Tag Archives: disability

A Poem Called “It’s Not About Inspiration”

It’s Not About Inspiration,

by theamazinJ

Jerks, Assholes, Taunters, Real,
Inspiration?
We can all be jerks,
we can all be assholes,
we can all be taunters,
We are all real,
but we are all not inspirations.
I am not your inspiration,
and you are no body’s inspiration.
Inspiration is being a jerk,
inspiration is a being an ass,
inspiration is being a bully,
inspiration taunts us,
inspiration is not being real,
inspiration is being anything but real.
Disabled people are not your inspiration.
Autistic people are not your inspiration.
Inspiration is real, yes, but
we need to think of it as something within us,
not from outside of us.
Inspiration, yes?
No, inspiration, no.
Everyone is a jerk at some point during the day.
Everyone spins what they want others to understand about life.
So, why pity someone for who they are?
So, why not act like everyone is a person, disabled or non-disabled alike?
Disabled people are jerks just as much as able-bodied people are!
Disabled people are citizens just as much as you are.
I am disabled, but I am a citizen.
It does not matter what impairments or how severe the impairments can be,
no matter who you meet, everyone is a citizen.
The more we think this, the more we act it,
the more we remember being a citizen has many attributes,
whether able-bodied or disabled.
As a disabled person who can be an asshole or be a understanding person,
or as a able-bodied person who can be the same,
disability does not mean lacking humanity or being more than humanity,
disability is humanity.
Disability has varying degrees of impairments,
and impairments can be expensive to support depending on what is impaired
and how severe the impairment.
When thinking of being human, let’s think of all the variables of being human,
there are times when people are smart,
there are times when people can act stupid,
there are times when people can be an ass,
there are times when people can be a moron,
there are times when we people don’t think things through,
there are times when everyone plans out everything,
everyone takes disability too seriously and tragically,
when disability can affect anyone at any time in their life,
depending on when it strikes, what it strikes, and how it strikes,
depends on how the person reacts to disability.
There is no more putting down disability,
there is no more thinking disability is more than life,
there is no more disability is the end of life as we know it,
because disability is what makes life interesting,
it’s what makes life real,
it’s what makes human life being human
and being mortal and being imperfect
in a world that is constantly changing,
in a world that is rapidly transitioning,
and in a world that needs to normalize disability
as being the norm of humanity.
So, in universally designing society
we need to design structures and events
to allow however a person moves,
however a person communicates,
and however a person learns
to allow a person to applaud and flapplaud simultaneously
and allow a person to sign, talk, and use assistative technology
with ease without lurking, without staring, and without belittling or teasing,
because in the end,
universal design is about recognizing everyone however they are,
and not enabling them to be martyrs,
without enabling them to be inspirations,
and just letting everyone live the life they want to live
with their families, with their friends, and with their communities,
with the self-determination they want to self-direct their life with
even if it is choosing to live in the community
or choosing to live in a congregate setting.
Finally, its the choices that we learn from
that makes up our humanity.

A Poem Called “No Regrets”

No Regrets,

by theamazinJ

Every experience we had,
every experience we have,
is neither bad nor worse,
every experience I had happened for a reason,
every experience I have I experience to grow,
no matter what anyone says or thinks
does not matter,
I grow from every experience everyday.
I grow because it helps me,
I grow because I am human,
and I grow to reach higher ground.
Some may not understand
especially since I am a disabled person,
since I have multiple disabilities
mainly invisible,
yet, everyone still knows I am human growing everyday.
Seeking support in different ways than I have,
ultimately making my decisions on my own,
because I have a mind of my own,
and every time I make a decision
it is always about how I feel at the time,
it’s always about what I need at the time,
and it’s always something I needed to grow from.
I have no regrets, and no body should,
even if we leave for a while
to do something we need to do for ourselves,
to do something that we feel we need to grow more,
to learn from to understand more about ourselves,
even if many others do not understand why,
even when others don’t understand what’s going on,
whether a disabled person or someone who is non-disabled
sets out on their own,
everyone needs their time for solace,
everyone needs to their time to listen to the inner voice,
everyone needs time sometimes to just do something,
because the time we have is all we’ve got,
the time we always had is all that we need to enhance ourselves.
As an Autistic disabled person who,
is disabled by default from a society who
does not understand the disability of autism,
and even invented and created the words.
Growth happens no matter what,
some may resist others’ growth,
some may say some disabled people cannot grow,
some may say having disability does not mean a person can grow,
some may say having disability is tragic sad thing,
some may say having disability means learning from those who are non-disabled,
some may not think of the implications of what they think
because it is overlooked,
instead therapies like ABA and social skills training
is generally mostly used rather than remotely used for specific ideals,
for specific impairments early on in life.
Sometimes we grow from each other,
but sometimes we need to grow by ourselves.
Others may be upset, crying, and angry,
about what the individual chose and what they wanted to
and how to grow from,
whatever the individual chose is self-determination and the social model,
regardless, and growing is an experience,
and there are no regrets from me,
and there should not be any regrets from anyone’s experiences
regardless of being autistic or not,
and no one should feel bad about any choice or experience they had.
In the end, it’s all about being self-aware,
it’s all about what we kinds of supports we need at the time,
and it’s all about having our intuition
to know ourselves,
and sometimes the support is just giving space,
understanding the boundary we set
to eventually come back a better person.
There is no regrets.

The Disability community needs services to ensure success in life

Either we have services or we don’t have services, but what happens when we do or don’t have services…

It’s a CATCH-22!

Needing services and using the services:

1) Not having your own voice
2) Having your needs always met as a dependent for life
3) Being pitied with despair
4) Not having your own way of doing things accomplished with self-determination
5) Always being spoken to as a child

Not having/using services:

1) Being told you have to do everything on your own
2) Not having certain minimal services you need
3) Being told you don’t have a disability or you are not Autistic, etc.
4) struggling keeping up with everyday life skills
5) being told you are so-called ‘normal’ or just like everyone else

Either way it is a struggle for a Disabled person to live their life needing or not needing services. So, when is society going to understand disability? Society needs to give people who need the services the necessary things to ensure self-determination for success. Services are very important for my peers and I.

The social model of disability goes unnoticed because many people in the world look at the medical model as the key component in helping the disability community. Yet, the medical model of disability does not allow others to work with self-determination because medical professionals treat the disability rather than the person. They try behaviorist methods and medicine without having the person work on their own terms toward success. Society seems to not expect a Disabled person to live the way a Able person or Non-Disabled person can.

Every one has every right to be involved in their treatment plans whether they have a documented disability or not. Everybody has their own mind, their own body, and their own soul which gives them the strength to live their life. Many times due to many of society’s many people who we interact with, have dealt with abuses, neglect, and/or bullying which hurt self-esteem. In my opinion, this could be the reason why the medical model is continuously used to treat the disorder/disability rather than the person. The medical model also adapted thinking where everyone labels each other with something. This is called Eugenics.

Once society accepts disability, society will understand how to react to it and engage with those who have a disability much better.

Let’s start learning and finally accepting disability in Humanity!

OUT, J

Why can’t we all just get along!

Murder of an Autistic or Disabled person is a hate-crime just like any other hate-crime. It’s the same as any other murder of anyone else who is trying to live their life, but suddenly their life comes to an end by the actions of another. There needs to be fair justice in our society. Parents and/or Caregivers who murder their Disabled offspring should be held accountable for their actions. Just because someone has a disability like Autism does not mean life should be treated differently like we are less than human. For example, the recent murder of Alex Spourdakalis and the attempted murder of Issy Stapleton were both crimes. Murderers and attempted murderers should be brought to justice.

It makes me sad that there have been parents and caregivers that have killed their offspring. Parents and caregivers who murder their kids because they could not handle their child’s disability are mostly seen as the victims and often sympathized. However, if a person with a disability murders, the person with the disability who has murdered is seen as evil. This does not happen as much as parents and caregivers who murder their Disabled children and society does nothing about it. Why? Anyone who does that should be put to trial!

Acceptance takes time. Sometimes a person needs to review themselves and understand who they are before they can accept who they are. Not everyone has a master plan to do the same thing like their peers, that is why everyone has a different perspective on what peeks their interest to help society. Every one needs to figure it out on their own without letting a parent, caregiver, teacher, peer, behaviorist, etc. get in their way. No one should feel unsafe in their lives. That is the reason why Autistic or Disabled people like myself feel the need to feel safe in the world just like Neurotypicals do.

The only fair reasoning for anyone to get in the way of another person’s thinking is if another Human being wants to murder or harm another person. For instance, no one can murder any Human being regardless if they have a disability or not. That is why we have Justice courts to send the murderers away from society. Everyone deserves to have a safe, positive living environment. Anyone needs to be able to live however they know, to be independent, while interacting with the rest of society safely. That is why Autistic and Disabled people may work with therapists because they want to be able to interact with society safely and be independent.

Murder is murder is murder like a pulse is a pulse is a pulse! If something has a pulse, you can’t just murder it. Everything with life has a purpose and has time to accept themselves so everything else around with a pulse has time to accept their family or peers. And yes, acceptance takes time, a lot of precious time to reflect and love who we are. It’s very important to not only accept ourselves, but also to accept others as they are. People like parents and caregivers of Autistic and Disabled people need to continue to live their lives interacting with others in a positive way just like my parents always do. I luckily have a good support network.

Don’t forget that everyone needs to love the person they are meant to be and never let anybody else bring them down! Society needs to understand one thing in life; being able to love and cherish the people who really care and appreciating those positive moments we all will give in the future or have given already!

OUT, J

1 Reply

Communication Shutdown November 1; Is it really necessary?

There are certain Autism organizations promoting a Communication Shutdown on November 1 thinking people will support Autism Awareness. The real goal here is not Awareness, but understanding and acceptance of different people who express themselves in many ways. The Communications Shutdown for November 1 will shutdown Facebook and Twitter to every one, but is this really necessary to shutdown the only way of communication people with Autism Spectrum Disorders like myself have to tell the world our viewpoints. Speaking is very important to tell your viewpoints to your peers and professionals abound. The way any person communicates in this world mostly by talking builds us up and strengthens who we are. A person who talks about their feelings to another is giving themselves a means of letting go of past bad feelings inside. So, why take away the only means of communication most Autistic people have? Twitter and Facebook used by many Autistic individuals like myself is the one of the only means of communication of our thoughts and feelings to express to others. What are they trying to prove by taking this away for 1 day? There is no real substance to organizations deciding to shutdown communication on Facebook and Twitter for 1 day. The only way to do something about this issue of stopping the communication shutdown is by supporting the fact Autistics do Speak in many different ways! By shutting down communication on these 2 major websites, you won’t be helping Autistic individuals like myself, you’ll be hurting us and yourselves!! We’ll become more shut out from the world feeling lonely and isolated.

Every body should be able to say what they feel and not be shunned or ridiculed for saying their feelings nor should they feel pushed away from the limelight. If you really want to help Autistic individuals speak their mind, let them do it in their comfortable way and practice with them to talk in a conversation.

By communicating in our comfortable way, we feel stronger, relaxed, and positive. We feel connected more with people we know on Facebook and Twitter because we get to communicate our thoughts and feelings much better. Life is a tribute to having connections for ourselves that when we fill ourselves up with connections which matter, we feel more complete as a person. So, why can’t every one speak their minds without shutting down the world? Every one should be able to decide for themselves what to do because we are all individuals and have our own ideas.

Be Strong, Bold, and listen to what we say!

posting soon enough,

OUT, J

Leave a reply