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snowy · 07-31-2008, 08:06 AM

I grew up around my maternal grandfather, who was crippled in an accident when he was 2 or 3 (he fell from the top of a slide at a playground). He spent a number of years in a full body cast alone in a hospital in Seattle, far from his parents, while the doctors tried to fix him. Despite being a cripple, he had a very adventurous life--when he was younger, he ran away and joined the circus, tended bar for his dad in one of my great-grandfather's taverns, and told the craziest stories about goings-on in the taverns. A lot of people weren't willing to employ someone like my grandfather, and this was long before the Americans with Disabilities Act. His own parents refused to send him to electricians' trade school because they thought he couldn't do it (and they absolutely had the money to do so). He totally could have done it. He never believed he was handicapped, and he always believed he was capable of doing what any other man could do. When my mother was a little girl, he worked three jobs as a janitor to make ends meet, cleaning morning, noon, and night at various doctor's offices. Finally, he got a job as a janitor at Boeing, started making good money, and actually was able to retire quite comfortably. Above all else, he taught me that people with disabilities are no different from others, and he also taught me that a great number of people who are disabled don't see themselves as such. They are fully capable, intelligent, beautiful people--and they deserve to be treated as such.

Yes, they absolutely know why people recoil from them. And they pity anyone who does so, believe it or not. I pity people that treat them this way too. They're missing out on a chance to know some of the best people I've ever known. But Xazy, you are right--the more you get to know them, the easier it is to not think about them as being disabled or different, because once you know them, it's easy to think about what makes them special and your friend instead.

07-31-2008, 08:06 AM	#8 (permalink)
snowy Kick Ass Kunoichi Location: Oregon	I grew up around my maternal grandfather, who was crippled in an accident when he was 2 or 3 (he fell from the top of a slide at a playground). He spent a number of years in a full body cast alone in a hospital in Seattle, far from his parents, while the doctors tried to fix him. Despite being a cripple, he had a very adventurous life--when he was younger, he ran away and joined the circus, tended bar for his dad in one of my great-grandfather's taverns, and told the craziest stories about goings-on in the taverns. A lot of people weren't willing to employ someone like my grandfather, and this was long before the Americans with Disabilities Act. His own parents refused to send him to electricians' trade school because they thought he couldn't do it (and they absolutely had the money to do so). He totally could have done it. He never believed he was handicapped, and he always believed he was capable of doing what any other man could do. When my mother was a little girl, he worked three jobs as a janitor to make ends meet, cleaning morning, noon, and night at various doctor's offices. Finally, he got a job as a janitor at Boeing, started making good money, and actually was able to retire quite comfortably. Above all else, he taught me that people with disabilities are no different from others, and he also taught me that a great number of people who are disabled don't see themselves as such. They are fully capable, intelligent, beautiful people--and they deserve to be treated as such. Yes, they absolutely know why people recoil from them. And they pity anyone who does so, believe it or not. I pity people that treat them this way too. They're missing out on a chance to know some of the best people I've ever known. But Xazy, you are right--the more you get to know them, the easier it is to not think about them as being disabled or different, because once you know them, it's easy to think about what makes them special and your friend instead. __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau Last edited by snowy; 07-31-2008 at 08:08 AM..