One of our new regular community contributors, Shari Cooper is a disabilities advocate and motivational speaker. She graduated from Sinclair Community College with an associate degree in Disability Intervention Services.
‘People with disabilities work, have college degrees, are married, have children, live in and own their homes; and yes, some even go to bars on occasion to have a drink.’
Hear me out on why I have come to this conclusion and make your own judgment.
Has anyone ever assumed something about you that wasn’t correct? This happens to me quite frequently, and I’m led by my own observation to believe it’s because I have a physical disability and a speech impairment.
One evening, while at a bar with non-disabled friends, I was approached by a guy who said to me, “It sure is nice they let you out tonight.”
About this time, I was thinking, “Who are they, and where did they let me out of?”
From the sound of his unsolicited comment, you would have thought I had been incarcerated and received a Get Out of Jail Free card for the night.
As the conversation went on, I found out that he had made the assumption that I lived in a group home for people with disabilities. He thought it was so nice of the home to let me out to enjoy myself for the evening, and even wanted to buy me a drink.
Once again, he made the assumption that I wanted a non-alcoholic drink —but I convinced him that a good ole Fuzzy Navel would “loosen my muscles”— and he bought it. I let the guy buy me a drink for causing me to suffer emotional distress, according to what Judge Judy on television would probably say about this experience. After a few sips of my calming drink, I then went into advocate mode.
I proceeded to tell this guy the truth about people with disabilities. People with disabilities work, have college degrees, are married, have children, live in and own their homes; and yes, some even go to bars on occasion to have a drink.
Turned out, the guy was very apologetic and wasn’t that bad of a guy after all. I, myself, made a wrong assumption. This guy had never really been around a person with a disability, so he didn’t know anything about us. After educating him on my culture, he vowed to spread awareness and become someone whom I hope will be a new advocate.
We, as human beings, will always make assumptions about others. That’s our nature. Hopefully, after getting to know who a person really is, it will open our eyes to a world that’s filled with unique people for us to appreciate.
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