Category: Everyone has one
A few weeks ago, I accompanied Mom to Kroger’s grocery store to do a little shopping. We get to the checkout counter and as the cashier is ringing us up, she glances down at me over the groceries and says “Hello,” in which I respond back with a polite “Hi, how are you?”
Growing up with O.I. made me realize that I was different from everyone else around me but at the same time I didn’t care of how others perceived me as. My short body and shiny wheelchair didn’t faze me until I entered high school.
I guess many can say that high school was an eye-opening experience to the “real world” because that’s exactly what it was for me.
A physically disabled child is never on equal terms with his or her able-bodied peers. The other children are always able to do things that the physically disabled child cannot in the classroom: for instance, write with a pencil or pen.
I realize, of course, that Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) are designed to bridge this gap, however, the IEPs do not cover the little things that a child with physical disabilities is unable to do. It only focuses on the big picture and not the small. When a child gets frustrated because he or she takes twice as long to do science labs as the rest of the children, that is restricting. When, day in and day out, a child’s legs are sore because they are being shoved under tables that cannot fit their wheelchair, that is restricting.
Everybody knows the old cliché that says – the more things change, the more they stay the same. When I was young I always thought how it didn’t make any sense, but as I grew older I realised just exactly what it meant.
Especially in my country. Things changed drastically in South Africa over the past 15 years, yet these days the same old problems seem to pop up here and there, with an ironic twist.
The world is missing out on extraordinary talents. What is the source of these intentionally and unintentionally overlooked abilities? It is the dismissal of the passions, competencies, and experiences of people with disabilities.
I am not a disabled person, but I know a number of people who have been met with challenges in their lives due to injury or disease.
