people with diasbilities and how they are effected by poverty in young adulthood

People with Disabilities and How They Are Effected By Poverty in Young Adulthood
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People with Disabilities and How They Are Effected By Poverty in Young Adulthood
Introduction
The disabled African Americans young adults suffer from poverty and racial discrimination which hinders their positive development. Similarly, they face the challenge of inadequate fiscal and human capacity, and cultural barriers (Liu, Austin & Orey, 2009). Also, family factor such as income and education of parents prevents the wholesome development of young adults. Therefore, when they reach the majority age, they lack adequate skills to compete with the physical fit youths. Disability is a complicated issue for the minority groups as it creates a negative effect that hampers the allocation of resources, job placements and sustainable economic development (Liu, Austin & Orey, 2009). As such, most of the young adults do not get the fair chance to improve the quality of their lives. A problem experienced by disabled youths in low-income families is that most of their parents seclude them to hide from the shame of associating with such children (Mpofu & Harley, 2006). Therefore, as these children become adults, they lack the skills to get the few jobs available.
Significance of Poverty on African American Young Adults
Disabled African Americans in their young adulthood face a lot of problems as a result of poverty. Therefore, they are unable to further their education and get relevant skills to help them in the job market (Margolin, 2006).

Thus, they continue to suffer from stigmatization which also isolates them from the people without a disability. That means they remain unable to change their economic status despite their willingness and potential to participate in building the economy. Poverty deprives the physically challenged African American youths from being enlightened. As such, they cannot fight discrimination which deprives them of their right to equal opportunities. With that, they remain as victims of disenfranchising of minority groups (Petersen, 2006). Therefore in a country where the African Americans have to fight to earn their place in society, poverty alienates the disabled youths. This difference creates an interesting treatment to the disabled young adults; they are left in the shadows of opportunities.
The intersection of African Americans with disabilities, poverty, and racial identity is differentiated to two; those with high and low development levels (Margolin, 2006). Youths with a strong sense of progress on matters of racism and disability have good access to their internal resources. More so, they are aware of the external resources for instance legislation, networks to follow as well as accommodations. On the contrary, poverty creates situations where disabilities are not treated or given a proper diagnosis. This problem is experienced by the low-income African American families. In that regard, their opportunities to jobs are stifled, and they also suffer from identity development (Petersen, 2006). With that in mind, few African American young adults are incapable of providing political, social and economic influence.
Despite the challenges that youths with disabilities go through, family support remains one of their strengths. The reason is that at home they do get discriminated against and therefore they feel comfortable (Liu, Austin & Orey, 2009). Similarly, some disabled African American get the support they need from their churches. These are places where there is solace and comfort, and they find the courage to face their challenges. Also, there are those that join social youth groups for the disabled. There, they find encouragement, opportunities to learn life skills, and know the importance of education in a country that values knowledge from school (O’Connor, 1999). With such support systems, it becomes easy for disabled youths to fight the stigma they face. For instance, some employers are unwilling to accommodate physically challenged people.
Developmental Characteristics Associated with Adulthood
In the study of the issues that affect the development of young adults, two theories are relevant to the matter. They are intersectionality and resiliency theories. The former identifies that an individual’s resilience is determined by protective and risk factors (Mpofu & Harley, 2006). In this theory, it is assumed that risk factors such as stigma affect a person’s character while protective factors build their personality (Mpofu & Harley, 2006). On the other hand, intersectionality theory examines how social, biological and cultural factors such as class, sex, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation and other issues of identity interact on various levels (O’Connor, 1999). This theory elicits the idea that people should consider each element of an individual and link them with the other traits to understand a person’s character.
With that, the theory can be used to help people understand how social inequality and systemic injustices occur on different occasions. This concept argues that the oppressions executed within society such as sexism and racism do not happen independently. Rather, these forms of oppression interrelate and therefore create a system of interlinked acts of discrimination. As such, risk factors such as race, gender, class and other social categories continue to pave the way for poverty. The reason is that when a disabled person is exposed to any of these factors, they are susceptible to suffer from other risk factors (Margolin, 2006). That means it becomes difficult for them to experience economic development. However, these theories have a limitation in that they do give a clear way of how their conclusions were made.
Risk Factors
The development of African American youths with disabilities is not easy as they are exposed to risk factors. As such they struggle to build their personalities and focusing on important matters such as education (Liu, Austin & Orey, 2009). Such factors comprise occupational restrictions, stigma, and isolation. In terms of cognition, an individual may determine their situation to be stressful as well as burdensome based on the risk factors they are exposed to. Risk factors are difficult to avoid for instance racial discrimination (Mpofu & Harley, 2006). Therefore, those that lack the means of improving their state continue to suffer. For example, young adults that are unable to fight stigmatization find it hard to cope in environments where they are not socially accepted. As such, in schools and workplaces. It becomes difficult to concentrate, and their performance reduces considerably as a result of lack of protective factors.
Conclusion
African American youths with disabilities can overcome the challenges they go through. They can do that through embracing protective factors such as optimism, acceptance, hardiness, a sense of coherence as well as resourcefulness. Otherwise, they will remain to be victims of disenfranchising. Similarly, when a disabled person embraces protective factors, they avoid self-pity. Therefore, it becomes easy for them to focus on the things that matter for instance building a career. Similarly, one gets the heart to beat discriminatory factors such as stigma and bias in employment. For example, social workers can join hands to create awareness about race discrimination, poverty, equal opportunities for jobs and access to public resources. In the same manner, support groups for the disabled African Americans can help to motivate young adults to chase their dreams. The fact that the African American young adults are part of minority groups does not mean that they cannot put in an effort to change their economic situation.
References
Liu, B., Austin, S. D., & Orey, B. D. (2009). Church Attendance, Social Capital, and Black Voting Participation. Social Science Quarterly, 90(3), 576-592.
Margolin, S. (2006). African American Youths with Internalizing Difficulties: Relation to Social Support and Activity Involvement. Children & Schools, 28(3), 135-144.
Mpofu, E., & Harley, D. A. (2006). Racial and Disability Identity: Implications for the Career Counseling of African Americans With Disabilities. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 50(1), 14-23.
O’Connor, C. (1999). Race, Class, and Gender in America: Narratives of Opportunity among Low-Income African American Youths. Sociology of Education, 72(3), 137.
Petersen, A. (2006). An African‐American woman with disabilities: the intersection of gender, race, and disability. Disability & Society, 21(7), 721-734.