The more experience you have on a specific subject the more you are faced with eye opening moments on major changes that need to be made within that specific subject. I hope that made sense. In this case I’m talking about disability. We are taught that according to the national symbol for the disabled that depicts a wheelchair that this is what disability looks like. When people make the assumption that you could not possibly be disabled because you are not in a wheelchair in a way to a certain extent it’s not their fault.
This is what we have been taught. This is how we have become programmed. We have been microchipped to associate certain things or “stigmas” with certain ailments. It’s like taking an object and attaching it to a person or occupation. It’s like what I say apple, you say teacher. When I say donut, you say police officer. Sounds messed up right? Yes! Because in a way it is! We are categorizing an object based on the stigma of the person that object is associated with. Thus the issue that lies with disability. Just because I am not in a wheelchair does not mean I am not disabled. Yet the world has been given this assumption that that is the only indicator of a disability. If I had a dollar for every time i was asked “what happened to you” I would be living in a high rise somewhere polishing a rhinos horn with gold flaked sheen. The fact we hear this so often is just outrageous to me. Sorry. I went off on a tangent here.
We as a community need to find a way to impact how disability is viewed. There are no limits. There are no set guidelines that if you don’t fit into a certain box that you are automatically kicked out of the club. It doesn’t work that way. In the past week I have spoken to 2 different store managers because the fitting room attendant questioned if i was really disabled and asked me what my disability was. Why is this even happening? Nobody should feel they are required to answer to anyone but their doctor. Change is in motion and the only way we can make a change that is going to stick like the darn duck face selfie of 2010 is to keep TALKING. Keep sharing our stories. Keep boosting up others. Keep inspiring others. Movements do not happen by 1 person and 1 person alone. One person may have had the big enough melons to get the ball rolling but it’s a group effort that when attacked at all angles can leave the world viewing this differently and have an everlasting effect!
In a way we are really just re-training the way society thinks. Sounds easy enough right? Like training a dragon...or billions of people world wide. The dragon often seems easier to train. But I like a challenge.