When I get to know people I often disclose that I have Cerebral Palsy for shock value. Two possible reactions usually follow. One is masked or open confusion from people who don’t know what CP is. The other is disbelief from those that do. I have no obvious signs of CP. I move around the office, carry boxes, run on an elliptical, jump rope, and even used to ride a bike as a kid. Unless you get into a flexibility and balance contest with me, the only things you may notice are two small scars on my calves.
Why do I shock people with such a personal detail about myself? Sometimes I do it to assess how accepting they are, sometimes I do it to see how aware they are, and sometimes I do it to get people to open up about themselves.
As a child they called me a walking miracle, and I naively and pompously thought that I could be an inspiration and a leader to children like me- children with disabilities. What I have found many a times was envy from parents who’s children were not as lucky as I. I also noticed that children or adults with disabilities do not want to be noticed. The drive to compensate for their limitations and to achieve “normal” or productive lives is not something many people with limitations have.
When I came to America at the age of sixteen I have encountered the “let’s make them comfortable” approach with which the physically disabled are treated. As long as a person is given a wheel chair and medicine he is considered assisted. As long as Law Suits are won and financial aid is given, we can count ourselves humane and accepting. Very little is done to really integrate people with disabilities and other limitations into society. Very little is done to inspire them and put a spot light on their heroes.
Regardless of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and any other laws put in place since then, small businesses have no real incentives to hire those whose disabilities are obvious to the general public. Recreational events and organizations that promote inclusion for adults with disabilities could be counted on one hand.
At the end of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, there was a ten minute special on Para – Olympics. I was looking forward to finding out about my type of heroes, only to be disappointed by a two sentence mention of the opening, during the Nightly News. Olympic medals in wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball or goalball are in no way less deserved then those in conventional teem sports, yet we didn’t see that on ESPN. The record in swimming among those missing a limb deserves no less recognition then medals won by Michael Felps, yet nobody cares that an American 18 year old named Roy Perkins won Men's 100m Freestyle in S5 category in Para-Olympic Games of 2008.
To me, running or cycling on prosthetics, or finding a ball by the sound it makes on the game floor is more remarkable, but I know that those heroes are the heroes of the few. They are heroes to those with disabilities and their families.
Most people don’t know the difference between the Special Olympics and the Para- Olympics. Those that do, may donate to a few organizations to show support, but will most likely find Para-Olympic sports difficult to stomach. That kind of entertainment forces us to notice mistakes of nature and mistakes of men in equal measure. It reminds us of our immortality, vulnerability and uniqueness. It may even force us to put ourselves in the shoes of those who face adversity.
In my childhood I was frequently exposed to children with physical and mental challenges. I have always found them to be equals members of some nameless team. Yet, during this month, working on the National Employees with Disabilities Awareness Committee, I have realized how much I have forgotten. By a lucky coincidence I have scheduled a procedure, which now prevents me from using a foot for six weeks. So, this month I am finding out first hand, what it is like to compensate for a part of your body that doesn’t function, what it is like to need wheelchair access, and what it is like to ask for help to do things that usually don’t deserve a second thought.
This experience reminded me that disabled people are usually very resourceful and often genius, when it comes to alternative ways to do things. It resurrected in my memory many a home made wheelchairs, ramps and support mechanisms that parents have made in the absence of something better. I have recalled how easily those devices became props for comedy routines, musical instruments, and athletic equipment, when those using them were among friends.
Being reminded of this enormous capacity to succeed, makes it even more difficult for me to comprehend why people with disabilities are still a minority that is “in the closet “the most. We are a minority that hides from the spotlight, and hides our uniqueness the most. We are the minority that will ask for help last, for the fear of exclusion on the basis of our limited abilities. And with the growing number of war and natural disaster related injuries we are a minority in denial.
My time in the work place while using a scooter to compensate for my foot, had partially answered my question. Many people were ready and eager to help me, while they could see my assisting device. Most, however, had no recollection of my limitations while my device was hidden under a table, and I looked like every other desk job employee. As the result I had to ask for help, in so reminding people of my condition.
As someone who will regain my mobility in a few weeks, I can brush off this experience as an inconvenience. I do, however understand a lot better now, that it is much easier to remain in the circle of those who remember your strengths and weaknesses at all times, and will not feel uneasy about them. It is also a lot safer to keep your chronic conditions confidential, then to make them a slogan for worthy causes.
And finally it is a lot easier to look the other way, then to see the possibilities in those with disabilities.
So, I volunteered for this committee to disclose once again, that I have Cerebral Palsy, and to prove to my self more then to anyone else, that I was right in picking Itzhak Perlman for inspiration, and Josh Blue for Last Comic Standing. And just maybe I will live to see the day when my kind of heroes will be the heroes of the majority. I know I can do something everyday to bring that day closer, and so can everyone else.
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