ECSE 421 ADA Blog Post

The disability that I was given was a social disorder, where I had to change the topic of the conversation multiple times throughout the span of a whole day. This was actually really hard for me because I love talking to people and the day that I chose to do this I actually saw a lot of people that I know and that I have not heard from in a while. As we were talking and I would change the topic out of random it caught those that I was communicating with a little off guard and they would look at me kind of funny and then keep talking. As I would talk with some people they would eventually realize something was up and ask me if I was okay.  At this point I would explain to them the assignment and then we would actually be able to catch up without my ‘disability’ getting in the way. This really opened my eyes as I look back on the experience because there are really people who struggle with this disability and don’t have the option to ‘turn it off’ when things become awkward and challenging.

            While I was at the grocery store I asked one of the workers that were there where the salsa was but before he could finish telling me where that was located I would change the topic and talk about how I was also looking for something else and couldn’t find it.  The worker actually started getting a little frustrated with me and ended up just giving me a very short answer and then went back to work hoping I would leave him alone. There are certain disabilities that, as our society is continuing to develop, are becoming more acceptable and more people are becoming more aware of them, but, there are others that are not as common and/or not as sever.  These individuals who have these disabilities are viewed as annoying or immature, when really, they can’t help that this is how they were born.  They have to put in a lot more effort than the average human to be able to communicate with others around them.  

            As I continued to have this speech disability throughout the day it started to become really annoying because all I wanted to do was be able to communicate normally with those around me.  Communicating took twice as long if not longer.  Now that I have done this activity I am sure I will be more aware of those around me and if they may have disabilities or not.  There are times when I will get frustrated at certain individuals for not listening when I talk, or asking questions in class that have already been answered several times.  After doing this activity I will be more patient with those people and continue to strive to look for the strengths in others instead of getting frustrated about their weaknesses.