Disability and Determination is a weekly newsletter about my experience living with a rare disability…with a little bit of meditation, pop culture, and other random things thrown in.
Know that I am over here internally yelling for you with a raised fist in the air. My longtime BFF is an advocate for people with disabilities, as she herself has a learning disability as well as physical limitations that aren't obvi to everyone else. She's a licensed masseuse and specifically prefers to work on the older generation. Her previous job was as a disability coordinator and if she'd been advocating for you during your college years, she would've REAMED that disability office. Shit like that pisses her off and there definitely would've been some tattling on her part. "Asking for these things has apparently meant that I’ve been “using my disability” to get something better for myself. Asking for accessibility and accommodation so we a) don’t hurt ourselves or cause more pain, b) so we literally do something we need to, c) can have the same experience as non-disabled people isn’t asking for “special treatment.” It’s what we need and what we deserve." WORD!
It’s appalling that the supports for Students with Disabilities department treated you or would treat anyone in such a shameful way. I hope it’s become a “know better-do better” situation on their end.
I'm so sorry, Jackie. But please know that behavior says everything about their bias and personality defects, and has nothing to do with you. Those folks wouldn't be able to walk a block in your (fabulously designed) shoes. There are people who think that if anyone else is "given" anything, it's actually taking away something, personally, from them. They must have gotten terrible grades in math, because that's not how it works. As someone put it, giving people more rights doesn't take away from anyone else because, "IT'S NOT PIE!!!" I just love that. Sometimes, we run into a**holes and we have to remember that being an a**hole is their problem, not ours (even though we get the displeasure of dealing with who they are). The lovely Selene Luna told me it's not if but WHEN we will become disabled...even if that's just a broken leg, or due to old age. At some point, we will all need assistance. And would it be nice if we didn't have to deal with a**holes to get it? xo
Thank you Ororo. The head of the department eventually got fired (not sure if it because of what happened to me but if I was treated that way, I can only imagine I wasn’t the only one). My university experience was overall kind of shitty which is a shame.
Know that I am over here internally yelling for you with a raised fist in the air. My longtime BFF is an advocate for people with disabilities, as she herself has a learning disability as well as physical limitations that aren't obvi to everyone else. She's a licensed masseuse and specifically prefers to work on the older generation. Her previous job was as a disability coordinator and if she'd been advocating for you during your college years, she would've REAMED that disability office. Shit like that pisses her off and there definitely would've been some tattling on her part. "Asking for these things has apparently meant that I’ve been “using my disability” to get something better for myself. Asking for accessibility and accommodation so we a) don’t hurt ourselves or cause more pain, b) so we literally do something we need to, c) can have the same experience as non-disabled people isn’t asking for “special treatment.” It’s what we need and what we deserve." WORD!
It’s appalling that the supports for Students with Disabilities department treated you or would treat anyone in such a shameful way. I hope it’s become a “know better-do better” situation on their end.
I hope so too Wendy. The head did get fired a few years later so she got her karma at least 😂
I'm so sorry, Jackie. But please know that behavior says everything about their bias and personality defects, and has nothing to do with you. Those folks wouldn't be able to walk a block in your (fabulously designed) shoes. There are people who think that if anyone else is "given" anything, it's actually taking away something, personally, from them. They must have gotten terrible grades in math, because that's not how it works. As someone put it, giving people more rights doesn't take away from anyone else because, "IT'S NOT PIE!!!" I just love that. Sometimes, we run into a**holes and we have to remember that being an a**hole is their problem, not ours (even though we get the displeasure of dealing with who they are). The lovely Selene Luna told me it's not if but WHEN we will become disabled...even if that's just a broken leg, or due to old age. At some point, we will all need assistance. And would it be nice if we didn't have to deal with a**holes to get it? xo
Thank you Ororo. The head of the department eventually got fired (not sure if it because of what happened to me but if I was treated that way, I can only imagine I wasn’t the only one). My university experience was overall kind of shitty which is a shame.