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capri0mniSince I've been writing about this issue of Disability on a regular basis, I've become more conscious of how it effects me, and the feelings it has engendered throughout the years, and in the last couple of weeks, I've begun to put my finger on one particular aspect of it that makes the very talking about it uncomfortable for me, and makes me squirm a bit inside when someone asks why I don't write an autobiographical story, someday. It may be a bit of paranoia, but talking about the personal, intimate, aspects of "Living with a Disability" makes me feel like I'm being studied as an 'exotic specimen,' for other peoples' enlightenment.
It's a sister to the fear that some able-bodied people have of saying something wrong to a disabled person. It's a cousin (I have a hunch) to the fear some able-bodied people have of offering help to a disabled person, lest they do something wrong.
It's the notion that The Impaired are Fundamentally Other from the Able-Bodied and -Minded, so that even those who are sympathetic and supportive might feel like they have nothing to say on the topic, because it doesn't effect them directly (at the moment), and it's not "their" issue, so they sit back and politely listen and learn (or, at least, I hope that's what they're doing). But here's the thing:
"Disability" is unique among minority groups, because it's the only one you will join -- and when you least expect it.
[Edited to clarify (May 24, 2009, 13:24)]** Most of the time, being a "privileged ally" of those who suffer the consequences of various -isms (Racism, Sexism, Cissexism, etc.) is a tricky business, because the privileged person has never felt the consequences themselves, and, what's more, never will. Someone who grew up straight and white (for one example) is not going to take one ill-fated step, somewhere, and suddenly become a person of color, or gay. No one is ever going to go to bed as a man and wake up as a woman. Being a person of privilege, on whatever spectrum of priviledge that is, gives you the dubious superpower to define the nature of reality -- or rather, it gives you the illusion that your definition of reality is universal. So it is far too easy for an ally to hijack any conversation and not even realize it: like Godzilla trampling through a city, and never having to go back and deal with the consequences.
But "Disability" strikes everyone as it struck poor, (proverbial) Teddy McGrath in the Napoleonic Wars:
Even for the people who are born disabled, like I was, the disability strikes the family with the unexpected force of a cannon ball.
And you can't outrun that cannon ball. You're only hope is to die before it hits you. If you are human, it will hit you, one way or another. If you are human, this is your issue.
"Disability Rights" are Civil Rights. "Disability Rights" are Human Rights.
Yes, there is a time and a place for "safe spaces," where the temporarily-able-bodied (TABs) need to "Shut up and listen" (or simply stay away altogether). Yes, the Disabled need to be allowed the opportunity and freedom to fight for ourselves (Nothing About Us Without Us!).
But the very same ableist practices and policies that we need to fight are the things that silence and separate us. We're already shuffled off into "Special rooms" in school, given "Special entrances," into museums, churches and restraunts, and offerered employment by special, "Charitable organizations" (in jobs behind the scenes, where we don't have contact with the "general public"). We're already (far too often) kept to speaking only amongst ourselves.
And "Out of sight, out of mind," and therefore, unimportant. In my not-so-humble opinion, as long as we are perceived as "fundamentally Other," we will be counted as the smallest, and least important of the minority groups. Our rights will be the last to be considered, and the first to be discarded.
So, my temporarily-able-bodied friends, join in the conversation. Educate yourselves. If you are out on business, or out on the town, and see barriers to equality, speak up. Let the business owner or the government bureaucrat know that it's not okay with you. You might not need accommodation today, but you could get hit by a bus tomorrow.
**Whether you're a member of a privileged or disenfranchised class in regards to:
you've been born into that class, and you will remain in that class all your life
It's a sister to the fear that some able-bodied people have of saying something wrong to a disabled person. It's a cousin (I have a hunch) to the fear some able-bodied people have of offering help to a disabled person, lest they do something wrong.
It's the notion that The Impaired are Fundamentally Other from the Able-Bodied and -Minded, so that even those who are sympathetic and supportive might feel like they have nothing to say on the topic, because it doesn't effect them directly (at the moment), and it's not "their" issue, so they sit back and politely listen and learn (or, at least, I hope that's what they're doing). But here's the thing:
"Disability" is unique among minority groups, because it's the only one you will join -- and when you least expect it.
[Edited to clarify (May 24, 2009, 13:24)]** Most of the time, being a "privileged ally" of those who suffer the consequences of various -isms (Racism, Sexism, Cissexism, etc.) is a tricky business, because the privileged person has never felt the consequences themselves, and, what's more, never will. Someone who grew up straight and white (for one example) is not going to take one ill-fated step, somewhere, and suddenly become a person of color, or gay. No one is ever going to go to bed as a man and wake up as a woman. Being a person of privilege, on whatever spectrum of priviledge that is, gives you the dubious superpower to define the nature of reality -- or rather, it gives you the illusion that your definition of reality is universal. So it is far too easy for an ally to hijack any conversation and not even realize it: like Godzilla trampling through a city, and never having to go back and deal with the consequences.
But "Disability" strikes everyone as it struck poor, (proverbial) Teddy McGrath in the Napoleonic Wars:
Oh, I wasn't drunk and I wasn't blind
But I left my two fine legs behind.
For a cannon ball, on the fifth of May,
Took my two fine legs from the knees away.Wid yer too-ri-aa, fol de diddle aa
Too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa.
Even for the people who are born disabled, like I was, the disability strikes the family with the unexpected force of a cannon ball.
And you can't outrun that cannon ball. You're only hope is to die before it hits you. If you are human, it will hit you, one way or another. If you are human, this is your issue.
"Disability Rights" are Civil Rights. "Disability Rights" are Human Rights.
Yes, there is a time and a place for "safe spaces," where the temporarily-able-bodied (TABs) need to "Shut up and listen" (or simply stay away altogether). Yes, the Disabled need to be allowed the opportunity and freedom to fight for ourselves (Nothing About Us Without Us!).
But the very same ableist practices and policies that we need to fight are the things that silence and separate us. We're already shuffled off into "Special rooms" in school, given "Special entrances," into museums, churches and restraunts, and offerered employment by special, "Charitable organizations" (in jobs behind the scenes, where we don't have contact with the "general public"). We're already (far too often) kept to speaking only amongst ourselves.
And "Out of sight, out of mind," and therefore, unimportant. In my not-so-humble opinion, as long as we are perceived as "fundamentally Other," we will be counted as the smallest, and least important of the minority groups. Our rights will be the last to be considered, and the first to be discarded.
So, my temporarily-able-bodied friends, join in the conversation. Educate yourselves. If you are out on business, or out on the town, and see barriers to equality, speak up. Let the business owner or the government bureaucrat know that it's not okay with you. You might not need accommodation today, but you could get hit by a bus tomorrow.
**Whether you're a member of a privileged or disenfranchised class in regards to:
- Race
- Gender
- Gender orientation
- Sexual orientation
- Ethnicity
or
you've been born into that class, and you will remain in that class all your life
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-23 09:56 am (UTC)The concept that sold the nhs and a proper system of social welfare to my nation.
no subject
Date: 2009-05-23 05:27 pm (UTC)And that same concept of "temporary" may be why, ultimately, my nation is so terrified of National Health. Because:
"We're Mer'kins, dammit! The Greatest Country on Earth! Nothing can bring us down! Boo-yah!"
And getting serious about health care would mean having to admit that things go wrong, sometimes, and it's not because someone has sinned, either.
BTW, I'm a little more cautious about a national system since I've learned that, as it's imagined at moment, it would only be expanding the current Medicare system without reforming that MediCare system.
And right now, MediCare will only provide insurance for disability if your day-to-day survival is at stake. They'll pay for a wheelchair if you need it to get to the bathroom. If live in a house where you can walk to to the bathroom, but you need a wheelchair to be able to get to work and hold down a job, you're out of luck. You then have to quit your job, and they'll pay you minimal survival monies to stay homebound... or move into a nursing home. They'll pay for a nursing home, but they won't pay you money to hire an aide so you can stay in your own neighborhood.
Um... your subtext is showing....
no subject
Date: 2009-05-23 08:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-24 05:12 am (UTC)Even though home care is about one third the cost of institutionalized care, it has yet to be signed into law. Because if more people chose not to move into nursing homes, the nursing home industry would lose business. And the nursing home industry has powerful lobbyists.
Here's an recent article about it (http://progressillinois.com/2008/5/1/community-health-act) that I pulled up via Google News, just now.
You know, I don't think the Disability Rights movement has gotten to the stage of denying cookies to anyone, yet, if something as basic as: "Has a right to live where they choose," still has to be argued about..
no subject
Date: 2009-05-24 12:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-24 04:54 pm (UTC)Also, my aide, who is conservative, argues that an extensive public transportion system would rob people of their freedom because then, they'd be limited to the system's schedule of where they can go and when.
When I pointed out that my freedom was currently limited to her schedule, it was like I was talking to the air...
no subject
Date: 2009-05-24 10:05 pm (UTC)The air in her head? /bitchy
no subject
Date: 2009-05-24 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-25 01:42 pm (UTC)