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Showing Support to Those with Disabilities

Itzel Salazar
The University of Texas at El Paso
February 28, 2014













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Some people are born disabled, others become disabled as a result of diseases or
accidents. A disability can range from moderate to significant, it can be a person with a deafness
impairment, a limb, to those with Down syndrome. Those who suffer from such are seen as
outcasts, and are often underestimated by the rest. Dealing with those who are disabled requires a
lot of patience and understanding. When having a child with a disability such as Down
syndrome, it can be hard for the parents as much as it is for the child. Because of that many
organizations help those families to understand, support, and be of better help to those with
special needs. Something organizations, doctors, and experts want families to understand is that
they are not alone. There are a number of resources who are there to give their full support to
those who need it.
Organizations have numerous accessible genres used to provide information to the public,
(websites, posters, flyers, etc.). These two genres are an example of a way others help those who
are in need of special health care and provide families with useful information. The first one is,
the Paso Del Norte Childrens Development Center, a website providing information about a
non-profit organization who help those with disabilities. The next one is Dakotas Pride, a
documentary by Girard Sagmiller and Rustin Hamilton about a fathers search for the truth about
Down syndrome. With both of these genres the audience can benefit by learning what people
with disabilities are capable of doing after being underestimated by society, and ways people can
give them their full support and understanding to both the person with the disability and the
family.
Audience and Purpose
As technology advances, more and more people turn to the internet when they are
seeking information about a particular subject. The audience the Paso Del Norte Childrens
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Development Center aims for with their website includes families where a family member has
any type of disability, or anyone who is interested in obtaining informatio. The purpose of this
website is to provide information about how to cope better with someone with a disability and
help find services where families can be benefit more. The website is used to inform, the pages
have various links where different information is presented about their services, including
projects and events the program has been part of. It is easy to navigate through the website and
understand the information presented because of the type of language being used. With this
program, families are given the support, guidance, advice and resources needed in their care
giving roles, as well as the ability to empower the child in order for them to reach their fullest
potential.
For the documentary, people tend to turn to them when they want to learn more about
personal experiences. Documentaries are nonfictional films who show real events. The intended
audience for this genre, like the website are families. Dakotas Pride is a heartwarming film used
to entertain the viewer by demonstrating kids with Down syndrome. These children reach
achievements after being underestimated by everyone. Another purpose is to make them
acknowledge what a true blessing a child with special needs really is. With only forty minutes,
the film sends the message of how those with Down syndrome are no different from the rest, that
they are capable of doing what everyone else does. It encourages parents to become more
involved in their childs life and give them more of a sense of independency.
Both sources relate to the same topic, children with disabilities are capable of doing much
more than what others think. Since the website is used to inform, there is not much a viewer will
actually learn as they mostly inform the reader about their services, and it is more of a life
experience. In the film on the other hand, since its purpose is to entertain it gives the audience
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more of an understanding of what a special needs person can accomplish. For example in minute
eighteen of the documentary, a young girl who went to the World Olympics for Special
Olympics and took home seven silver medals is shown to reinforce the purpose of the
documentary. By providing real life examples, actual people with Down syndrome and their
families, experts, even a pastor, the audience will obtain more information they can use right
then and there than in the website.
Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Both genres provide many evidence that contribute to its credibility and efficiency. The
Paso Del Norte Childrens Development Center website, establishes credibility by providing
various sources. Ethos is displayed in the Better Business Bureau accreditation for its charity
services. The contact information is also displayed at the home page, all address, phone, e-mail,
and fax. The website provides the audience with a number of referrals, such as the Autism
Community Network of El Paso. Another form of ethos is the staff page where the directors,
managers, and supervisors are displayed along with their e-mails and their specific positions.
A very significant part of the home page is the slideshow to the left where children are
portrayed by the community as heroes. This form of Pathos is very special because the slideshow
displays only half of the childrens picture, the other half is a picture of a superhero that looks
like the child. This is used to structure all of it together into one. This signifies the strength and
braveness of the child, meaning all of them are special. It is something very effective as the
audience will be very pleased to see as in would bring them a sense of kindness coming from the
organization.
To support the information about what they do, they display all the different programs
there is and provide examples of who they are and what they do. It is very important for such
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genre to provide Logos into their page since they do not have as much limitation to how much
information they can provide the audience with, since the more the better it supports the main
purpose.
Dakotas Pride is a documentary, meaning that it is based on real events, yet in order for
the information on the film to be more credible for the viewer, it needs sufficient backup. The
way the producers use ethos in the film is by getting Dakotas father to go ask experts, such as a
Harvard physician, a doctor, a pastor, and other parents of children with Down syndrome.
Throughout the whole movie the use of pathos is portrayed by showing emotion by giving a
heartwarming feeling. According to Dakotas Pride (2007), Children with down syndrome are a
gift from god, as the parents are a gift from god to them. The film portrays videos of Dakota
growing up, and accomplishing many things, from getting his license, to graduating from
college.
The whole purpose is for parents of those with Down syndrome to understand their child
better and push them to acknowledge how much potential they have. This use of logos proves a
point that there is more to those children than what everyone believes. By establishing all of
Dakotas accomplishments, and the other children, the producer provides evidence which
reinforces its purpose because of the stereo type on children with Down syndrome. The audience
will find this surprising and heartwarming.
These two genres provide strong images of what it is like to be a kid with a disability,
how special they really are. Like stated previously they are a gift from god and they are capable
of anything if taught and given enough support. The documentary provides more of a sense of
heart because it shows and it does not have that limitation the webpage does when portraying the
life of the disabled and the family.
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Structure and Delivery
Both website and documentary do not have as much forced limitations as others genres
do when it comes to time. The maker of the webpage must keep in mind how much time the
audience is willing to spend reading and navigating through the source. There is a lot of space
available, but to easy it out for the viewer all the necessary information is provided in short
sentences and paragraphs. The website is also in English and Spanish, with El Paso being next to
the border it truly benefits the audience. As for the layout every piece of information is well
organized and categorized by subject, in other words by different services. This makes it easier
for the viewer to navigate through the website and find what he/she is looking for. The color
schemes also contribute to the message it is sending its viewers, as they are colorful representing
the relationship with the children. The logo for the organization consists of letter blocks which
children play with. The slide show plays one of the biggest parts for defining the purpose of the
website as it sends a clear message of who they help. Lastly, unlike the rest of the buttons, there
is a small white box with the words donate/Pay online which stands out from the rest of the
content because of its the purpose. The main purpose is to convince and attract the audience to
donate to the organization.
The documentary is much more different than the website as the structure of the elements
composing such genre are not so similar. In the film, the way the producers shape the
information is starting from the day Dakota was born and following the years as he grew up.
Being that it is a documentary it must be have a limitation of time. When a statement is provided,
the producer uses an example to reinforce his idea using very structured strategy for
organization. The use of music is also helpful as it sets a tone of sentiment. Both genres can be
accessed easily as one is straight off the internet and the other can be purchased through
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Amazon.com for only $9.88. As the documentary can share more of a true sense of what it is like
to have a disability by how it portrays the ideas of Dakota and those that are part of his life, the
websites lack of visual media can affect the audiences interest as they do not have much of a
sense of what the organization is about.
Conclusion
Both genres convey its message clearly, the only difference is how much the audience
visualizes and portrays the message being sent. In this case, unless going personally and
experiencing what the Paso Del Norte Childrens Developing Center is like, the audience will
not be able to get much helpful information which will help them learn how to provide sufficient
support for their children in order for them to succeed. As for the documentary, it provides visual
examples of how parents and family members motivate and empower those with Down
syndrome, something the website does not really do. Therefore, the documentary is more
effective when conveying its message to the audience. Genre selection is important when you are
trying to get the most information out of it, because there is only so much that can be obtained
out of some genres. It is up to the audience to visualize and comprehend the message clearly.

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References
Paso Del Norte Childrens Development Center. (2014). Retrieved from:
http://www.pdnchildrens.org/index.
Sagmiller, D. (Producer), Hamlition, R, (Director). (2007) Dakotas pride [Motion picture].
United States. Studio 7.