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. No one learns the same thing in the same way, and not
everyone will act the same when talking to a friend or meeting a new person. 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. However, no matter how different someone is,
all people should be born with the same opportunities and treated with respect. From all of this, 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 or social goals equal to that of someone without said
disability, so long as the person is not incapacitated by it. No matter how different someone is, if
they have the drive to pursue gaining a college degree or making a friend, they should be given
as much help as anyone else pursuing said goals.
There is injustice among students with mental disability in terms of how they are socially
treated. A case can be named based on information given by Mr. John Mitchell, a man who is the
father of a son who has Asperger Syndrome, about his son Jake. John described him as someone
who spent all of his time with his head in a screen. In other words, he always made friends in
high school online, but never really reached out to people in their physical presence. In his case,

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the mental disorder he carried affected him to where he never really understood how to interact
in society, or to really come out of his shell. He never met with his friends physically that he
made online, he merely kept them within their spaces while he was in his. Now, could Jake have
made more of an effort to meet with people rather than staying in the shell of his digital life? Yes,
maybe he could have made more of an effort to reach out. However, did society try to reach to
him instead, did anyone ever try to be his friend first, or was he never approached first? There is
injustice here in that due to Jake being as he is, shy and unwilling to take the first step to meet
people, people in the world would just pass him by. It is injustice to idly sit by as Jake merely
withers into the background, while other people are able to be approached so easily and make
their friends. I cant say if Jake was ever approached, all I can do is ask if people even tried or if
they just avoided him as he stayed in his shell.
In Aristotles in writing A Definition of Justice, he states, For each individual among
the many has a share of virtue and prudence . . . (118). All people have an importance in life,
and all people possess virtue as Aristotle said. In some cases, it just takes a little bit to bring it out
in people. Jake never had any of his peers to support him at his school when he was there, he
never interacted with them and no one interacted with him. His solitude could very well have
been born from his shyness driving people away, but is unjust for anyone to feel alone in the
world for whatever reason. All people have purpose and have opportunity, and all people were
put in this world to live. Whether they may try to make a move to be social or not, it is up to
people who are social to at least try to make friends with those who have these disorders which
make them shy. Its a two way solution where not only the disordered must act, but the social
must act too. Just because someone is hard to approach at first, does not mean they arent people

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who could end up being your acquaintance. All people are born equal with virtue and all people
deserve a chance in society whether they make the first move or another person reaches out.
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). This can be applied
to the idea of injustice here. To say that someone is inferior at all based on something they cant
control is truly unjust. Women back then were viewed as inferior to men just as people view
those with mental disorders as inferior. There is evidence of this in the same interview with John.
He describes how Jake, although he was well versed in all core subjects, was still forced to take
special education classes when he was in elementary school. While he may have excelled in
mathematics especially and had a passion for them, he was still able to do well in things like
science and English. Jake had the potential to do well in regular core classes, but due to his
disorder, he was never given a chance. This is injustice to judge someones mental ability based
upon a disorder at birth they cant control. In Fredrick 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). If teachers chose to make Jake take these unnecessary classes
throughout high school as well, they would have caused him to think that that 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. They
would never have challenged him enough to make him truly realize what he could do. When it
comes to education, you should be judged by ability, not by disability.

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Another interview with another parent shows how its not only unjust to treat someone as
lesser due to a disability, but it is also unjust to give someone special advantages over those
without them. 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 disability. Teachers in her school
seemed to show a sort of favoritism for her in terms of helping her in school. They gave more
attention to her due to her disability and helped her more than others. This may seem like a good
thing, but what about other students. Even if someone has a disability, you cant put them on a
crutch and help them with everything or theyll never learn from failure. I am not saying its
wrong to give these students attention and help in school, but you have to sometimes just let
them learn on their own. 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). A person with or without a mental disorder, like autism in Ellerys case which gives her
trouble communicating, has the ability to make their own decisions, 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 feat of learning something. Those who educate should be bold enough to let 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). This 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

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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.
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 taking their lives, 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 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. We cannot unlock these peoples true potential however unless we
reach out and support them as a friend, or let them learn from their mistakes. People may
sometimes be unsure about reaching out but we will never know until we truly stop treating them
like their on a crutch and let them live.

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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.
King, Martin. Letter from Birmingham Jail. A World of Ideas.6th ed. Ed. n.a. Boston: Bedford
St. Martin, 2002. 181-197. Print.
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.