I have been thinking the past few days about physical disability and its place in our society. I had the opportunity to attend the past weekend a conference on the current status of polio and its various eradication measures. It was a delight to hear that only very a few countries in the world present new cases of polio and that the disease is close to complete eradication. A friend of mine, who was diagnosed with polio at the age of less than two years, shared with the audience what it was like to grow up as a polio victim.
Her experience is testimony of the little space that our society gives to physically disabled persons. Unlike many families, particularly those in rural areas, she had a loving family who supported her all the way through and instilled in her the feeling that she is no different from her friends and classmates at school. In her words, ‘children are not discriminatory’. The problem is finding space and acceptance among adults. In a world of sameness in which the least difference from the masses is frowned upon, there is no wonder that living with a physical disability can be quite a challenge. Quoting from her speech, ‘when you give up the freedom to be different, you lose the privilege to be free’. A person cannot really be free unless they are allowed to be themselves without being judged for being so.
Einstein said, “I am thankful for all of those who said NO to me. It’s because of them I’m doing it myself.” This sense of determination for independence is also what I have seen from my friend. Job hunting was quite challenging for her not only because of the difficulty to easily commute from one place to another but also because employers’ prejudices. People were simply reluctant to hire someone with a physical disability. This may be the case even if the job in concern may not require the active use of her legs (for example to move quickly from one place to another). But this made her only stronger and independent. She decided she should be her own boss by opening her own consultancy firm where she advocates for persons with physical disability and creates awareness about their challenges and needs. For her valuable community work, she was awarded the Mandela Fellowship and even got to meet President Barack Obama in person. Her experiences with polio is also testimony to the fact that one can be accomplished on a social level despite a physical ability. Her numerous friends are a living proof of that.
I share her story because it proves wrong our attitudes and judgments towards persons with physical disability. There are millions of physically well fit people in our country and around the world who, let alone contributing something of value to society, are unable even to support themselves and take a lead over their own lives. To quote her, “we all have our disabilities.” Each of us have something we are required to do in life, something that is expected from us as a member of society, but are not able to make any kind of contribution for one reason or another. So, in other words, each of us is disabled although physically fit. So, why discriminate only against those whose disability is visible to the naked eye?
Our world is filled with persons with physical disability who are valuable assets to their communities and whose strengths and perseverance we can learn from. Their achievements is a wakeup call to each of us who let our abilities go to waste without making any use of them either to the betterment of our own lives or that of others.
