What would you do if you could see? The question is posed by a stranger on the train, a shop assistant, colleague, potential employer, acquaintance, friend, or society in general, like a spider meticulously threading its web of power and liberty around a fly, innately illustrating yet again to me just who has the upper hand in this situation. I can almost see the expectation hanging in the air between us as I take a deep breath and gather my wits about me like a protective cloak, knowing this could get ugly. Of course, I am expected to reward such obtrusive attention with a walk along the moral high ground, with its gracious answers and honey sweet nectar. Never mind the encroachment, intimacy, invasion or intrusion on my very being, let alone the offensiveness or impossible nature of the question. The fact is, everyone does disability differently. There are as many means, ways and work-arounds for people with disability as there […]
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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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Busting Disabled Toilet Myths
As a person who is blind or has low vision, I’ve never considered it my right to use the designated disabled toilet. I’ve always thought of them as amenities for people who use wheel chairs, walking frames, walking sticks, crutches, or maybe an ambulant adult with children who aren’t yet at an age to be unsupervised in public restrooms, and their isn’t a designated parent’s room around. As a cane user myself, I confess that until recently I hadn’t considered just how essential disabled toilets also are for people who use guide dogs to navigate the environment. Could you imagine trying to fit thirty kilos of blond Labrador at your feet in one of those tiny, awkward to manage, let alone move in cubicles that are so often found in public areas? It’s not exactly an equitable or dignified prospect. After all, a dog isn’t the same as a white mobility cane. A girl can’t just fold it up and put […]
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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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Society Through The Lens Of Disability
I am a disabled person, and I use that term deliberately in this context, as it refers to the social model of disability, which basically suggests that it is society that disables people through its attitudes, actions, and assumptions. In other words, how we as a society are organised, acknowledge, and thereby create disability, rather than actually valuing, leveraging, respecting, and encouraging people’s differences and diversity. This is how society is seen through the lens of disability. In light of this, I am finding the new television show, The Good Doctor, which premiered tonight, personally confronting. It is about Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and Savant syndrome, who is recruited into the surgical unit of a prestigious hospital, and the battles he faces. I know that kind of isolation. I know that kind of discrimination. I know what it is not to be taken seriously based on the ignorance or arrogance of others. I know what it is to […]
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