A critical discussion about the disability rights movement
Friday, July 20, 2007
Befriending People with Disabilities
This was a really interesting post from WHEELIE CATHOLIC. A beautiful personal story that highlights a lot of interesting issues. See my comments. How do you befriend a person with a disability without being motivated by their disability?
I think the key here is that your MOTIVATION shouldn't be the person's disability...but you can still be interested/curious about that aspect of them because it's something unique about them (so it's natural) and also the person may embrace their disability as part of their cultural identity. Just as many African Americans would be offended if someone said, "I don't even think of you as black.", it is NOT a compliment when people tell me, "I don't even think of you as disabled." I understand I'm asking for a balance there but it's truly not THAT difficult.
Interesting perspective for a blog. If you have a blog roll, would love to join. My site is www.karasheridan.com and I blog mostly about disability issues too.
I think the key here is that your MOTIVATION shouldn't be the person's disability...but you can still be interested/curious about that aspect of them because it's something unique about them (so it's natural) and also the person may embrace their disability as part of their cultural identity. Just as many African Americans would be offended if someone said, "I don't even think of you as black.", it is NOT a compliment when people tell me, "I don't even think of you as disabled."
ReplyDeleteI understand I'm asking for a balance there but it's truly not THAT difficult.
Interesting perspective for a blog. If you have a blog roll, would love to join. My site is www.karasheridan.com and I blog mostly about disability issues too.
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