Disabilities presentation reflection by Angela Acevedo

     I underestimated how much I was going to learn from these presentations. Truth be told, I did not think that I would be interested in them. But then again, this class has a fun way of proving me wrong. These presentations are the reason why I have a newfound respect for people with disabilities and have brought me closer to my loved one who currently lives with a disability.

     The first presentation was about loss of hearing/deafness and speech impairment. Right off the bat, I thought I knew everything I needed to know about it but having this as my group topic allowed me to do some much-needed research. Especially considering how my brother has a speech impairment. I was so intrigued by what I discovered that I shared my groups presentation with my brother. He was relieved to know that we were taking his disability seriously and not shrugging it off as something that is insignificant.

     The second presentation was about learning disabilities and psychological disorders. I was not too familiar with learning disabilities. Most of my knowledge came from brief mentions during classes and I never bothered to educate myself more on the topic. Thankfully, this group was able to present an engaging PowerPoint that taught me about dyslexia, which is a specific learning disability that affects reading and related language-based processing skills. Dysgraphia, which is a specific learning disability that affects a person’s handwriting ability and fine motor skills. And finally, dyscalculia, which is a specific learning disability that affects a person’s ability to understand numbers and learn math.

     The last presentation was about traumatic brain injuries and autism. Our brain is the single most important part of our body, and we still do not fully understand what it is capable of. Our brain is like the pilot. It sends signals to our body to get it to breathe, react and feel. But what happens if the pilot is injured? How will that affect our life? In this presentation we go into depth about how a stroke and other brain injuries can turn our life upside down. Depending on the severity of it, we must train our bodies to do everything again, like an infant. It is both fascinating and terrifying how much responsibility our brain holds, and we do not even realize it. And then there are people born in the spectrum whose brains have worked differently from the start. It was a lot to cover in this presentation.

     After witnessing these presentations, I was eager to share my knowledge with my friends and loved ones. It is easy to take what we have for granted. People who do not have disabilities are in some way, privileged. But I have learned that are more people who have a disability than we thought. They have just been working and living their lives through it. Which is why I believe that we, as a society need to be more educated on these topics to not only be aware of them, but to also appreciate them. 

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