Friends Sometimes Don't Believe My Disability

[Ruth]

Instead of being worried people might not understand I tried telling a good friend. She was like 'oh ok'. And that's it!! No great conflict or scorn. the spanish inquisition didn't arrive . It was fine!

I feel so much better!! I may even just tell the people on my course. AAARgh no too scary.!

Who was it that said you have nothing to fear but fear itself? Maybe they were right!!
Oh well on wards and upwards

[Hermionefan5]

Who was it that said you have nothing to fear but fear itself? Maybe they were right!!

That was FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) great American president of WWII. Thanks for the advice, Ruth! I have told my friends and they have still accepted me for me. That is what I think makes a true friend.

[david456]

Can the word disabled by dropped Please. It gives a stigma and labels to people. It is too over used. This is the definitons taken directly from the internet.
Governments are labelling, look at the second definiton.

incapacitated by injury or illness
people who are crippled or otherwise physically handicapped; "technology to help the elderly and the disabled"
so badly injured as to be unable to continue; "disabled veterans"
www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

The term "disability", as it is applied to humans, refers to any condition that impedes the completion of daily tasks using traditional methods. National governments and global humanitarian agencies have narrowed this definition for their own purposes, only pledging aid to those with specific disabilities of a certain severity.

[Hermionefan5]

I agree, David. I see what you are saying. It does not bring out the whole person by saying disabled, but there are disability laws here in the US that really do help people. I think they need to have a label because then people would disregard the law. These laws are helpful to those in need of services, such as testing services that I use. Although I don't like the label and feel it is degrading, I also feel it helps when it comes to getting a job or getting ahead in school when normally some people might not be able to. People really should just treat everyone the same so we don't have to have this kind of help, but I really do not think that is possible in such an imperfect world. So, that is where the labels come in. It's all about acceptance, except no one is really accepted, not even the people who are not under this law. <_<

[slinky_malinki]

According to the Disability Discrimination Act, a person with a disability is someone who has 'a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.' By that definition, I am disabled. My dyspraxia is so severe that I once lay down on the floor to avoid being crushed by some funfair rockets that were whirling in the air above me. I was petrified; I thought they were going to slice off my head. In actual fact, they were about ten metres above me. That happened when I was eleven or twelve. The world is full of dangerous perceptual distortions. It is very difficult for me to go outside alone, for fear of encountering one of these nightmarish optical illusions.

The word 'disability' itself does not carry a stigma. Prejudice isn't locked in language - it is spawned by people's minds. I am not ashamed to be disabled, and I think that society should be educated about hidden handicaps so that everyone can understand that a condition like dyspraxia (even severe dyspraxia) isn't a life sentence. It can even be a gift. I highly doubt whether my verbal skills would be as sharp as they are if it weren't for dyspraxia.

If I were given the opportunity to become 'normal', I wouldn't take it. I am comfortable with who I am, and I don't see myself as being particularly disadvantaged. Everyone has their difficulties. Mine just happen to have a name, dyspraxia, and that puts me way ahead of most other people out there! All the same, I can't pretend that I don't have huge difficulties with the most basic of tasks. This morning, for example, I took a shower, got dressed, and read a book. Once I had finished reading, I dreamily wandered into the bathroom to take my morning shower. I got into the shower cubicle fully clothed, and was halfway through shampooing my hair when a sense of deja vu washed over me...

Things like this happen every day. Occasionally I do enjoy a good luxurious wallow in self-pity, but most of the time I am optimistically practical.

[slinky_malinki]

Fear is more pain than the pain it fears. - William Shakespeare. I think Shakespeare said it all and the rest of us can only parrot it back!

[Hermionefan5]

My English teacher taught us all to love Shakespeare. He loved him so much that there were posters of Shakespeare In Love and a lifesize poster in his room, as well as many others. He explained Hamlet better than anyone I know, and I learned to love that play!! I believe Shakespeare was a very smart person and his plays have seemed to foreshadow some future stuff even. They are very deep.

[david456]

hated working on Shakespeare, surely a book is written to be enjoyed, not to be analysed for hidden meanings and interpretations, what about other authors of his day, i'm sure there are many, but you never hear of them. I just disagree with looking for meanings that we don't even know are there.