How Much Are We Like Susan Boyle?

A few weeks ago, a very unassuming and very modest British lady took the world totally and literally by surprise and she did it with such ease! Man did she ever do it in grand style! Now that she has done so, the gurus and pontiffs are taking the time to ponder and wonder. As for me, I was very happy for this lady and why? Because the world had totally judged this song bird by her looks but as soon as she had belted out the first few notes of her rendition of "I dreamed a dream" everything changed in an instant! Shocker or shaker? Neither of the above. Why? Because like it or not, society still tends to judge a person by their looks and too often they are made to eat crow when they are proven wrong.

Here is where the similarity to the Susan Boyle saga exists for persons with special needs. Special needs persons often find themselves at the receiving end of this type of evaluation. Too often, we are judged on our looks and disability rather than our ability. Society is often guilty of evaluating us on such things as: Our use of canes and wheelchairs, our use of hearing aids, and our inability to see, hear, and act like a mainstream person. In other words, they often judge us on our inability to work and function as mainstream persons.

Susan Boyle was prejudged; when she made her grand entrance onto the stage, the audience began to snicker and whisper and before the poor lady even opened her mouth they had judged her to be a person who would or could probably not cut it because of her age, looks, and overall persona. How wrong they would turn out to be. In the workplace, both managers and coworkers are often guilty of judging their special needs colleagues by their disability and so many times these judgments are made even before they set eyes on the special needs person. I can tell you from hard core experience that even before a special needs person begins a new job, the jury is usually in and the verdict would be something like this.

The new employee has been found guilty of being a special needs person and they are going to be judged on their disability rather than their ability. It has been decided that because they are a person with a disability, they will not be able to meet production levels. They will be slow at their job. Others will have to step in and pick up the slack. They will need more than a bit of assistance with not just their work tasks but with other non-job related things. The rest of the department will simply have to put up with this new employee because they have a disability.

We may take solace from the Susan Boyle episode by telling ourselves that we are not the only ones who are judged by our looks. We are not and will not be the only ones who will continue to be judged like this. That being said, there is one very realistic thing to remember and it is this; Susan Boyle was able to change the judgments and perceptions just like that! With the pureness and power of her golden voice. We as special needs persons are not fortunate enough to be able to do the same. We will always be judged by our disability instead of our ability.

Donna J. Jodhan