Disability
Historically people with disabilities were considered inferior, as if they were external elements to society.
There were times many centuries ago when society believed disability and disease was a divine punishment due to committed sins, and for decades people born with disabilities were thought to be posessed by evil spirits. Exorcism was a common solution…
Darwinists and Eugenicists believed in “natural selection” and defended that “defective” men, women and children were a problem and a burden to the “health of the nation”…
In Africa, still today, disability is understood as a result of witchcraft and supernatural forces and in countries like Kenya and Zimbabwe, when a child is born with a disability, people believe it’s a sign of a curse cast upon the child’s family and the community.
Disabled children often receive less attention, less stimulus, less education, less medical treatment, less love… and even less food!
Can you imagine how much more difficult it is for these persons to reach their maximum potential?
I don’t have a crystal ball to say that this child will be a doctor or a hair dresser or a mathematician! But what I do know, is that nobody can tell a child (with or without disability) what he will never achieve.
But what I do know, is that nobody can tell a child what he will never achieve
Wilma Rudolph had polio as a child, and doctors said she would never walk again. She overcame her disabilities through physical therapy and hard work, to become an athlete. She was the first woman from USA to win three gold medals in the Olympic Games. She has a quote that says:
“My doctors told me I would never walk again.
My mother told me I would walk again.
I believed my mother.”
[… continues in Chapter 7 “Judging Disability”]
“Disability” is an extract (Chapter 6) of Joe Santos’ speech “Deficiência — Diferença”, spoken on 10 May 2016 at Futuridade II, Centro Comunitário Gafanha do Carmo at Centro Cultural de Ílhavo.
Joe Santos is a Co-Founder of Vencer Autismo and dedicates his life to the cause of Autism and supporting Social projects for the love of seeing positive change in the world.
Thank you so much for reading. If you don’t mind, could you click the heart button below? It’ll increase the chance that more people will see it and hopefully likewise find this post useful. Thank you again.
