I think we live in a society that does not value diversity, difference or disability. If anything, our society sees anything other than sameness as a burden, bother or threat, unless it is temporarily convenient to view it as otherwise to meet an ableist objective. We don’t seem to realise that it is our cultural, community and communication values, as well as the systems and structures we continue to put in place that are the real problem. We continue to overlook the untapped potential and unused resources of our vast and creative population. But for what purpose? It is our intricacies that necessitate the drive for innovation, and it is our need to belong that brings us together and pulls humanity into the future. But what happens when we continue to create barriers to participation? Not only does it hold people with disability to ransom, and ensures they remain beholden to a society that is intent on punishing them for it, […]
Continue readingMonthly Archives: July 2018
The Great Wall Of Inequity
So this is what broken feels like, I think as I slump against an all too familiar wall of inequity dividing the labyrinth of my life. The blue sky is ever watchful above me. I glance at it hopefully. A tiny, distrustful part of me is afraid it won’t be there, even though it’s been over a year since that fateful afternoon when it first appeared literally out of nowhere. It surprises and delights me with its audaciousness. I still remember climbing on the outdoor table to reach it. It’s the same table I sit at now, wondering if I will find the strength and stomach to get back up this time, and continue onward, the way I’ve done so many times before. The problem is, this feels different. This doesn’t feel like the exhaustion between battle rounds. This feels like a shedding of something I’m yet to put my finger on. And if I weren’t quite so shamed, shattered and […]
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A Cane For Every Pair Of Shoes
If I were sighted, I think I would have been a fashion designer. I have always loved fashion, be it the various colours, textures, accessories or as a means of self-expression. Most of all, I have always loved how it makes me think, feel and respond. Family legend has it that the only way I would agree to potty train as a toddler was if I could have a pair of frilly knickers in exchange. My childhood is littered with fashion landmarks such as the beautiful, intricately patterned brown cowgirl boots I received for my eighth birthday, the wide elastic black belt with the neutral coloured peplyn top I got for my twelfth, and the frayed stretch denim shorty short shorts when I was eighteen. In adulthood, I expressed my fondness for fashion via those ridiculously high, strappy stilettos I bought when I was twenty-five. Everything from the stunning red, faux crocodile skin laptop bag I had in my thirties to […]
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