NYT Op Ed: Becoming Disabled

[Never Give Up]

This is the first in a weekly series. They are asking for people to send their experiences of being disabled via a Facebook link. It is worth the read and worth giving your input. It might help raise visibility.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/21/o...=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article

 

[Hutan]

Whereas disability interrogations are “What’s wrong with you?” Before I learned about disability rights and disability pride, which I came to by way of the women’s movement, I always squirmed out a shame-filled, “I was born this way.” Now I’m likely to begin one of these uncomfortable encounters with, “I have a disability,” and to complete it with, “And these are the accommodations I need.” This is a claim to inclusion and right to access resources.

Becoming disabled demands learning how to live effectively as a person with disabilities, not just living as a disabled person trying to become nondisabled. It also demands the awareness and cooperation of others who don’t experience these challenges. Becoming disabled means moving from isolation to community, from ignorance to knowledge about who we are, from exclusion to access, and from shame to pride.

We are given the message so strongly that having ME is something to be ashamed of. I expect that sometimes my defensive reaction and pre-emptive attempts to explain that this is not a psychogenic illness makes things worse.