Seeing what we can do, not what we can't

This afternoon I had a wheelchair tennis lesson over at our local community park. There was a group of about fifteen kids there taking lessons but, as usual, a few of them were wandering around near where I played. They came over and pressed their noses against the fence to watch me play.

My coach sent balls flying around and I rolled toward them, zinging them over the net. But when I next looked over there, I saw a whole bunch of kids watching me, their faces registering that "How do you play tennis in a wheelchair" look.

It was the same look I saw this weekend when I played at the tournament. People gathered around to watch us play before they went in to see the final match at the L'Eggs Mason tournament in Washington DC. They sat under the shade trees and gathered in a crowd watching as we played a tiebreak.

That look is so different than the way people sometimes look at me. There is no pity and no fear. For some reason, the barriers drop and people see what we can do from wheelchairs, instead of thinking about what we can't do.

This doesn't just happen with wheelchair sports. It happens any time people see that we are living our lives the same as they are.

It breaks through the assumption that we are sad or helpess because we are in a wheelchair . The labels and stereotypes start to dissolve and , in its place, there is the seed of a new understanding,equality, and respect.