I am proudly DISABLED

On this International Day of Persons With Disabilities, I leave you with this excerpt from one of my Disability Pride Month presentations...

Have you ever noticed the linguistical gymnastics people do to avoid using the term disability?

The word 'disability' makes some people uncomfortable. Society has engrained in us that being disabled is a bad thing, a thing to be avoided, so we come up with all sorts of alternative words and feel good phrases to make the subject more palatable.

I am not wheelchair bound.

This evokes a sense of pity for the poor disabled person stuck in a chair, unable to move around freely. The reality is that my wheelchair is freedom. Freedom to go out in the world, freedom to build social connections, freedom to be a productive (and sometimes disruptive) member of my community.

My needs are not special.

I am a human being and I have the same needs as all other human beings. Food, Shelter, Safety, Belonging, Respect, and Purpose to name a few. The function of my legs does not change this.

I am not a person with a disability. I am a disabled person.

I know you have likely been told that person first language is best and when speaking in general terms, that might be right. But I have the right to speak about MY identity the way I want. And when I choose to embrace my disabled identity the casual observers of my life don’t get to tell me what words I can use to represent that identity.

I am not too young or too pretty to be disabled.

25% of adults in the United States have some type of disability. The disabled population is the world's largest minority which anyone can become a part of at any time. Disability does not know age, or gender, or economic status.

Despite what the motivational posters say, A bad attitude is not the only disability.

I will not discount the power of positive thinking, but happy thoughts have never turned a set of steps into a ramp, made a bathroom door larger, or kept people from putting their shopping carts in the access lanes of parking lots.

I am not differently abled or handi capable.

I am proudly DISABLED