Disability?

Have you ever listened to the radio show, This American Life? I 'd heard it a time or two in the past on public radio, but it's now available in podcast format. I've been downloading each new episode and enjoying them. If you've never listened to it, the producers pick a theme and offer different variations on that theme throughout the show. This morning I listened to the re-broadcast of an old episode from 2007 called Special Ed. In many ways the show was just like you'd expect, but simultaneously not what you'd expect either. You should follow the link and check it out.

I can't stop thinking about it.

As a younger woman, I walked around with the unconscious assumption that the way I experienced the world was the way that all "normal" people experienced it. I've since realized it isn't true -- at all. Different people have different temperaments and experiences that shape them. I found that out when one of my best friends and I discovered personality type assessments. We started going around figuring out if people were primarily melancholy or choleric, introverts or extroverts, judgers or perceivers. Every person faces his or her own challenges and must learn to deal with different strengths and weaknesses. It's so easy to forget that truth when we are confronted with other people, especially when the differences between us are glaringly dramatic.

One of my friends posted a link on his Facebook wall a few days ago. It was an article I'd already seen on our local news website. The article highlighted budget cuts for group homes here in our area and explained how people would be returned to families unequipped to help them, which could lead to higher instances of institutionalization for the disabled.

I met this friend a few years ago as his mentor. He has since become a successful teacher of students with special needs. While he was supposed to be learning from me, I learned even more from him. He has spent a lot of time working with people in the Deaf community. That's capitalized because it is a cultural distinction. The Deaf have their own language after all -- American Sign Language.  My friend introduced me to a completely different perspective. Did you know there is controversy in the Deaf community about cochlear implants? I didn't until my friend brought me a documentary called  Sound and Fury. I had no idea. His influence over me didn't stop there. He told me I should read a book called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, so I did. I found myself thinking about what life is like for an autistic person. The book helped, but I still had trouble wrapping my mind around it.

I've been lucky enough to have a wide-ranging, diverse group of people in my life. Listening to that podcast this morning got me thinking about how much richer my life is and has been because of the people others might say have a "disability."

I know a young man who loves Halloween, and although we are nearly the same age gets more excited about Trick or Treating than anyone. He's also still upset about the Lincoln assassination and will tell you about it if you let him. When I encounter kids with special needs in my job, I never fail to be amazed at how open, loving, and honest they are. I wish I could be more like them. They will come right up to you and say, "I have autism." Who' do they need to impress? When they ask me how I am or what I have been doing, they actually wait to hear the answer. How many "normal" people do you know that don't really care about others? When I see them, all this love and tenderness wells up inside me, and I'm truly glad to know them. My life is better because of them.

Storycorps is a website dedicated to storytelling in the most basic, everyday sense. I'll have to write about it more on another day because I love the site and the whole idea. Anyway, here's a video from their special collection. Please watch it.

What did you think? I hope it touched you. It did me when I first saw it.

Today I'm writing about people with differences for a reason. First, I hope you think about them in a new way. I really appreciate the good they offer to the world and hope you do too.

Second, I want to motivate you. For the most part people with disabilities can't advocate or even do simple things for themselves. They need us to help out.

We are living in a time of economic hardship. It seems like everyone is worried about being overlooked or doing without. Check out any media source. I'm afraid that disabled people don't have equal footing in the debate about money and resources.

The first thing to do is to get informed; then speak out accordingly whether that means talking to other people about it or casting a vote you think will help. That's what I plan to do. The second thing to do, and I think this is more important than the first, is to be aware of the people around you in your community. If you see someone who needs help, reach out.

Families taking care of people with special needs are contending with a lot. I believe that's what community should be about -- helping our neighbors. Take a special needs person to the movies, to church, or invite them over for dinner to give his or her family a break. If you can't do those things, take the time to talk to them. Build a relationship. What to know a secret? Any connection you make with them will be more of a blessing to you than it is to them. I promise.