I believe there are certin circumstances were that can be true. But outside of the laws and speaking honestly, we all need to be given a chance. Remember that at one time based off the color of our skin, or our gender. We as humans was in the same boat. I think with adaquet training and time to develop, I think most people would succeed and do well.
Bruce,
I am all for allowing students to use their talents, and their learning, in whatever way they wish. And I agree that we should not limit student's opportunities based on our own stereotypes. Just don't let your wish to be open and accepting lead you to be unrealistic in your description of those opportunities.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
We are here to provide an education to students. They each have a vision on how they will apply their knowledge they have learned to the real world. It is up to them to determine if it the proper path for them.
You've certainly approached this from the right direction, Christopher -- and you are right on target in your observations. Much of what would have created insurmountable difficulties for someone with a disability in years past is no doable through the use of technology. For that matter, it is not uncommon for procedures that would have been impossible for a person with a disability in the past to now be done in an entirely different fashion by EVERYONE -- a fashion that eliminates the barrier (such as your example of the machine that does urine analysis that might previously have been done by visual inspection). I remember reading a bumper sticker one time that read, "Now is the best time to have cerebral palsy..." It's true! Having a disability today is less... disabling!... than it was 20 years ago!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Michelle,
I'm not sure I believe that determination can overcome all obstacles, Michelle, but I DO agree that a determined student should be given the opportunity to try, combined with the appropriate (reasonable) accommodations that provide every opportunity to prove oneself.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I was thinking the answer to this would be simply yes there are times when functional limitiations leave differently abled individuals unqualified for a particular profession. For example a blind medical assistant or laboratory assistant would find it very difficult to perform some of their tasks which require them to make visual evaluations of specimens, patients, etc. then documenting their findings in either paperbased or electronic medical records (EMR). Or Hearing impared individuals being able to perform certain required tasks such as taking a simple blood pressure or listening to lungs or heart sounds.
However, while the visually impared individual cannot visually assess the color or clarity of a urine sample. Another could do that part of the task but the rest can be done by a machine that provides a print out of the results. Documenting either on paper or in EMR can be done wit voice to text software that is easily available and the record can be read with text to voice software as well. As far as the hearing impared individual being able to distinguish heart and lung sounds, advances in cochlear implants as well as electronically amplified stethoscopes and electronic blood pressure cuffs remove that arguement from the mix.
So I guess my answer would have to be the only thing that would make the individual unqualified for the position would depend on the individual and the employer. Technology today allows many of the old limitiations to be overcome as long as the individual and their employer are willing to work through the issues.
With determination anyone can do anything but in reality I do feel people with disabilities can be limited in what job's they acquire. However, if they seem to have a plan to overcome their disability they should have the right to try.
I would be careful with generalizations and stereotypes, Heather. It would be difficult for someone who is blind to be a practicing nurse in the traditional sense, but there might be a number of jobs someone who is blind could do that would require nursing training (from medical billing to insurance adjusting, and more). Meantime, there ARE deaf nurses and nurses in wheelchairs. There is nothing about the role of a nurse that would preclude someone on the basis of their category of disability.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I think that is a great question and I do think in certain jobs this is true that they would not be able to pursue those jobs. Do I think a blind, deaf or wheelchair bound person could be a nurse, no. Because of the types of things that a nurse is required to do, see and note from a patient and sometimes they need to do those things very quickly. Unfortuneatley we have to live with the hand we were dealt and not with just with disabilities. Some people don't have a head for numbers so they are not in a profession that requires it.
Amber,
I agree wholeheartedly. As educators we need to think of OPTIONS before we focus on BARRIERS.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
You go, girl! GRIN Always keep in mind that students with disabilities have A-bilities, too!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
John,
I would be very careful about making generalizations, John. I have a colleague who gives a presentation called, "Of blind mechanics and hemophiliac industrial arts teachers I have known." He says he has really known only one of each, but it was enough to teach him not to make assumptions. I am not suggesting that anyone can do anything "in spite of their disability". I am just suggesting that it is always useful to examine individual goals and individual capabilities ("deaf" does not mean the same thing for everyone who bears the label!!!").
Dr. Jane Jarrow
John,
I would be very careful about making generalizations, John. I have a colleague who gives a presentation called, "Of blind mechanics and hemophiliac industrial arts teachers I have known." He says he has really known only one of each, but it was enough to teach him not to make assumptions. I am not suggesting that anyone can do anything "in spite of their disability". I am just suggesting that it is always useful to examine individual goals and individual capabilities ("deaf" does not mean the same thing for everyone who bears the label!!!").
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I disagree with this. While a deaf student may not likely find themselves interested in or appropriately talented for the career of sound engineer, it's not an impossibility. Audio recording equipment has visual cues. Just because a students ears don't function doesn't mean they cannot "hear" in other ways. I don't necessarily think we should encourage all deaf persons to enroll in programs that primarily rely on hearing, as this would be a real challenge, but for those students who are up to a challenge - they should not be discouraged, either.
No, not impossible. A students' or employees' limitations may make it difficult or improbable for them to pursue certain fields, but it shouldn't disqualify them. As professionals in education, we out to encourage and empower students to pursue even the seemingly illogical if they have the dedication and passion to succeed.
I believe so. A deaf student, for example, would not be able to become a sound engineer, so an audio recording program would not be a viable course of study.
Michael,
You are right, of course. There is rarely only one way or one setting in which to use the information learned, and everyone (disabled or not) gravitates to their strengths and interests. Our job is to educate students -- their job is to decide what they want to do with that knowledge.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
We are here to provide the student an education,
We are not an employment agency. Give the student the training and factual information about job prospects, and let them negotiate with future employers as to how their education can benefit the business or Company in a positive way.
Example - can a Nurse who is wheelchair able work on a Med-e-vac helicopter or be a Coast Guard swimmer, probably not, but I don't see any reason why that same person cannot work in a clinical setting for pediatric cancer, or heart care, or diabetic education.
Thomas,
I am assuming you didn't mean to be funny in suggesting a blind individual doing "color" for the baseball broadcast -- but it IS funny! GRIN You are right, of course. There are some positions that are simply not feasible for someone because of disability, just as there may be some positions that are not feasible for someone because of *talent*, no matter how badly they want it. But as you note -- saying "no" to an on air broadcast job is not the same as saying "no" to the field of broadcasting. There are other roles that might be available. That's what it is all about -- presenting options!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Absolutely in the field that I teach which is broadcasting....
A student with a major speech impediment will NOT be suitable for a radio on air job....It is not fair to that person to pretend otherwise...however, there is a wide range of opportunities off air in radio or television that would allow someone to be a valuable part of the profession....
This is not to say there should be a knee jerk reaction in every case....there is the minor league baseball broadcaster who is blind (doing color, NOT play-by-play)...but there should be an open and frank dialogue about the reality of the situation....
