I tend to think that most of the time I live ‘in the fast lane.’ I am full on at times and can be very impatient and come across as quite loud, my mother often says to me ‘You have a bell in every tooth son.’ I am hard on myself, and to a certain degree quite hard on others with disabilities too. When other people think they can get the better of me to make them ‘look good,’ it really hurts me. I go into a two-way attack and self-defence mode to fight my own corner. When I was younger and maybe up until this point I can and have been pretty cutting edge with words, just to get my point across. But I am getting to a point now where I stop and think before I react or speak.
Throughout the lockdown periods I have been reading and watching some other great disabled bloggers and I have noticed that their general theme is that of ‘Ableism.’ I personally do not like the word, and whoever came up with this word ought to be summoned in my mind. Physically I am not as strong as some other people, but I make up for this in other aspects of my personality. I enjoy life, and love to get out there (when we can) and just have fun! So, these days, when some other person uses force or negative language to gain the upper hand, I smile, because I know that they are acting in this manner because of fear, not understanding the circumstances from a disability point of view through not putting themselves in the situation from a person who sometimes needs to do things a little differently, or someone who looks at and tackles life in a another way because of their physical differences, which at that point the other person feels as if they are not in control, which effectively, through my smile, and not reacting towards them, makes me the better person.
Ableism (or whatever it is), I feel is fading away (was it even an ideology in the first place?), there is no such thing in my mind, and within twenty years, the World will be a much more inclusive place to live, we are getting there, people are becoming a lot more understanding, and undoubtedly more education is needed. Always remember that it is perfectly ‘OK’ to be accepting of others, even if they do not fit into what is stereotype right now or stereotypes of years gone by.
