Riley 1

Justice in a mind with a Disorder or Otherwise

Jacob Riley
Professor Proctor
English 101
25 March 2015

Riley 2
Jacob Riley
Professor Proctor
English 101
25 March 2015
Justice in a mind with a disorder or otherwise
It is well known that two people do not think exactly alike. It doesnt matter if a person is
learning something new or interacting with other people, no one approaches a situation in the
exact same way as another person would. Whether you are someone with a completely clear
mind or someone with a mental disorder, all people are different in the world in terms of how
they think and are. However, no matter how different someone is, all people should be born with
the same opportunities and treated with respect. From this ideology, it can be concluded that it is
an injustice to see people with something like a mental disability, such as autism, as unable to
pursue educational goals equal to that of someone without said disability. So long as the person
is not incapacitated by it, they should not be judged in terms of their educational ability. People
with mental disabilities like this are just as capable of pursuing education as anyone else.
It can be seen that other people do not think this way and think that people with mental
disabilities are thought of as less capable in terms of schooling even when their disability does
not affect their academic ability. People with these disorders are put into things like special
education classes based on their disability and not on their academic skill. However, even with a
minor disorder, these people can be just as capable educationally as anyone else. Even so, it can
be seen in an interview with Mr. John Mitchell, the father of a son that has Asperger Syndrome,
that the disordered are not given the chance they deserve in education. According to John, his son

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Jake was very well versed when it came to school throughout his kindergarten through twelfth
grade education. According to John Although he may have had trouble in social studies, he was
overall a very well rounded student, and he even exceled in math. Despite this however, Jake
was put into special education classes in elementary school. The only reason they really had him
in these classes, according to John, was due to Jakes case of Asperger Syndrome. However, after
spending time with Jake, I have found that his disorder does not even affect his academic ability.
All Asperger Syndrome really does in his case is make him socially awkward and shy around
people. There is injustice here since Jake is only being placed in these classes due to a disability
that makes him indifferent socially rather than academically. Teachers wouldnt give Jake a
chance to show what he could really do by putting him into special education classes that did not
truly challenge him. Aristotle shows in his piece A Definition of Justice that all people are able
to show promise and importance in the world. He says For each individual among the many has
a share of virtue and prudence . . . (118). Anyone in the world has the capability to show what
they can do in the world. All people who are capable should be able to show their abilities and
not be judged strictly based upon a mental disability alone. Especially when the disability does
not limit the person in terms of what people try to help them in. With this said, it can also be
stated that people should not judge Jake over something he cannot even help.
As well as being treated different for no real legitimate related reason, being treated
differently over something you cannot control is extremely unjust. The idea of being treated
differently just because you are different in some uncontrollable way is nothing more than
inequality. Lee A. Jacobus, who is an English Professor at the University of Connecticut with a
PhD. from Claremont Graduate University (Lee A. Jacobus Professor Emeritus University of
Connecticut, Storss), is able to name another case like Jakes of being treated unfairly based on

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an uncontrollable aspect. According to A World of Ideas by Jacobus, Elizabeth Stanton would
know how it feels to be judged based upon something they cannot control. Jacobus talks about
how Stanton was among the most intelligent in her family and could have done so well in a
career. However, no matter how smart she was, her father and society still judged her based on
her gender and not her ability (169). In the writing, Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions,
Elizabeth Stanton states that one of the resolutions to make women equal is That all laws. .
.which place her in a position inferior to that of man, are contrary to the great percept of
nature. . . (175). To say that someone is inferior at all based on something they cant control is
truly unjust. Women back in the 1800s were viewed as inferior to men just as people view those
with mental disorders as inferior. Jake had the potential to do well in regular core classes, but due
to his disorder, he was never given a chance because of a disability. Jake could have even shown
great potential in academics had he been challenged in his classes at an early age and been
shown how truly smart he was and could be.
To put it simply, by not challenging Jake teachers really tore down Jakes confidence in
himself. It is unjust to treat summon as lesser and make them less confident in himself despite his
academic ability. A person like Fredrick Douglass would know what it is like to not know his
true potential in the world because according to Jacobus, he never had a chance to know his true
potential due to his slave status that he had had ever since he was born in 1817. His owner
wanted to keep him dumb and saw it as unlawful for a slave to be smart (126). In Douglasss
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, he talks about how when he
was learning to read, he came across the idea of truth being more powerful than a slaveholders
ideas and choices that dictated what truth was (132). Douglass was unable to reach his full
potential from an early age because slaves were not allowed to know what they could do with

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their lives. If teachers chose to make Jake take these unnecessary classes throughout high school,
they would have caused him to think that this level work was all he was capable of. Like
Douglass, when he was a slave, they would have unjustly kept him dumb and not let him realize
his true abilities just because of judging him based on his disability. When it comes to education,
people should be judged by ability, not by disability. However, even in the case of someone
actually having a disability in how they learn, it is not just that they get help on everything they
do in terms of things like tests or assignments.
Another interview with a different parent shows how its not only unjust to treat someone
as lesser due to a disability, but it is also unjust to give someone with a disorder too much help.
To help someone constantly and never let them think for themselves or get a bad grade is unjust
because the student never really learns anything. Mrs. Sherry Mitchell, who is the mother of a
child with autism, talks about her daughter Ellery getting special treatment in school due to her
autism. In Ellerys case, her Autism affected her ability to communicate with words, so she never
can really learn by teachers lecturing her. Teachers in her school seemed to show a need to assist
her in a lot of her school work. According to Sherry, They helped her with possibly everything
she did in school. Some might argue that it is a good thing, giving students help when they
dont understand something, but when was Ellery going to learn anything if she was always
being helped. Even if someone has a disability, you cant put them on a crutch and help them
with everything or theyll never learn. I am not saying its wrong to give these students attention
and help in school, or in Ellerys case, maybe teach class a little different so that everyone can
understand what teachers are teaching. However, you have to sometimes just let them learn on
their own. To relate, Jacobus said Henry Thoreau lived in a society where people never really
thought for themselves. The idea that all decisions are governed for you without your opinion

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can be displayed with Thoreau after he was thrown in jail a little while after returning from
Walden Pond in 1847. He was thrown in jail after not paying taxes and therefore not funding a
war he disagreed with (141 and 142). In Henry Thoreaus Civil Disobedience Thoreau begs the
question, while talking about the government controlling peoples decisions, of whether people
must surrender their decisions to a government if they themselves have the ability to decide
things (146). People with or without a mental disorder like autism always have the ability to
decide, and not every decision will be right all the time. All people have the power to choose,
and maybe sometimes they will choose the wrong thing. You cant always be successful or you
will never learn and never be able to live life to its fullest when it comes to making choices, and
that is unjust, to limit someone out of the fear of learning something. Those who educate should
be bold enough to let all of their students go their own way and try to do something on their own.
Even Martin Luther King Junior in his Letter from Birmingham Jail talks about how . . . there
is a type of constructive, non-violent tension which is necessary for growth (184). Kings idea
of tension can be related to the little bit of stress in making your own choices as the country was
forced to make choices about segregation. If they dont succeed on one thing, their future will
not end. In fact, the student would actually be better prepared for the future because when you
fail, its just life saying choose different next time. They need to be prepared and have use in the
world and show that people have evolved beyond not even giving them a chance
In history, it used to be that those with mental disorders didnt even have a future in life.
It used to be that children were not given a chance to even live if the slightest mental illness was
found within them. This may not be the case now in terms of killing them, but what sort of life is
there without having friends or having opportunities in the world. Just because these people have
disorders doesnt mean they have nothing to contribute to society. Jake, from before, has

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exceptional computer science skills, and Ellery has an excellent memory. Jake could be the next
Apple engineer for all we know, while Ellery could be the next building inspector due to her
remembering building code. Those with mental disorders may not be very straightforward about
what they want to do academically, but they may never see themselves as having a chance unless
we hear them out or give them a chance.

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Works Cited
Aristotle. A Definition of Justice. A World of Ideas. 6th ed. Ed. n.a. Boston: Bedford St. Martin,
2002. 115-121. Print.
Douglass, Fredrick. Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave. A World of
Ideas.6th ed. Ed. n.a. Boston: Bedford St. Martin, 2002. 127-138. Print.
Jacobus, Lee. A World of Ideas. 6th Ed. n.a. Boston: Bedford St. Martin, 2002. Print.
King, Martin. Letter from Birmingham Jail. A World of Ideas.6th ed. Ed. n.a. Boston: Bedford
St. Martin, 2002. 181-197. Print.
"Lee A. Jacobus Professor Emeritus University of Connecticut, Storrs." University of
Connecticut. Web. 14 May 2015.
Mitchell, John. Personal Interview. 23 March 2015.
Mitchell, Sherry. Personal Interview. 23 March 2015,
Stanton, Elizabeth. Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. A World of Ideas.6th ed. Ed. n.a.
Boston: Bedford St. Martin, 2002. 172-176. Print.
Thoreau, Henry. Civil Disobedience. A World of Ideas. 6th ed. Ed. n.a. Boston: Bedford St.
Martin, 2002. 145-165. Print.