Watch this video. It’s really cool.
Perhaps the one negative reaction I had is that I don’t agree with removing the word disabled or disability.
An interesting story about why… Last summer when I met up with my friends, Dave and Joe, after not seeing them in some forty-five years, Dave told us of how he and Joe had recently gone to a play about full inclusion. After the play ended, Dave made a point of working his way up to the playwright and told her that he was greatly offended that they had removed the word disabled. He explained that his disability is a part of who he is, and denying it is denying a part of himself.
I thought much about that conversation and since I’ve come to completely agree with Dave, for this reason:
A person may say “I am a black woman.” “I am a Chinese man.” “I am an Indigenous teenager.” “I am a Canadian.” and that’s perfectly acceptable to say. It shows you’re proud of who you are and you are comfortable being who you are.
But if I say ” I am a disabled woman,” that gets a negative reaction and I am urged not to say that – that I’m “putting [myself] down.” It’s outright objected to.
Why? Why is it so vehemently objected to?
As one of my former attendants said about herself:
“I don’t go around saying that I have a sexual orientation challenge. Nor do I say that I have an alternate sexual type. I say, I’m gay! Dammit!… and I’m proud of it!”
