People with disabilities are one of the most commonly overlooked and underrepresented groups in society. Whether it be in media, professions, healthcare, or day to day life, individuals with disabilities struggle with constant prejudice and discrimination. One of the most prevalent fields where those with disabilities are marginalized is in STEM. This article will specifically focus on those with physical disabilities, but those with learning and other mental disabilities additionally deserve and need to be supported in their academic and/or general life endeavors.
Probably the most notable person that has deeply contributed to STEM while suffering from a disability was the renowned Stephen Hawking. Theoretical physicist Hawking developed Lou Gehrig’s disease when he was twenty years old. Lou Gehrig’s is a disease that affects muscle functionality due to nerve cells breaking down. At this point in his life, he was attending Oxford University. The doctors told him that he only had a couple years left, but Hawking lived 56 years longer. His work with black holes, research of the Big Bang, and theoretical astronomics transformed the astrophysics field. Hawking’s research brought forth the notion that black holes eventually disappear -- they do not remain in the universe forever. Instead, they constantly release subatomic particles until they essentially erupt. In 1985, the disease caused Hawking to completely lose his ability to speak; a couple years before that, he was permanently dependent on a wheelchair. Despite struggling with Lou Gehrig’s, Hawking went on to get his Ph.D. at Cambridge, wrote over fifteen books on astronomy, physics, and astrophysics (mainly on his research with black holes and the origins of the universe), and started a family with Jane Wilde. When Hawking lost his ability to speak, Cambridge built a device that generated an automatic voice for him. He had to manually choose the letter of each word he wished to speak with the movement of his cheek muscles. Throughout his whole life Hawking retained both his sense of humor and his brilliant mind, and continued to accomplish incredible work up until his death in 2018.
Dorothy Hodgkin was extremely well known for her work with atomic structure; more specifically, she established the structure of penicillin and insulin, granting her the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize in chemistry. She suffered from rheumatoid arthritis from her twenties and so on. From a young age, Hodgkin was fascinated with chemistry, specifically crystallography. She received her undergraduate degree from Oxford in chemistry when she was 22, and went on to gain her PhD in the crystallography of steroid crystals at Oxford. A few years after her PhD, in 1938, Hodgkin found out she had arthritis. She could no longer use equipment such as x-ray machines for her research without being in extreme pain. She additionally had a baby to take care of. But Hodgkin continued with her work, and discovered the structure of penicillin in 1945. 24 years later, she and her associates solved the structure of insulin. Her discoveries greatly aided with the understanding and application of antibiotics. As well as receiving the Peace Prize in 1964, Hodgkin was awarded the Royal Medal in 1956, the Order of Merit in 1965, and was a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1947 (two years after her work with penicillin). As her arthritis got worse, Hodgkin was forced to use wheelchairs intermittently, but still, like Hawking, kept on with her work. She passed away in 1994.
Although there are some famous scientists with disabilities, many of those in school are underrepresented in their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics classes. So how are students with disabilities facing studies in STEM? One significant problem that individuals with disabilities face is being treated as if they are not capable of succeeding in these fields. This is simply inaccurate. Rather, these students may just need more support/accommodations to reach their goals. Many young students with disabilities are pushed away from learning due to society’s “norms,” but also the environment for learning in schools. As DeWitt states in his op ed piece, “[t]hese students are systemically ‘hidden’ from general education and forced into separate classrooms,” making them feel as if they are not normal, making them turn away from the environment that their schools set up for them. Only “1 percent of the students in Advanced Placement courses'' are those with disabilities. As a whole, students with disabilities are not given the same amount of credits for their science and mathematical courses, despite completing the same coursework. This is nothing but blatant ableism. All these factors that contribute to this underrepresentation leads to these students’ self esteem steeply dropping, causing lack of motivation in higher education. It’s not only school that affects people with disabilities, it is society and media as well. Television shows, movies, books, and society as a whole do not include people with disabilities in their work, and if they do, those with disabilities are inappropriately displayed. Many corporations only include disabilities to make themselves seem more “inclusive.” A perfect current example is the entertainment industry and Sia’s new “Music” movie. She casted a neurotypical actress to portray a person with autism, where the girl acts with stereotypical mannerisms of someone with autism. It has received widespread backlash but is still up for two Golden Globe nominations, proving that the industry only cares about their “look.”
The world needs to understand that people with disabilities are people. They are smart, capable, talented, and brilliant. Those with disabilities are not there to be mocked or to be used as accessories to make others look better for their performative “inclusion.” Society needs to stop labeling people based on their disabilities but instead treat them as people -- focus on the brilliant aspects of who they are. We need to do better to represent and include those with disabilities in STEM, other careers, and all aspects in life.
Sources:
Comments