Did you catch last weekends Saturday Night Live’s skit spoofing Gov. David Paterson of New York State? If you didn’t see it, maybe you have been hearing all the noise that has followed in its wake.

My take is that this is good news for people with disabilities. Think about it, a blind guy is Governor of New York State …An”openly blind” guy…Governor of NY! Plus, the guy has enough cache to merit a skit on SNL. Well, we have arrived!

It’s easy to forget the fact that we have already had a disabled person in high office. Then however every effort was made to hide the fact that the President of the United States of America, FDR, could hardly walk. Somehow a disability showed weakness, so it was painstakingly hidden. Today the disability of a public servant is not hidden. We have come so far in fact, that it’s acceptable fodder for a comedy skit. Or, it should be acceptable fodder, but we still have some raw nerves it seems. Too bad.

My only beef with the skit is that it just wasn’t that funny. Funny would have been if the Governor showed up and spoofed himself.

It’s too bad that Paterson jumped right into “outrage” before consider the situation from many angles. The same goes for The Federation for the Blind and other disability advocacy organizations. We had the chance to say, it’s great that we are at a place that it’s alright to poke fun at someone specific who has a disability. His character was not being attacked, his accomplishment as a guy in the public eye was being exploited. Haven’t we been aiming for equal access? He wasn’t selling pencils on street corners in New York City, we was holding a graph on the economy upside down. It wasn’t super funny but it was not degrading.

Take the risk and express your HONEST thoughts on this. I would love to hear what you have to say.

It’s a good perspective check as more and more people are worrying about their futures. Those who can best learning to adapt and grow are our trail blazers right now. The life mantra for successful people who have a disability has really always been “adapt and grow”

Here’s the post, let me know what you think:

I think there’s a lot to be learned from bearing witness to how social media has been changing the lives of people with disabilities. Considering able-bodied people’s lives are being crippled by a scary economic climate, it might be very timely to see what your gimpy population has been up to. The disabled have long sought methods to get ourselves, our strengths and our contributions through our own front doors. Computers with adaptive technology, along with the power of social media, have been a piece of the passport we’ve been seeking.

We find that we have the power to open our own doors. Social media with its speak at your own pace nature means people who could not have easily been a part of the conversation are now important contributors. Biases and distractions concerning our manner, wheelchairs, service dogs or white canes are not distracting you from
our words, creativity and ability.

Social media is becoming more and more barrier free, we are easily going where ever we want to go. While many see their lives as narrowing because of the economy, people with disabilities are going through a time of liberation, easily traveling around the world every time we power up our computer.

I am not suggesting we all stay in our living rooms and click away our days. I am saying that there is much more that is possible than impossible. It’s important to see that the world has not closed its doors to you just because your employer’s doors have.

Rachel

I recently posed the above question “do we need adversity to grow” on disaboom.com, a web based community that is “connecting the millions touched by disability.” 

Here’s my post to disaboom.

Here’s a question I’ve been thinking a lot about recently:

“Do we need adversity to grow?”

Below are some some of the comments I’ve recieved and my responses to them.  I would love for you to share your thoughts as well. 

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d wrote: I suppose I’ve always believed the adage “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” Not necessarily in the physical sense, but in the sense of developing inner strength, to be able to mentally and emotionally deal with all that life has to offer, both good and bad.

Rachel: At first I had the thought that every experience, thoughtfully evaluated, has within it the power to help use grow. Then I thought, it’s been the more challenging experances, and the times in which I’ve stuck my neck out in the pursuit of something meaningful to me that has shaped me as a person the most.

So as much as I would like to think that adage is silly, I think there really is something to it d.

d: I’ve had my share of adversity, and if you compared me to a tree, I suppose my trunk would look scarred and burned in places, my branches twisted and misshapen, some pruned off completely. But, a tree that is still managing to stand, nonetheless. I also believe that some trees that may not be as physically strong as others can still thrive and grow stronger with the help of the surrounding trees that help to protect them when things are too harsh, or provide “leaning posts” to keep them from falling. Of course, in this analogy, the surrounding trees would be loved ones/caregivers, assistance devices, and faith.

R: So wonderfully expressed!

d: The tree analogy makes an excellent one. Have you ever seen a tree or plant grown in zero gravity,away from natural light and normal surroundings? They grow in peculiar shapes, often stunted and never blooming or reaching anything like their full potential. They are grown in a vacuum, with no outside influences or forces to help them develop. I’d compare this to a person that becomes withdrawn and reclusive, keeping only to him or herself, without contact by “outside forces” (people, life and everyday experiences in general) that might nurture them into something more.

R: Interestingly a tree that stands alone is much more vulnerable than a tree in a forest. Maybe we need some kind of balance of adversity and security.

d: As a person, and not a tree, I personally feel that I need to be challenged on occasion, just to keep my muscles toned in order to face the big winds. Then again, she whined to all who would listen, I don’t want it always to be difficult. It would be nice to just be able to coast once in a while, too, and not have even the simplest thing turn into an all-week project.

R: Boy do I hear you there! “I want to grow to my fullest potential, but I sure wish it didn’t have to hurt any.”

d: Interesting topic, by the way. I’m looking forward to reading the other responses!

R: Thanks me too!

I also wonder, if we don’t have “adversity” tossed in our laps, do people go and seek it? You know like with extreme sports or drug use. I know substance abuse can be used for a pain-killer. And we all seeming to agree it’s in part the pain that makes us strong.

But I wonder, do you suppose that some people use drugs more as a pain creator? I don’t know.

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T wrote: I was watching the Matrix again for the first time in years the other night (to lazy to go rent something newer, I suppose) and was struck by some of the dialogue: Agent Smith said that the first version of their world had been a disaster because everything was perfect and that the second version was much better because it had pain and suffering and that people somehow needed the pain and suffering. I thought that was very interesting.

R: I love when a topic like this and popular culture come together in the the same mixing bowl. Thanks for the great example T.

T: Looking at it from that angle raises a companion question to the one you asked: Is it possible to grow to one’s fullest potential without ever experiencing pain/suffering/adversity? I’m not sure that it is.

R: I’m not sure it is either. Heck, think about it, doctors whack us on our behinds to get us to breath. It starts early.

T: Perhaps adversity is part of the human condition and without it we’d be incomplete.

R: Right like d said, like the trees that grew in zero gravity without some kind of adversity.

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Seems like my blog post only be so long, so I’ll create a second one with more of the disaboom comments.

Answer this simple question.

What’s your favorite color? 

Sounds silly? 

It is!

Answer it anyway, because it can be fun too.

Post your answer on comments.  If you don’t know how to comment on a blog click here

(…And no, I have not run out of things to talk about on my blog)

I’ll be back to ask the next part of the question ON TUESDAY!

Next Teleconference

THIS SATURDAY!!

Just a reminder, my next teleconference is:

April 26

3:00 – 4:00 PM EDT

There are a few “seats” left for Saturday’s call. If you’re interested in participating, fill out the form on the contact page by 9:00 PM EDT this Friday April 25.

Once I get your email I’ll send you the phone number and access code you’ll need to join in the conversation.  After you have done this once you’ll automatically be informed of all future calls.

There is no charge for the teleconference, except what your long distance carrier charges for a call.

The Call

The conference call is set up in an informal question and answer format. Saturday’s conversation uses Anais Nin’s quote,  “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom,” as a topic starter.
You may want to take a few notes.  If note taking is difficult for you, please let me know before the start of the call.

Below I explain a little about white canes and their use. I also talk about my own cane “Able” and why I use him.

There are different techniques that are used with the cane to accomplish tasks such as going up or down stairs, navigating escalators, finding doorways, helping to find dropped objects, and many other things.

I do not use that tapping method you most likely think of when you think of someone using a white cane. With that method, the cane taps the spot where the next foot step will land. Giving the user important information as to what they can expect as they move forward.

Because I have a good deal of sight I hold Able at a diagonal across my lower body and let the cane skim the ground in front of me. It’s like having a fingertip on the ground that helps me know what the terrain directly in front of me feels like. Neither method, unfortunately, can give a visually impaired person any indication that they are about to walk head long into a low hanging branch.

I can move about the world without Able, because I’m only partially blind, or partially sighted, however you want to look at it. I chosen to use Able for a couple reasons.

Walking is much faster and safer when I use Able. I had gotten some remedial cane training a few years before I made using Able a habit. I fell down a short flight of stairs that were just out of my field of vision. It hurt.  After my tumble, I got some great O&M (orientation and mobility) training and started to use a cane.  

There are other really good reasons for me to use Able aside from less trips to the emergency room. I can use my available sight to look at the scenery and not down at my feet so much. Most important perhaps is it gives YOU information. It tells you “I’m crossing the street now and I might not see you coming”. Another plus of cane use is I don’t look drunk trying to navigate an uneven terrain…just blind.

Able is 48″ tall. Most white canes, like the one I use for mobility, extend from the floor to the users sternum. I have a collapsible cane (like a tent pole), made out of aluminum with reflective white and red tape on it. At the end of Able is what is called a marshmallow tip. It’s a hard plastic bobble that looks like, you guest it, a marshmallow, and glides over most surfaces easily.

White canes are, for the most part, a universal symbol for the sight impaired. In the UK if someone has a white cane with two red bands added, it means the user is deafblind.

 Chairs often used by people with mobility issues are called motorized or power chairs.

First up, we all don’t know one another.

Last summer, for example, we were Chicago for an art festival when someone asked me… “Oh you live in Orlando, do you know Bob Smith, he lives in FL and he’s blind too?’ At that point what I really wanted to say was… “maybe, what does he LOOK like?” But I didn’t. I’m not sure why people think I must know every disabled person in a three thousand mile radius but this type of comment is not that uncommon. 

So what’s really going on there? I think it’s just part of human nature to want to connect and sometimes we’re a wee bit clumsy. Maybe it’s been so instilled in us to believe that talking about, hell, even notice, a persons differences is taboo. That’s nuts. Little kids left to be themselves will notice all sorts of things. That’s because they are curious.

Curiosity is normal, natural and healthy. Maybe we can (re)learn something from our children? What’s wrong with noticing a dudes wheelchair or my white cane? I think…I think, if we were not so uptight we could move very quickly from the chair and the cane, to other things that are interesting to talk about.