Wrestling with Disability

Many of you may have already seen this viral video of two seventh grade wrestlers—one boy without disabilities, Justin, and one with cerebral palsy, Jared. If you have not seen the video, watch it here: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/justin-kievit-middle-school-wrestler-heartwarming-video-cerebral-palsy_n_2237480.html

Admittedly, it is a very heart-warming video and brought tears to my eyes the first time I watched it. As the Huffington Post describes, it “exhibits the ‘true sportsmanship’ of a 12-year-old boy and his plucky wrestling opponent.” We learn from Jared’s father that “his son has the physical capacity of a 6-month-old, [but] his intellectual ability is close to his age level.” The article goes on to use phrases like: Justin “help[ed] his opponent put an arm around him”; “his plucky wrestling opponent”; and, many people were “deeply touched by both the sportsmanship and bravery shown by the two young boys”.

This article by the Huffington Post is titled “Justin Kievit, Middle School Wrestler, Lets Boy With Cerebral Palsy Win Match”. Other media headlines read: “12-Year-Old 'Throws' Wrestling Match So Boy With Cerebral Palsy Can Win” (thestir.cafemom.com); “Middle school wrestler with cerebral palsy has memorable first match” (usatodayhss.com); and, “Boy Loses Wrestling Match To Wrestler With Cerebral Palsy” (digtriad.com).

When I hear the type of verbiage the media used to describe this wrestling match, I think that the descriptions like “plucky” and “bravery” elevate Jared to hero status. Not necessarily a good thing, according to Loja, Costa et al., “In the non-disabled imaginary, pity may be aligned with the attribution to disabled people of the quality of heroism” (p. 4). In addition, use of words like: "physical capacity of a 6-month-old"; "help[ed] his opponent"; "Lets boy with cerebral palsy win match"; "12-year-old 'throws' wrestling match"; and, "Boy loses wrestling match to wrestler with cerebral palsy" to describe Jared seem to destroy his credibility, further separating him from his “able-bodied” peers. “The difficulties in accumulating capital and sustaining credibility […] impact negatively on disabled people’s desire to venture into public space. In public, disabled people are regarded as ‘unable’, not able to be ‘active doers’” (Loja, Costa et al., p. 6).

How do you think Jared is portrayed? From the perspective of a person with disabilities, would your opinion be different?