Support people with disabilities

from Usha R.    Apr 27

We need to think about the needs of different groups of people in different situations.

We are bigger vegetables than we think they are

from Arindita G.    Mar 03

When I was in fifth standard, I had an informal debate during our class in the presence of our teacher on whether one should abort  if one comes to know that the child will be born with a disability. The entire class including my teacher actually said that it was better to abort the child than giving birth to a liability. I was the only one vehementally opposing the term 'liability' that they used against the disabled people. I knew that ninety percent of my classmates would never clean their bed, wash their clothes, do anything creative, help the mothers in the kitchens or the father in other household chores. They were merely surviving at the cost of plenty of other people like their elders, family and servants.  Are we not vegetables ourselves? Then why call a person with a limp or a visual challenge a 'liability'?

Just a few days before this incident, I learnt about three fascinating people. One, Stephen Hawkings, secondly a classical singer from Southern India whose both hands and the arms had been amputated---but sings beautifully, sketches with his mouth, and thirdly a person (I cannot recall from which country or the name) who had done Phd in Fine Arts, while he has some nervous disorder for which none of his limbs are stable...he keeps on shaking continuously. These three people and their images shook me from within. And after the debate in the class, I was thoroughly determined to do something meaningful for people who we  call disabled or specially abled.

Though, honestly speaking I have not been able to do much till date, apart from writing papers for visually challanged students in the university and doing their reading. Also, have been planning a theatre and art workshop with special needs children along with a friend of mine who uis a special educator.

Hence, when I got the invite from a friend to join this community, I got an opportunity to discover various work in different levels that are going on regarding this cause.

Near and Dear to My Heart

from Kathryn D.    Feb 25

My son was recently diagnosed with classical autism. It opens your eyes to have to deal with a disability day to day. I have worked with children with disabilities before - from Cerebral Palsy to mental retardation. Those children hold a big place in my heart. I have recently decided to go back to school to get my master's in Special Education due to my son and my past experiences. It is so amazing just watching my son struggle and overcome just to do the simple things - like drink out of a straw, wave goodbye, or communicate in any way. But it is SO rewarding when he does - knowing how hard he worked to get there, how much time we spend teaching him. Supporting disabilities for me is celebrating the important things. Every person has the right to reach their potential in life, whatever that potential is. And nothing should stand in their way, and we should do everything we can to help them.

Creating Self-Determination

from Stephanie B.    Feb 21

Supporting people with disabilities is simple: many individuals do not receive the proper support to enjoy the basic lifestyle freedoms which most of us take for granted.  Ever wonder what it might be like to rely on someone to leave your home, apply for a job, cook a meal or make a phone call?  If you can take the time to do any of these activities, you can take a moment to reflect on supporting this change.  Consider volunteering at a supported living center to teach life skills such as cooking, computer and internet skills, using the transit system or just socialize with someone who needs a friend.  Every person's goals should be driven by the desires and dreams of the individual and never limited by a disability.

Why? Personal Experience, Of Course. . .

from Randy L B.    Feb 17

One of my earliest co-workers had severely atrophied limbs.  He would have been 6'6" otherwise.  He could do anything except get up and write on the blackboard.  His work was never less than anyone else's, and often better.  He could even pop wheelies in his electric wheelchair.  He graduated from the university, married and started his own business.

Another co-worker had been paralyzed from the waist down; he had been working on a phone line when lightning struck him.  It never affected his will, ability, or sense of humor.  If he met other disabled people who were wallowng in self-pity he was quick to let them know it wasn't the end of the world.  I never saw anyone come down on him because of his condition.  (And he had more girls than you couls shake a stick at. )

At the university, the bookstore employed a young man who'd been a "thalidomide baby".  He had no arms at all; his hands grew out of his shoulders.  It didn't keep him from doing a job and doing it well.  He worked throughout the store in the time he was a student.  I never knew him personally, but i suspect he also graduated.

A final reason I support people with disabilities is probably a bit personal.

As far as I know, I might be a bit of walking medical history. . .because when i was eight, i was blinded by a tonsillectomy.

This is a small town, and in 1962 there weren't anesthesiologists; there weren't nose or face masks or tanks of gas to put someone under.

And the medical "wisdom" of the time was that if your tonsils were inflamed, cut them out.

(I notice similar "wisdom" in the medical community today.)

For this reason, it was necessary fror a doctor to hold an ether-soaked rag over the nose of the patient, while the second doctor cut into the throat.

In my case, the rag went into my eyes, blinding me for a few weeks.

I eventually regained my eyesight, but my eyes were damaged and never recovered. 

Havng a very small taste of blindness, I think, led me to be more accepting when it came to disability.

When my children were growing up, I tried to make them see things from the viewpoint of a disabled person, and they grew up to be accepting and supportive of them.  I expect to do the same with my grandkids, if the kids don't do it first.