Aimee Mullins

            I have seen Aimee Mullins on television programs prior to watching her on the TED talk, so I was interested to see her incorporate her views on her ‘disability’ with ideas about education.   While she does not directly discuss specific themes about school or education, I found that her life experiences serve as a model to both teacher and student about the limitless possibilities we have with our lives. 

            Her discussion about the students inquiring about her legs was most interesting.  I can imagine a teacher cautioning the students to not gawk at her legs.  Ms. Mullins clearly asks the opposite of students as she wants them to explore and learn from her different pairs of legs and engages the students in a discussion about different abilities and how her life is not limited by having prosthetic limbs.  I had heard about this experience previously and thought it interesting that students would ask if the legs gave her superpowers instead of asking what limits the legs put on her.

            I thought about this conversation and how technology has given Ms. Mullins more options than limits in her life.  The same ideas could also translate into the classrooms for students who struggle with disabilities, and even now some students are able to benefit from technological advances to help them with schoolwork that once proved daunting.  I have seen students use small word processors to help them write papers with minimal spelling errors if they have reading or writing learning disabilities.  These processors also give the student who cannot write a ‘superpower’ so that they can produce the same or better assignment than a classmate without a disability.  I would hope that technology continues to produce tools that all students can use to heighten their abilities in the classroom.