Disability and Sociology

 Sociology is defined by the American Sociological Association as "...the study of human social relationships and institutions." At its core, it is about interaction and how we see the world through different perspectives or what we as a sociologist call the sociological imagination. American Sociologist C Wright Mills explained the sociological imagination as "The intersection of biology and biography," this is an interesting concept to dive into because as  most psychologist and other social scientists want to have the nature versus nurture debate, C Wright Mills says that both forces are at play and that is what creates one's outlook on life.

This is what I love the most about sociology is that it celebrates difference. The difference in cultural differences in perspectives and the differences in ability. We need more of that in the world. I am starting this blog to help facilitate that conversation. 

Now that I have introduced my passion and life's work, I will introduce myself, My name is Caleb William Wells and I was born in Saint Louis, Missouri. I was born with spastic quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy, it affects my entire body and has left me to rely on mobility aids to get around but I have never used it as an excuse. I graduated from High School and moved on to Wichita State University where I decided to double major in Sport Management and Secondary Social Science Education with minors in Sociology, Psychology, and American History. I graduated in June in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic and then decided to follow my passion and feed my need for information and punishment and enroll in graduate school to pursue a Master's of Arts in Sociology with an emphasis in Disability Sociology and Social inequality.

I am passionate about giving a voice to those who have been left out of the room where decisions are made for far too long. The disability independence movement has been defined by great names like Dr. Jacobus tenBroek, Ed Roberts, and the freedom riders, as well as Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, who have all shaped and changed the lives of the disabled across the country and world. I want to help lead the movement into the twenty-first century. 

Sociologist like the American Dr. Thomas Gershick has been writing about many different aspects of life with a disability, Dr. Gershick has helped us understand the gendered differences in disability. This is something I have been very interested in as we are learning that males and females are much more different than originally thought. I will dive into this in a blog post at a later date. To put it into some short form like an old reader's digest magazine, it simply boils down to the fact that there were utter neglect and misrepresentation of the role gender plays in the manifestation and presentations of disabilities. We were all put into the same proverbial boxes that are meant with the obligatory pity and strictures of Iow expectations. 

 I hope this blog can bring some joy and more importantly make you think as we continue to walk, roll, and tap canes on our way toward equality. 

Stay Safe and God Bless