ABLED

This blog is about reconciling the two worlds of disability understanding. On one side are the strong voices of activists in the disability community. On the other is the well meaning but naïve/ ignorant able bodied population who see disability as something pitiable. As an able bodied person who has realized the very compelling and interesting arguments about society and life coming from the disability community, I am compelled to referee the exchanges between the two sides. Often times it seems that everyone is speaking so loudly and with such great conviction that the other doesn't even listen. Since I am not personally motivated by either side, I can weigh both sides of the arguments and hopefully facilitate an open and accepting space for both sides to express themselves and learn about each other. Please join the discussion!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

More than Different

In my post earlier about the mayor of San Diego supporting gay marriage, I made the connection between sexuality and disability, that these are two groups being treated unjustly because of their difference from the mainstream. The point of the post was to illustrate the power of an elected official seeing beyond the difference in his constituents and supporting equal justice for all.

After a discussion with a reader, I wanted to air the opinion, that disabilities are not just a difference.

Rather what makes disabilities unique is that it is a limiting difference: Some characteristic about a person that renders them outside the norm of generally accepted and expected (tongue-twister) ability.

I’d be curious to hear from readers with disabilities to see what they think about this distinction. My expectation is that most readers would be proud to be more than just different. Thoughts?

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