My Labels Are Not What You Think They Are

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?