Check Out the Ability in Disability

Crippled. Handicapped. Disabled. Retarded. Deaf and Dumb. Impaired.

Can we toss those aside?

Nothing is more disabling to a person with a disability than the attitudes and physical barriers that surround us. Some may even take offense with my choice of the word disability, but I believe the phrase "person with a disability" emphasizes the person first and doesn't focus solely on the disability.

Historically, persons with disabilities have often been shunned or placed in homes and shielded from society. In the last 50 years, we've seen a wonderful movement taking shape-- that of the independent living movement by and for people with disabilities. As a result of that movement, several laws have sprung up on the state and federal levels, and people with disabilities have moved into the forefront of society. Laws such as the Americans With Disabilities Act have been motivational in breaking down barriers in the environment that keep people with disabilities from achieving independence.

However, despite the laws that are in place, we still have barriers to overcome. One of the biggest barriers is attitude. As Jo Waldron, www.ableplanet.com, states, "The worst barrier in the world is attitude." In areas of employment, it is difficult for people with disabilities to find a level playing field. If an employer has the choice between two equally qualified employees and one has a disability, you'll likely find the other person getting the job.

My husband and I are deaf and we are raising three kids with varying degrees of hearing loss. There are some people who feel we ought to stop having kids because horror of all horrors "you wouldn't want to bring ANOTHER deaf child into the world, would you?" This was the attitude expressed by Alexander Graham Bell, the same guy who gave us the telephone. He felt strongly that deaf people should not marry other deaf people and populate the world with more deaf children. Little did he know, that 90% of deaf couples do not have deaf or hard of hearing children, it's 90% of hearing couples that do. This is the very attitude that perpetuates the myth that children with disabilities are imperfect or abnormal. That children with disabilities need to be "fixed" as much as possible, so that they can be as "normal" as possible.

Which brings me to the point of my title-- to focus on the ability of the child or person with a disability. I can't tell you how many times I've seen parents receive a "diagnosis" of their child that was extremely negative and then the child goes on to develop a level of achievement that was thought to not be possible. I have a friend who is a family doctor and she's deaf. Another friend who has cerebral palsy and she's the director of a local organization. Imagine what could happen if we could replace the "pity" attitude with a "can do" attitude-- a lot of barriers would fall by the wayside.

I worked in an Independent Living Center for five years and I had the opportunity to meet people that would be described as having severe disabilities, yet, these individuals were working full time and living a full life. The key to independence is to break down the attitudes and environmental barriers that prevent people with disabilities from achieving their full potential. Ramps, curb cuts, elevators, wide doorways, automated doors, braille, interpreters, personal assistants, employers without bias-- I could go on and on. Those are the tools of independence.

I hope someday to wake up to a world where every entrance has a ramp, every program is closed-captioned, and every person has an attitude of acceptance and equality towards people with disabilities.

Maybe I won't have to keep dreaming!