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I'm intrigued in this study of disabled people we are embarking on.  It is something I have never considered before, so I'm not sure that disabled people as a study is a good thing or a bad thing.  In a way it is good because it's making me look at a section of people in society I haven't given much though to, but at the same time if I didn't give it much thought before, is studying it now just categorizing it more in my head?  I previously thought of disabled people as just members of society, not a "group" of people, but now I am looking at them as their own group.  It's similar to our discussion about the fact that we study women seperately makes it impossible for women to just be part of society.  Regardless, I'm still intrigued.

I feel like I'm on a different page than other people in the class.  When we watched the clips in class I laughed because the jokes were funny and I watched people dance because they were dancing.  It didn't shock me to see a person dancing in a wheelchair.  I didn't feel "bad" about laughing at the jokes someone makes about his own disability.  Even in the streets, I don't stare at someone in a wheelchair, feel bad about staring so I stop staring, but then stare again because it's so shocking.  I'll look just like I'd look at any other person on the street. 

Rae commented about the PCness of calling someone disabled and it struck me as kind of funny.  Society (and maybe our class as well) is so worried about offending people.  I really like that disabled people are reclaiming the term crip.  The ability for a word to be offensive is made by the people who decide it's offensive.  If disabled people decide crip is no longer a derogatory term, then it isn't.  It's like how gay women reclaimed dyke.

The part I am most interested in for this unit and what I'd like to write my paper / do some kind of formulation of thoughts in any kind of creative manner is on the deaf community.  I've always wanted to learn more about how a deaf person interacts with the world.  I've wanted to learn sign language for years (and still intend to one day).  I really liked watching the signed poem.  I had no idea that signed poems have a form of their own.  I'm looking forward to reading more about it.