ADA and Its Questionable Items
Despite the fact that the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, has provided a range of opportunities for the disabled residents of the United States, it has posed a variety of challenges to the latter as well. Even though the act in question has finally addressed the unemployment issue among the disabled, some of its elements still rub people the wrong way.
Among the key controversies surrounding ADA, the gender issue must be mentioned first. With all due respect to the efforts of the U.S. government to come up with a framework, which would allow for a faster and a more efficient integration of the disabled into the society, the fact that gender profiling is a major issue in the employment of the disabled seems to have been overlooked.
While it could be argued that the Act explains the lack of emphasis on the gender issue at some point, the reason for dismissing the problem seems rather strange: “Under this chapter, the term “disability” shall not include (1) transvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments, or other sexual behavior disorders” (Department of Justice, 2014, Sec. 12211.).
Even if considering the unwillingness of the authors to focus on the specified issue for the sake of equality and integrity, the fact that a major social problem has been left in the shadow still remains a big concern.
Concepts Selection. Knowledge, People, Community
When picking the concepts that seem of the greatest essence to a psychologist, one must consider the phenomenon of knowledge first.
The impact that choices have on the decision is quite obvious in the specified case; for example, the fact that knowledge lands at the top of the priority list shows that the decisions, which I am going to make as a psychologist, will be based primarily on the theoretical background, which I will have acquired by the time.
The significance of attitudes and beliefs on the choice of one’s vocation also shines through as one considers the top three qualities chosen by me and listed above.
Being an active member of my community and believing that people’s wellbeing hinges on their ability to communicate their ideas and emotions properly, I have picked the career of a psychologist in order to help people find the points of contact with the rest of the community and establish a dialogue with the society.
The choice of the items listed in the exercise also helps identify the key specifics of establishing an emotional contact with the patient, as well as the possible problems that a therapist may have in the process. In the case in point, the choice of knowledge as one of the major notions to be taken into account shows that the therapist may consider the idea of introducing the patient to the phenomenon of emotional intelligence.
More to the point, the therapist is most likely to develop the skills of emotional intelligence themselves apart from fostering these skills in the patient. The inclusion of emotional intelligence into the therapy process is most likely to lead to a faster recovery, since the patient will be able to cognize their own self and, therefore, discover the root of the problem and get rid of it (Montañés, 2008).
Reference List
Department of Justice. (2014). Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as Amended. ADA.gov. Retrieved from https://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm
Montañés, J. (2008). Does emotional intelligence depend on gender? The socialization of emotional competencies in men and women and its implications. Electronic Journal of Research in Education and Psychology, 6(15), 455–474.