Using disabled people against each other

[rainbow_goddess]

Lately I've been seeing the concept of the "gifted, magical, successful disabled person" being held up as a shining example of what all of us poor, lazy, not-trying-hard-enough disabled people could do if only we had a positive attitude and TRIED HARDER

Comments

[anobjectinspace]

I saw the facebook thing with the kid running. It was posted by several of my friends. Took a LOT of work for me not to get into it with them. Even if I said something completely calmly, them replying that I could do things if I tried would just mess me up too much. It's one of my worst obsessive thoughts and it just eats up my brain when I start thinking about it. Just UGH. Vile, vile stuff, though.

[lilacsigil]

I like to reply "Bill Gates wears glasses and has billions of dollars - what's your excuse?"

[sammason]

Laughing out loud at this!

[sammason]

Oh yes, don't we all hear this kind of crap? The version that I personally find most grating is the one about old people who are AMAZING because of what they can still do. The granny who dances at every family party. The pensioner with his surfboard. Whereas I, in my 40s and in my wheelchair, must have GIVEN UP TOO EASILY.

As it happens I do find Prof Hawking cripspirational. He's a far greater scientist than I'll ever be but he's still a role model for me. However, people who don't follow his lead are not lazy or any such rubbish. How many Brief Histories of Time does the world really need anyway?

[sammason]

Is he? I've never met him or even watched many interviews with him, because his scientific field is v different from mine. But I like the idea that he's not always the Sweet, Brave Crip.

A few weeks ago as I travelled in the lift at work, using my wheelchair as I always do there, somebody remarked on my continuing to do science. He called it 'the Hawking effect,' which made my day.

[rainbow_goddess]

Someone wrote him a letter asking for the secret of time travel. He replied to them saying that if he knew the secret of time travel, he'd travel back in time to win the lottery every week.

He got to be on Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was cool.

[conuly]

Stephen Hawking has ALS and he's a famous scientist, so therefore every person with ALS or any other disability can become a famous scientist.

You must admit that this would be pretty great if only it were true. Would it apply to ANY disability, or only the ones that leave you paralyzed?

[pretty_panther]

I hate this stuff and my family does it to me all the time. I'm insulin dependent diabetic and it is always 'this person won a gold medal, this person did this, this person did that' And it is like yeah, those three people out of over a million insulin dependent diabetics in the UK. 3/1000000. Those are my odds of doing the same~ I'm a firm believer in knowing your own limitations and then trying to push past them but just that trying. If you try, realise that actually no, that really is your limit then you respect your limitations and live life to the fullest within them. It isn't the same as giving up and I wish people would realise that. :(

[rainbow_goddess]

There's a person with Type 1 who could very well become the next leader of my province, and while I think he's a good person and I would vote for him, I'm just waiting for people to start using him as an example for me.

Unfortunately, I happen to know that he is achieving this at the expense of his health. I've heard speeches he's given when it's fairly obvious that his blood sugar is either way too high or way too low, because he's completely incoherent and sounds like he's drunk. I've spoken to people who work with him, and they say that he doesn't test his blood sugar when he's working. I imagine his diet is crap because of all the travelling he does and grabbing meals on the run from one political engagement to the next. I'm afraid that if he does become Premier, he's not going to be able to keep the job for very long because he's going to be in the hospital with diabetes complications.