Life in a wheelchair ..

Going nowhere: My life in a wheelchair

The Independent's Business Editor David Prosser





1. The first problem is the terrain. Have you ever noticed the cracks, bumps and gaps in the typical pavement? Well, if you're in a wheelchair, those imperfections the local council hasn't quite got round to dealing with can turn into crevasses that threaten to pitch you on to the floor at any moment, or leave you with one wheel stuck off the ground, rendering any movement other than some redundant circling almost impossible.

2. What should be an easy self-propelled jaunt for a wheelchair user becomes – for me, anyway – a terrifying and exhausting journey. Either I push myself, becoming increasingly frustrated about how difficult progress seems to be, or someone pushes me, leaving me in a permanent state of panic about the possibility of another painful crash.

3. Entering a shop: venturing into a shop, of course. After 10 mins of pushing and pulling, a coffee might be just the thing, and here's our local branch of Costa. As I remember from pushing babies' buggies in and out, there's no annoying step to navigate and the door is extra-wide.

4. Extra-wide doors is that they turn out to be extra-heavy if you're trying to push them open from a seated position where you've got little purchase.

5. Ignorance and communication :  It's me who needs the photos, so it's me who asks the shop assistant for help. It will also be me, in a moment or two, who pays the bill with my credit card. So why then, throughout this transaction, are all questions directed at my wife? All conversation, in fact. Does my wheelchair-bound status render me incapable of speaking for myself, let alone engaging in a spot of polite small talk? I'm pretty sure that, when I broke my pelvis, my brain wasn't injured at the same time, but I am being treated like a helpless child.

BY: David Prosser

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/going-nowhere-my-life-in-a-wheelchair-1761724.html

Conflicts is more complicated ..

In fact, Conflicts definition is a bit more complicated than it looks. 

Conflicts are the disagreements where both involved parties perceive threat to their needs, interests and concerns.

disagreements: 

•1. There is level of differences between parties.

•2. True disagreements vs. perceived disagreements

•3. There is a significant level of misunderstanding that exaggerate the perceived disagreements.

Involved parties:

•1-There is a different Level of involvement.

•2-People surprised to find they are or they are not evolved in a disagreement.

•3-Anyway, people tend to take a side (factors) current position, past issues, relationships, role in organization .

 Perceive threat:

•1-People respond to perceived threat rather than the true.

•2-Thus, this perception is not real.

•3-People’s behaviors, feelings and responses are subjected to the perceived threat.

Needs, interests and concerns:

•1- Substantive needs: the problem that needs to be solved. 

•2- Procedural needs: the process of addressing these substantive needs

•3- Psychological needs: relate to fostering a safe environment, in which people are willing to take risks and communicate their differences, concerns and potential similarities to one another. 

Source: LeBaron, M. "Culture and Conflict." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Information Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: July 2003 <http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/culture-conflict>.

 

Harmony against Conflicts

Major Study Project .. Here we start..!

We started with the final project, which I've chosen the 'conflicts' as a common problem due to the cultural and ethnic diversity in the world..




Definition:

Conflicts are the disagreements where both involved parties perceive threat to their needs, interests and concerns. ( in fact, it's a bit more complicated- you can find out here-

Conflicts may occur in the fields of:

1)      Political

2)      Religious fields

3)      Economic

4)      Cultural

5)      Social

I've picked the cultural factor, as it doesn't touch religion, beliefs or politics .. 

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Harmony against Conflicts

In Conflicts, Anyone is wrong?

Cultural Conflicts can be defined..

On a macro level ..

Cultural conflicts are disagreements caused by differences in cultural values and beliefs that place people at odds with one another.

 Jonathan H. Turner

On a micro level ..

are the ones that occur when people expect a certain behaviour coming from their cultural backgrounds from the others who have different cultural backgrounds and different expectations.

Alexander Grewe

v

v

v

That doesn't mean anyone is wrong ..

Working and dealing across cultures is COMPLICATED,

BUT

not Impossible 

ONLY ..

If we look at the world through lenses of harmony rather than conflicts

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