We can all finds faults in ourselves that we may label as a “disability.” To those individuals who have significant disabilities, whether they be physical, mental or emotional, being disabled can feel like you are being negatively labeled. Others may view it as nothing more than a box that is checked on a form.
Before I started my graduate program, I was working with a group of young girls in my community. I was teaching various skills, helping to increase their knowledge about their culture, and helping them to improve the way they can conserve their environment. One particular girl stood out to me. Her mom addressed me before the school year started and she explained to me that while her daughter may appear to be disabled, she is not. She told me that her daughter is “differently-abled.” That while she may complete a task differently than the rest of the girls, she is still fully capable of doing most everything. She simply does it in her own way.
This was a turning point for me in how I looked at disabled, or as I now like to say, differently-abled individuals. Yes, there are those individuals who are severely impaired by their disabilities and will not be in any way able to achieve the same tasks as a neuro-typical individual. However, I have expanded my belief that there are many individuals, disabled individuals, who are simply differently-abled.
They can reach the same goals, they just may take a different path to get there. They may take more time, or look at the problem backwards rather than head-on. But they still get there. It is not up to me, or anyone really, to decide how a specific task should be accomplished. When each and every one of us does even the most simple of tasks differently. We do it with our own spin on it, our own style. That is how differently-abled individuals are taking on their life problems. They have their own style of doing it.
So I ask you all to consider this, and other similar situations:
The next time we see someone in a wheelchair at the grocery store shopping for food, do not believe that they are any less capable of making themselves a home-cooked meal. Do not judge them for what they can, or cannot do. They will be making their meal the best way that they can, with their limitations, with their style, and it will still be a home-cooked meal.
