Disability Rhetoric

1. The title and author of the source 

Ricardo T. Thornton, “We Can’t Go Back” 

2. An objective summary of the reading 

Thornton begins by stating their credibility as someone who has lived in institutions and battles the inequitable (nonexistent) support system in the United States. They explain their experience in institutions, specifically Forest Haven. They explain the dangers of living in an isolating environment in which individuals are not encouraged to engage in the community. Thornton explains the transition out of the institution and into group homes, then family living. They explain their involvement with Special Olympics. They use this involvement as an example of just how capable disabled people are. Out in community, Thornton is capable of so much more than when they were at Forest Haven. The chapter is summed up and given agency. The author closes by explaining how essential support and opportunity is for folks (especially mentally disabled folks) to grow.  

3. 3 or more quotations (with page numbers) 

“When people are given a chance to grow and contribute, they grow and contribute” (Thornton pg. 88). 

“Segregating people is always bad; people never grow in those places and are safer and happier in the community” (Thornton pg. 89). 

“In the institution I didn’t get to think for myself. The staff thought for me and made all my decisions. For a long time, no one expected anything of me” (Thornton pg. 85). 

4. A personal reflection naming 2 or 3 take-aways from the reading 

I was drawn to the distinction that the author made between “the institution” and “the community.” Thornton makes a strong comparison between living institutionally and freely. I think I take advantage of the ways community comes so easily to me. I am given opportunity after opportunity to grow and contribute, which so many folks are not. I was struck by one of the authors closing remarks, “the only thing that is special about me (in comparison to other people with mental disabilities) is that people believed in me and in my potential to learn in spite of my disability, they took the time to help me learn” (Thornton pg. 89). This quote connects closely with the social model of disability. It is the world around the disabled that makes them that way.