Disability Visibility

 In my advocacy research I ran across this title and had to explore it. Alice Wong's Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century is a series of essays she collected. All the authors have some disability, many have intersections with other minority categories (race, gender, orientation,...). The essays vary. Some I found to be easy reads and others not. Some were more complaint oriented and others more advocacy focused. Together they create a collage of the challenges and attempts to solve the challenges that people with disabilities face on a daily basis.

Two essays strongly resonated with me. One, "The Fearless Benjamin Lay," by Eugene Grant highlights the lack of disability portrayals in history. Many authors and researchers have expounded on this. His essay pointed out a character who was an early abolitionist with whom I was not familiar but more than that, he had dwarfism. This essay could be a great introduction to someone with dwarfism to historical characters of impact by people like them. Further, it showcases a strong person with a disability who strongly advocated for a worthy cause, even though it had negative repercussions.

"Six Ways of Looking at Crip Time" by Ellen Samuels, irritated me. I have heard so many excuses for not being timely and it irritates me. Parents of small children who "can't" get out the door. People who are just "bad with time." People who are just "too busy." Public transport doesn't arrive in a timely manner. People with disabilities who can't make it because it took too long to charge their device or assemble their go pack. Full disclosure. My mother was habitually late. Yes, there were 8 kids, one of whom has a significant disability. Yes, her husband had a TBI and was erratic and unable to see other perspectives. I, however, was the last child to be picked up with the pitying adults there asking if they should call my home to make sure someone was coming. I was the scared child left waiting. As an adult, I am neurotic about being on time. I hate when people start meetings late waiting for stragglers because it lacks respect for the people who made it on time. I sit in parking lots waiting for an appropriate time to go in. I lived in Hawaii where "island time" was an excuse to not be punctual. My students were habitually late. I get that your life is hard and has challenges. I get that you may have executive function issues that make it hard to be punctual. I get that public transport in this country is often not timely and reliable. "Manic Monday" by the Bengals highlights the issue. Everyone can make excuses for why they are not on time. We can do better. It takes work, training and thoughtfulness, but it can be done. I do not expect perfection, but being late should be the exception, not the rule.

Some authors quote statistics and research which they do not provide links to. I wish they did. Overall, however the picture painted highlights concerns, many of which I had not considered. It highlights some of the work done to try and get additional help for people that need it. I am not for full socialism, but we need to be a compassionate capitalist state that takes care of our neediest citizens. 

A thought provoking read that I highly recommend.