A while ago, I contributed to a small film for the NHS choices website. The film deals with living with a disability. Obviously, the Choices bit of the website seems a little rich as I don't remember being offered many choices, but I suppose how I cope with my life since my accident represents a series of choices.
It's a strange watch for me, especially as I still don't think of myself as 'disabled', even though I clearly am. This is probably indicative of my perceptions of disability from my 'old life', some of which I'm sure a are still knocking around in my head still.
My problem with being defined as disabled is one of my strengths. If it was a choice not to take on such a mantle, it was a good one. My expectations about how I am treated, what is made available to me along with everyone else and what I should expect from life are all based on being just like everybody else. All people should be treated like everybody else, but sadly this is often not the case.
In some ways, having a few 'arsey so-and-so's with high expectations like me out there may at least help to keep people on their toes. I'm always happy to get on people's toes, myself.
I hope that what has changed is that I am now more likely to treat everyone as 'normal'. I don't think I did too badly before my accident, but I must confess to feeling a little uncomfortable sometimes.
On the other hand, there are people who seem to have embraced the disability label so comprehensively that they seem content to disadvantage themselves.
At the supermarket yesterday, I watched a man drive past several empty unrestricted parking bays directly outside the doors only to park in a disabled bay further away, even though he didn't need the wider space. I would love to see some supermarkets provide wider bays further away from the doors to prevent people from being tempted to park in them out of laziness.
It's a strange watch for me, especially as I still don't think of myself as 'disabled', even though I clearly am. This is probably indicative of my perceptions of disability from my 'old life', some of which I'm sure a are still knocking around in my head still.
My problem with being defined as disabled is one of my strengths. If it was a choice not to take on such a mantle, it was a good one. My expectations about how I am treated, what is made available to me along with everyone else and what I should expect from life are all based on being just like everybody else. All people should be treated like everybody else, but sadly this is often not the case.
In some ways, having a few 'arsey so-and-so's with high expectations like me out there may at least help to keep people on their toes. I'm always happy to get on people's toes, myself.
I hope that what has changed is that I am now more likely to treat everyone as 'normal'. I don't think I did too badly before my accident, but I must confess to feeling a little uncomfortable sometimes.
On the other hand, there are people who seem to have embraced the disability label so comprehensively that they seem content to disadvantage themselves.
At the supermarket yesterday, I watched a man drive past several empty unrestricted parking bays directly outside the doors only to park in a disabled bay further away, even though he didn't need the wider space. I would love to see some supermarkets provide wider bays further away from the doors to prevent people from being tempted to park in them out of laziness.
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