Every single person in the entire world will be disabled at some point in their life.
I am referring to the broadest form of disability - you are holding a baby, you are temporarily disabled because you have only one or no hands available. You break your ankle, you are temporarily disabled because you can’t walk on it without crutches for a period of time.
Do you wear glasses? You are technically disabled without them.
I was disabled for a time after my surgery. I couldn’t do most of the things I’d been able to do in the past and had to work to get back to a more normal place. I’m still not 100%, but working on it daily.
The reason my job exists is due to disability. I help people have access to information, or I help people hear what is being said. The entire reason this access is available to so many is because of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA.
The ADA was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by George H.W. Bush. There is a long history leading up to the passage of this law which include the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as advances in science allowed people to live longer with a disability. I love modern medical science. Without it, I’m not sure where I’d be right now or if I’d have the same prognosis as I have. It’s the same for many disabilities - science has advanced to a point where people are living longer with diseases and disabilities that were death warrants in the past.
I recommend you meet some of these people or at least listen to them. The biggest issue I run into with ‘normal’ people is their assumption that if someone has a severe disability that there is something wrong with their mind as well.
This assumption couldn’t be further from the truth.
I work with people who are way smarter than I am every day. Doctors, scientists, engineers - people building the future - and some of them just happen to be Deaf or need assistance for any number of reasons. Some days it’s a person with autism who just sees the world differently than I do.
I always find the differences beautiful. We all may suffer through varying degrees of tragedy or hardship, but it is important to also see the beauty. Be patient. Be kind.
I’m still pretty much on quarantine, but I am not complaining and I am not upset. There are people I have worked with that this is their life. Maybe they have an autoimmune disorder and can’t even risk getting sick normally or they need assistance to go anywhere or do anything. Think about that for a moment. The freedoms so many of us take for granted - jump in the car and go! - are not available for a substantial population. Your grocery store pickup? Disabled people have been using that since it came into existence because they couldn’t risk or were unable to navigate the store.
There are many, many things that we take for granted today that were created and designed for people with disabilities after the ADA was passed. Curb cuts, automatic doors, and more ramps come to mind.
So, my ask today is that if you are creating something please think if it is accessible. Are you putting art online? Provide an alt tag so that a screenreader user can know what your beautiful piece is about. Are you making a video? Caption it! I’m not opposed to auto captions, but please go back and fix them so they’re better. If you’re building something, make it accessible. If something is already there, can you make it accessible? If you can’t, could you do a virtual tour of it?
Think outside the box. If we all take care of each other and lift each other up, we will succeed. Life shouldn’t be about being in competition with anyone except yourself. What can you do to be better? I think if we all just stopped being so focused on what’s mine and is it better than yours? - we’d realize that if everyone has some measure of success, we all will be better off.