On Ableism, A Term That is New to Me.

I want to blog about “ableism” because it is a term with which I have just recently become familiar, but a phenomenon that greatly affects the disabled community of which I am obviously a member.  As a disclaimer, I will remind my readers that I speak for myself. If you think my thoughts are stupid, please, feel free to let me know by clicking here, but do not paint all disabled people with my brush. If they knew enough about me, they might dislike the color.

Anyway, like a good student I will begin by defining ableism for you, or rather I will copy paste a couple definitions here.  Hey, this isn't a real assignment.

Wikipedia says:

the assumptions underlying the medical model of disability amongst many clinicians, the "ableist" societal world-view is that the able-bodied are the norm in society, and that people who have disabilities must either strive to become that norm or should keep their distance from able-bodied people. A disability is thus, inherently, a "bad" thing that must be overcome. The ableist worldview holds that disability is an error, a mistake, or a failing, rather than a simple consequence of human diversity

  Merriam Webster says:

Discrimination or prejudice against individuals with disabilities

I suppose I had not heard of the term before the year or so because, previously I had just called it asinine.

 In any case, if a partially-skilled writer combined these two definitions they could say:

Ableism is the misguided attitude that people with disabilities must either attempt to be exactly like those without disabilities or stay away from them, which leads to discrimination against the disabled. …Right? I tried!

 Notice, in my explanation, I did not comment on whether or not my disability was a mistake.  It is pretty apparent to me that it was. A medical professional fucked up...No doctor ever wants to  deprive a newborn of oxygen. That’s an error, plain and simple.  This doesn't mean it wasn’t what people call a happy accident, but I do not think I am turning on my fellow disabled people by admitting that I do not subscribe to the idea that near death experiences are meant to be.

  

I’ll also admit to having ableist history. I have spent most of my almost 24 years of life striving to do everything able-bodied women do. I have run out of breathe trying to keep up with able-bodied friends and family. I wanted to accomplish those things, I had to work hard. I can be pretty sluggish and without my CP I’m sure I would have been lazier.  One could make a case (as I do) that striving to be like everyone else did me some good. That is, in my mind, one of the many reasons I consider my disability a happy accident.

Where I think ableism does become a problem is that  makes those of us who live with disabilities ashamed. Phrases like “My son has Autism, but you can hardly tell,” and “Cathleen has CP, but she’s totally normal,” put into our heads that a condition that we can do absolutely nothing to change, is something we should hide.  Struggling to camouflage the atypical parts of oneself every day certainly does psychological damage… It certainly makes it more difficult to believe you are capable of achievement. Therefore, what society dreads, they create. Many people with disabilities are too embarrassed to put themselves out there.  Beyond that though, it lies to us. The traits that disabilities bring people are not shameful, they are unique…. And in a world where everybody is attempting to set themselves apart from the crowd that is a wonderful thing! Perhaps, the others are jealous?