Blogging Against Disabilism
So its half past ten on blog for disability day an my cunning plans for a post have gone out the window. I had intended to focus the post on the history of disability in Canada and devote some research to those like Tracy Latimer who have been murdered because of being disabled. I think that discussing our history as people with disability is important and being aware of the violence that we face is a terrifying but important part of that history.
Instead of doing the research today, I wound up doing next to nothing. I spent a good part of yesterday running errands. There was a doctor’s appointment and some books to return to the library and a meeting at the bank. By the end of the day I was exhausted.
So today dawns with the best of intentions. Only I’m still exhausted and the cold I thought I’d kicked is back. Simple things right? A cold isn’t a big deal and is gone in a couple of days. At least that’s how it works if your basically healthy. When you’re body is already run down from a dozen issues relating to your disabilitie(s) the cold that should take two days to shake, takes more like a week.
The same idea with recouping from a busy day. That busy day doesn’t take nearly as many tasks to qualify as busy and the recovery time takes significantly longer. Energy that an able bodied person might spend without thought becomes carefully hoarded.
The hardest part of talking about this is the fight not to apologise. All my life I’ve been told not to whine about how I feel or how tired I am. I’ve been told to make apologies for how I feel rather than respect them. So I won’t apologise for for whining here, but a part of me still wants to.
Instead of doing the research today, I wound up doing next to nothing. I spent a good part of yesterday running errands. There was a doctor’s appointment and some books to return to the library and a meeting at the bank. By the end of the day I was exhausted.
So today dawns with the best of intentions. Only I’m still exhausted and the cold I thought I’d kicked is back. Simple things right? A cold isn’t a big deal and is gone in a couple of days. At least that’s how it works if your basically healthy. When you’re body is already run down from a dozen issues relating to your disabilitie(s) the cold that should take two days to shake, takes more like a week.
The same idea with recouping from a busy day. That busy day doesn’t take nearly as many tasks to qualify as busy and the recovery time takes significantly longer. Energy that an able bodied person might spend without thought becomes carefully hoarded.
The hardest part of talking about this is the fight not to apologise. All my life I’ve been told not to whine about how I feel or how tired I am. I’ve been told to make apologies for how I feel rather than respect them. So I won’t apologise for for whining here, but a part of me still wants to.
posted by Disabled Giant | 6:51 PM
3 Comments:
You are not whining.
It is not whining to talk about how being disabled affects you. It's stating facts.
Yet for many, many years family, "friends", educators and others have told me that statements like this post are whining and I should stop and/or apologise for it.
That's not even getting into having the "super-crip" for a father.
I'd like to remind you that, as a Canadian, you have an inherent right to apologize for no good reason at all. We Americans have grown used to the sound of Canadians profusely apologizing for things they have no responsibility for. It all evens out, as we refuse to apologize for anything.
That said, I do think that Canadian "niceness" isn't serving the cause of inclusion and respect very well. Feel free to borrow as much righteous indignation and stubborn refusal to sit down and shut up from us as you wish. I'm in Texas, where the wells of pride and brashness never run dry, so don't worry about taking too much.
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