Amazing Article Find!

https://themighty.com/2017/04/my-disability-is-part-of-who-i-am/?utm_source=Disability_Page&utm_medium=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR14HZU_JGHb868hZHQuIquVvSeforIyovmIBT_1h1lICM46Yk3TDmI9nok This popped up in my Facebook feed, as I am a loyal follower of several disability sites. And it spoke to me on a very deep level about something I'm really just starting to realize. As the author Lisa, says in her article, it's taken me a while to come to terms with exactly what bothered me when people say "I don't see your disability." Now I realize it bothers me because to not see my disability is to to not see ME as I am. I mean, of course I don't want you to look down on me because I use a mobility aid. But that's just it--a mobility aid is not something to be looked down on! And therein lies the fundamental problem. In this American society, walkers and wheelchairs are for the elderly and infirm, who for various reasons don't fit the ideal image of what makes a "whole" person. Surprise, America--we're as WHOLE as a person gets! Often in more ways than even the physically beautiful. As someone put it, I've "seen the other side" of this "living" coin, so to speak. I know more about what life has to give--and what it can take away--than a lot of people society admires. And I imagine that's absolutely the truth of almost every person with a disability. Our only problem is that society doesn't listen to our retelling. The noises and vocalizations of some, the silence of others, the inarticulateness so many are left with robs us of the ability to tell our story. But it's there. Just as it is for the amazing woman who wrote this article! We've all got a story, and we would all prefer it be told unabridged. So here we are! "Broken" we may seem in the eyes of an unfeeling world. But the breaks are part of our symphony.

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