Disabled Souls

• Authors: Zoher Kapasi, Emory University
• Journal Title: Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation
• Publisher: Emory Unversity, Division of Physical Therapy | 2016-06-20
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Subjects: Health Sciences, General; Health Sciences, Rehabilitation and Therapy

Abstract

I wrote this poem when I was in my early 20’s as a student during a physical therapy training program in my native India. I was struck by the number of spinal cord injured patients in a hospital and the lack of adequate care for these patients moved me to write this poem. This poem was written in the early 1980’s before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in the USA in 1990. The ADA is a wide-ranging law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. The ADA also requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations. Perhaps our society has moved forward in its attitudes toward patients with spinal cord injuries since the early 1980’s. Clearly, advances in spinal cord rehabilitation have improved the quality of life for these patients in 2016. However, I think the sentiments expressed in this poem may still resonate with many. I love words and find poetry is a great way to put an arrangement of words together that resonate in an impactful way what is in the author’s heart, and at the same time convey an important message!