As a disabled child, I was wondering and sometimes got very angry why I couldn’t go anywhere where non-disabled kids went. My parents kept explaining me that there are stairs. Later I was also wondering why some of my fellow-aged disabled citizens don’t drive their wheelchairs on the sideways, but on the streets. My parents had to carry me on their shoulders for hundreds of steps so that I could get a proper education.
As a teenager my friends also had to carry me in their arms for hundreds of meters, steps, busses etc so that I could go out with them and have fun.
Disability for me, my family and my environment was, is and probably continues to be a way of life.
As an adult I have decided to get actively involved with the disabled people in my area and together with some other disabled friends, we started a local association 13 years ago.
Today I am very proud to say that my city is one of the most accessible ones in my country. Disabled kids and their families have a lot less problems than my parents did and elderly disabled and non-disabled fellow citizens can walk safely in most of the sidewalks of our little city.
What I’ve learned during all those years is that “Attitude is the real disability”. So lets keep our hearts and minds open to everything and everyone different from ourselves. We must never forget what they say – minds are like parachutes, they only work when they are opened.
Lets make a difference, all together!
As a teenager my friends also had to carry me in their arms for hundreds of meters, steps, busses etc so that I could go out with them and have fun.
Disability for me, my family and my environment was, is and probably continues to be a way of life.
As an adult I have decided to get actively involved with the disabled people in my area and together with some other disabled friends, we started a local association 13 years ago.
Today I am very proud to say that my city is one of the most accessible ones in my country. Disabled kids and their families have a lot less problems than my parents did and elderly disabled and non-disabled fellow citizens can walk safely in most of the sidewalks of our little city.
What I’ve learned during all those years is that “Attitude is the real disability”. So lets keep our hearts and minds open to everything and everyone different from ourselves. We must never forget what they say – minds are like parachutes, they only work when they are opened.
Lets make a difference, all together!
No comments:
Post a Comment