Social Acceptance of the Mentally Handicapped

Social Acceptance of the Mentally Handicapped

Imagine you are walking through the mall. As you are walking, you notice that people are giving you funny looks. Some people look at you as though you are from a foreign planet. Others glance at you quickly, afraid to make eye contact. A group of teenagers walk by you and look at you as though you have half of your lunch on your face and you didn’t notice. You can’t understand why people are acting like this, but you notice that it happens quite frequently. People ask you how your day was, but you notice that they don’t say it as though they really want to hear your answer. Granted, there are those couple people here and there that shoot a smile your way, or actually listen to your answer when they ask you a question. People who are mentally handicapped or have special needs are treated like this every day of their life. For them to be accepted into society is a struggle, and is something Americans today need to put effort towards to resolve.
People often think that if a person is Mentally Retarded (M.R.) that they are not skilled enough to be able to take care of themselves and that they require the assistance of others in their life. What most people don’t know is that up to 90% of all M.R. cases are Mild M.R. These individuals are fully capable of living on their own and supporting themselves. The individuals that most people think of are those who have Moderate M.R. or worse. Individuals who have Moderate M.R. are those who may not be able to fully live on their own and require the assistance of others in their life to help them to complete various daily tasks, such as doing the laundry or balancing a checkbook. They benefit from living in a group home where workers are there to assist them with different tasks, but yet have the freedom to make their own decisions. Many of these individuals have a goal of eventually moving out of the group home and to be able to live on their own, whether it would be in a...