Of not being Disabled

“I’m not disabled.”

“I’m (not) handicapped.”

“I’m (not) differently-abled.”

“I’m (not) physically challenged.”

“I’m (not) a person with a disability.”

If you’ve seen or know me, you’d think I’m crazy If you’d hear me saying those sentences — I’m not in denial of my physical condition, especially after 29 years; Neither is it because I’m being uber-optimistic and saying that my disability doesn’t factor in my life’s decisions and yada yada.

Any person with any sort of physical impairment has to introduce themselves as “disabled” or “handicapped” or “challenged”; Or, people immediately describe them as so, when talking about them. What this does is, creates a sense of abnormality in people’s minds — A sense of someone being normal/ able-bodied vs some other being abnormal / not-so-able-bodied.

But, who is to say that someone is normal / able, or otherwise?

For most folks who have any physical impairment, that is what they have known all their lives, unless they were rendered so due to an accident or any other incident. By constantly having to say that they are disabled, it makes them feel inferior, or imperfect.

From a personal perspective, I had felt inadequate/ imperfect because of my Cerebral Palsy which left me with spastic legs. Someone close to me would comment that “People without legs are much better and more independent than you” — and that didn’t help me one bit.

[…] It must be freeing to be so disabled.
Sometimes I feel like having a mild case is like being biracial.
[…]
I’m just saying I’m in limbo, okay? It’s like I’m not able-bodied enough to be hanging in the mainstream world, but I’m not disabled enough to be hanging out with the cool PT crowd.

The above is a snippet from Special (2019) a TV series streaming on Netflix.

By constantly having to say that one is physically disabled/ challenged/handicapped, one is constantly reminded that they are limited and is imperfect. This prevents them from reaching/ realising their own peak potential.

I’ve heard other paralysed people on social media comment about the use of “disabled” word and begun using the following phrases -

“I have an impediment affects my mobility.”

“I have a physical impairment that inhibits me.”

“I have spastic diplegia from cerebral palsy, affecting my legs”

These phrases provide a normalised tone to my state of being and I am not being compared to anyone else. These phrases are empowering in themselves because they are plain facts — not comparisions.

A change begins from the individual, and I have started the process. I hope I can convince at least some of you readers to be attentive of your words when talking to people with physical impairments and be encouraging instead of using words that constantly focus on their unusalities.

Words are powerful — And I want to conclude by saying “I am not Disabled”.

Note: When introducing me / talking about me, please use the following phrases instead of “person with physical disability”:
1. A person with a physical impairment
2. A person with spastic diplegia
3. A person with Cerebral Palsy
4. A person with Cerebral Palsy, causing spastic diplegia
5. A person with spastic diplegia, caused by Cerebral Palsy.