I am writing about this because I have struggled all my life with a hidden disability. One you could not see. There are many disabilities. You have a learning disability which means it takes you twice as long to learn things as for others they learn quickly and they get a diploma for it.
There are people who have physical disabilities. Being in a wheelchair because you can’t walk from birth, or maybe you were in car accident and can’t walk. People can see it. Every person deals with it differently. How do I act?, what do I say? What are the right words to say to that person. Most people with disabilities are treated like children, and that their thoughts and dreams are not important. But they are. They don’t even know their own rights. Which is bullshit. They need to know their rights and what they believe is okay and they have right to think and feel their rights are heard. There is no justice for those people. We don’t live in 1800s, but how they are treated still feels like that time period. I am saying this because I know how being disrespected and not hurt means. Just because you have a disability does not mean you can’t express yourself and for someone to believe your words and feelings are true and justified.
My life was misunderstood and my dreams and my thoughts did not matter. I challenge my disability and have the inner strength to fight it. Even when i am following apart. I am 62, and I have to prove myself to others. No one listened to my struggles, my anger, and what I was feeling was and is real. Trust mean when your no one listens it’s painful and cruel when you have to learn everything on your own. It’s like being in a cage and you can’t get out.
I never asked to have a learning disability, it is just there. My parents never told me my rights, and everything had to be their way. Now I am doing it my way. Disability or not I am stuck in this body. I want people to know what i write about is real, and every word is from experiences in life.
People learn about disabilities through books, but no one teaches people talk to the people who have hidden disabilities and help them cope and learn. No book teaches common sense. Talk to the people who have disabilities and treat them the way you wanted to be treated. Don’t talk down to them, talk to them. Ask questions and understand their anger and frustration, even their challenges. We are not a book, we are human beings who need help and understanding. We are real and we have dreams too. Life is not treated people with disability like children, but hear their words. Don’t ignore the words. People who ignore their children and only think about themselves are not good parents and they don’t understand because it is not them with disability. Hidden disabilities are just as important as ones with physical disabilities that you can see.
I told my therapist or I call shrink. It is like a knife with two sharp blades at both ends. You have a disability that you can see, or you are normal like people without disabilities. Then there are the people who are in the middle like me. Misunderstand people who do not look like they have a disability and who look like an average person, but hidden inside them is a disability that they struggle with. When people start to talk to them quickly they are turned away and called retards and that you don’t deserve any friends. It is a big smack in the face.
Stop learning through books, and start to talk to talk with people of all disabilities, even hidden disabilities because understanding comes from listening and talking to the person. We are not all the same.
We all need to be heard, respected and not judged. Get to know people because we are not a book. When school is finished. You never stop learning. When no one listens to your cries, your anger, and your questions you stop trusting. I trust the odd few. But they are not my parents or family members when you can’t trust them, who can you trust. It is time for a change. I hope I can make a small change to open peoples eyes for people with disabilities. Life should be fair for all, but it is not.
Thanks for reading
Beyond Our Universe 