want to apologize for not writing for three weeks I have been telling people that I have lived a decade in the last twenty days.  I guess it makes sense to go in chronological order. I entered January with a freshly printed B.Ed and an engagement ring in my pocket. For pretext, in 2019 I struggled with what my next steps after school would be and I was coming to the realization that I was living as borderline bipolar with undiagnosed manic depression and an alcohol dependency hit me like a sack of Idaho Gold Potatoes from Albertson's. January was exciting for me because I got into my dream master's program at the University of Minnesota and I was on good medication for once but that was ripped out from under me when in February I learned that they were not going to continue the Disability Studies program.  I regrouped however and got into the d...

  Good Morning friends, when I was sitting down to brain storm what to write this week I again ran into this wall where there were eighteen things that I could think about but not exactly how to articulate into words. This was one of the topics that falls into this category but then I would feel bad and as though I was doing myself a disservice if I didn’t try so here goes nothing.  Let’s start with this I will forever be indebted to my parents and especially my mother because not only did she bring me and my brothers into this world she also never gave up on any of us. She pushed me to do everything my brothers did and she gave me those opportunities and more.  The first time I ever remembering embarrassing my mom was when I was in Kindergarten and I was upset that my day was thrown off because my OT didn’t show up and I was sure as hell not going to let go unnoticed and unpunished. So... what did I do next? I walked up to the teacher Mrs. Mertzloft and said  “I am ...

  First, When I write this article I am not bashing our field or saying these are unnecessary. I am just jealous that I did not think about them and secure the grant money to get paid to do these things. Our first entry into the file at least on this blog will be in honor of American Thanksgiving. Ah, Thanksgiving that time of year in a normal year that people gather around with family and just trying not to fling mashed potatoes across the table at your drunk uncle who more than likely said something culturally insensitive, or at least that is what it was like for my family growing up. I as a sociologist and behavior analysis take this time to observe what is happens around me even more astutely. A team of sociologists from the University of Washington's main campus in Seattle took this one step further and with the backing from the internet provider, Century Link used Google Analytics to observe trends of what people were thinking about in the run-up to Thanksgiving.  I coul...

I want to start by saying thank you for the support and I want to apologize for not writing for a little bit.  Today, I am blessed to get explain and explore the words we use as disabled people from a theoretical framework.  Before we begin we first need to define a couple of things the first is interactionism. Interactionist scholars believe that the meaning of self is derived and produced through interactions with the world and other people. So to put in a five-word answer one’s worldview is shaped by interaction. To me, interactionism is the basis of all sociology without interactionism we don’t have science and I would have  saved myself and my parents thousands of dollars with not having to go to school. With that being said I think that we have an even better explanation of micro-sociology in the disability scope and that is with the power of symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism is defined as a theory that human interaction and communication is facilitat...

   Go to war! That is the rallying cry of many young recruits each year that are gung-ho soldiers that want to serve this country without question and without much thought of the consequences. Not to say that the men and women who do sign up to go to war don't think about what could happen I would think any activity that could end in death has at least some consideration before jumping in full throttle. It's an interesting thing that happens when people return home from overseas and they don't come home in a casket. It seems as though those who survive the ebbs and flows of war are not as honored as those who make the ultimate sacrifice.  It is important to note that no matter what happens to a person in a war that they are still making a sacrifice. I thank everyone who served for their service because without them I would not be sitting here writing this blog or doing anything that I am doing without fear of persecution. So if you have found this blog and you have served...