New Mobility Magazine

I've enclosed an article here from New Mobility Magazine which will break your heart and make you spitting  mad. Spread the message. And check out the magazine. there are more good articles for disabled people.

A photo has gone viral after a mother posted an image of her son (who uses a wheelchair) on Facebook. The image (here) shows her son at his school choir concert parked on the far side of the choir stands, so far away from the able-bodied students that he could’ve been practicing a solo.

Not surprisingly, the photo has upset thousands of parents of children with disabilities who sadly know the inclusion fight all too well. The photo that’s gotten all the attention was taken by Arla Jan Wilson of Georgia, and her little cutie in the picture is Alex Wilson. She posted the photo with an apologetic disclaimer before complaining, “I hate to vent but…,” as you see parents of kids with disabilities do so often.

It can be a hard situation to get used to for parents when they first have a disabled child. They’re not used to the disability world and all the fighting that’s required for equal access. Finding your thick skin takes time. I think that a lot of parents don’t want to be the “rude” parents causing a ruckus. I can relate to this so much.

When I found myself newly disabled, I’d get pissed certain places weren’t accessible, but I was always hesitant to complain. I never wanted to be pegged as that disabled person — the one always causing “problems.” I was determined to project only a pleasant demeanor because I wanted everyone to like me. Talk about sad.

But Arla, myself and everyone out there who’s about to complain but withholds, we need to remember this: Change is never easy and always requires a little (OK, a lot) of uncomfortableness. Remember the tireless disabled advocates of the 1970s at the University of California-Berkeley who began the fight for equal access? It took countless sit-ins and protest upon protest to get where we are today. They pissed off a lot of people who didn’t understand the equal access fight, and that was unavoidable.

A little bitching on Facebook? Arla…have at it next time. Heck, open the flood gates. Your voice is more powerful, as your photo going viral proves, than you realize.

 

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