I have a strong sense that I have to educate people about disability. ~ Oscar Pistorius
It’s 4 : 07 PM on day 790 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth,feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, publish my Disability of the Day feature, publish my Kid of the Week feature, practice typing with both hands, stretch my hamstrings and spend time with visitors and family.
Today I thought about what I would want people to say and do when they meet me (people mean well but sometimes when they interact with someone who is different they lose all their common sense and manners) and this is what I came up with:
- Like I said in the other post I wrote about this when you meet people who are different it’s important to make eye contact and smile (I’ve been in situations where people would just stare at me and look away without so much as a smile it made me feel like a freak of course I’m all grown up now and it doesn’t affect me as much but still)
- Talk to the person don’t talk about them (I was at the optometrist office the other day and this elderly woman came up behind me and asked my mother can she understand me when I talk to her I had to cut in and say yes I can it’s all about validation when you talk to someone and not about them it makes them feel like you see them and not their “disability”)
- Don’t make assumptions (When people meet me it’s almost like they expect me to be sad, mad or bitter meanwhile I’m none of those things on the contrary I’m grateful to be alive and ready to serve)
- Don’t ask what’s wrong with me instead introduce yourself and ask me to tell you about my condition (I’ve heard stories of people asking special needs parents what’s wrong with your child what I want people to understand is that different doesn’t mean wrong in fact I am of the opinion that different is cool)
- Don’t pity me (I am more than the sum of what I can’t do but the moment some people see me their tone of voice becomes patronizing and their eyes fill with pity I HATE IT)
I LOVE hearing from you feel free to leave a comment below.
You are so wise – I would love to meet you in person!!
Thanks for the complement Alison 🙂 I would love to meet you too!