OK, troops, we need to talk. See this picture? *points up* I
cobbled it together with Photoshop last night. Recently, I have had people come
up to me and say, "Oh, you're disabled too! We have so much in
common!" I've had people do this before (including one woman at Ithaca who
approached me out of nowhere and asked me if I was hydrocephalic. Excuse me, do
I know you?), and while before it was annoying, now, it's unacceptable. Three
of these people live in my building. A fourth was in one of my classes at SUNY
Potsdam and lives in SL, so I often see him around town. "I'm
hydrocephalic, too!" Um...ok? I mean, I have to be mindful of it,
especially since I now have a magnet in my brain, but dude...wow. All four of
the people in question - their disability is their entire life and their
identity. They are disabled first and foremost. I AM NOT. I am especially not
developmentally disabled. That's an insult. Stop it. And I mentioned this in my
sermon. I am a Christian. I am a sports fan. I am a pet owner. I'm a college
graduate, a seminary student, a future pastor/urban ministry worker, a future
resident of the city of Pittsburgh. I love to read, listen to music, watch
movies, bake, work out, do jigsaw puzzles, play Nintendo. I can do a lot of the
same things "everyone else" can do. If I even remotely think I can do
something, it's getting done. I don't focus on what I can't do. Self-advocacy
does not mean making your disability your entire life. You make it your entire
life, that's all people will see. How can you not expect people to label you
when you have already labeled yourself?
