I chose this! Let me preface this post with that clear disclaimer. I know I chose this. I knew what I was getting into. However, that doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. If anything it makes it more difficult, as I don’t feel I have the right to complain. I chose to become the handler of a working guide dog, knowing how hard it would be, but not how amazing it would be. However, today – today was hard. Hard, not because of any behaviour my guide dog did or did not exhibit, but hard because dealing with other dog owners is often so upsetting, as they can be some of the worst offenders when it comes to guide dog respect, etiquette and acknowledgement. On the surface, one could be forgiven for thinking it would be otherwise. However, when it comes to dog owners and their bias, nothing will stand in the way of their blatant flaunting of a […]
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The Cost Of Retail Shopping
Does this skirt go with my life? Oh, who am I kidding? Of course it does. But let’s talk about what it cost me. No, I’m not talking money, I am talking experience. Actually, I can’t believe we’re talking about this at all. But here we are – again! Let’s talk about the cost of paying for this cute little number on a Saturday afternoon in a bustling city retail chain store, with my attention quite rightly devoted to the staff member ringing up my purchase, and being nothing but exemplary in her customer service (thanks, girlfriend). During this professional exchange, another staff member consciously chose to leave other customers waiting, come out from behind an adjoining counter, and physically interact with my working guide dog. Interact is a softer word for how I felt about it, but I’ll reluctantly stick to this descriptor for now. Not only did this staff member approach my guide dog without asking my permission, but […]
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School Of Hard Dots
The year is 1988. Billy Ocean is singing “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car”. Steven Hawking has released A Brief History of Time. Rain Man is topping the box office. Big hair and thick scrunch socks are in. Partying involves the Blue Light Disco hosted at the local concert hall by the police. Google is not yet invented. Mobile phones are not on the market. A bag of hot chips costs less than a dollar. And this is high school. My Perkins Brailler, invented in 1951, yet still the most used mechanical braille writer in the world, weighing in at 4.8 kilograms thumps awkwardly against my thigh. Its bell tinging ever so slightly with the movement of my footsteps as I hurriedly lug it down the shabby corridor toward my designated room. It’s a room that by its very necessity marks me as someone who doesn’t belong, despite what my school uniform is designed to portray. It’s a room […]
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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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Disability, Ableism And Inclusion. Oh My!
Ableism comes in many forms, and despite what we like to tell ourselves as a society regarding our progress in this area, I think we are failing. We are failing the ghosts of advocates past, present and future by our tendency for play acting, rather than truly acknowledging our shortcomings and moving forward in any meaningful way. Even today, with all the advances in disability rights, legislation, inclusivity, human centred design, and supposed social understanding, sometimes I have to wonder if the push for inclusion is just a box ticking exercise with no intention to back it up. So often the powers that be apply no substance, logic, or practical application to their methodology. It is as though they almost deliberately leave a fundamental piece of the puzzle out of the equation, and thereby set us up to fail, while still being able to make themselves feel good about just how generous they are by allowing us to dwell within society. […]
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