BADD part 2!

The weekend is here and I finally have time to go and read everyone else's Blogging Against Disablism Day posts.

I will share some of the highlights (for me, at least) and my reactions here.

Ruth at Wheelie Catholic says "It [disablism] can even happen when you’re alone, when you’ve internalized the oppression." This really struck me. When I think of disablism, it's easy to point to substandard medical care, mean jokes, no ramps. I need to remember it's also about times when, alone in my house, I feel somewhat relieved by my able body. I am ashamed to admit that. Disablism isn't always mean, it's also pitying, ignorant, and privileged.

The post that has had the most impact on me was from Blue. She says

So where are the self-reflective posts by nondisabled folks about ability, bodily privilege, fear of people with cognitive disabilities, or even angst about becoming impaired? Where is the recognition of participating in and privileging from an ableist culture?

When I read that, it was a piercing indictment. Those are things I planned on talking about when I started this blog. But it was easier to just blog about the injustices in "the world." Representations in the media. Other people's ableism.

In college I took a class called "Developmental Disabilities and Self-Advocacy." I didn't know how good it would be because it was an online class, but as it turned out, I loved it. One of the activities we had to do was to rank hypothetical disabled and non-disabled people (someone with autism, a Deaf person, a sex offender, etc) in the order that we would want to meet, want to have our children play with, and want to be. In writing about this I said

"In choosing my disability I wanted to still have the capacity to communicate all of my feelings and needs, something I know I could do if I were Deaf, but not sure I could do if I had autism. I also would rather feel like I had “my own self.” I’m not sure how to explain this. But I wanted to have a clear idea of me."

Still today, I must admit, it is easier for me to talk about self-advocacy when we are talking about physical disabilities - although I understand it is equally necessary with cognitive disabilities. It's just with cognitive disabilities, I have more of a fear and less of an understanding. (Through reading a number of disability themed blogs, I have learned a lot.)

Now my close friend has a brain injury and a cognitive disability and I feel like a shitty person. After the accident I remember a conversation with another friend who said "It would really suck if he has to use a wheelchair." At that time we were in denial that the challenge would be bigger than walking. I was shocked by my friend's comment and thought (in self-rightousness) about how being in a wheelchair isn't the end of the world and that I wouldn't have a hard time dealing with disability. Now, 3 months later, I don't even want to think about how many times I have thought "If only you could talk. If only you could just communicate."

Disability and disablism have turned out to be more tricky than I thought. Soon I will put up a post I am working on about privilege and rehabilitation. I hope that others in the disability blogging community will read it and help

I haven't finished reading all the posts, so I might share something later. Although I am pretty exhausted by what I've read and pondered so far.