Images of People with Disabilities

During the summer when I visited the shore as a kid, we always bought salt water taffy - in the box , like this. I associated it with the ocean. Of course, if someone else saw a box of salt water taffy and an ocean and had not had that experience, they would be baffled by my association of the two different images!

Last weekend I played wheelchair tennis at the Dupont Country Club at a USTA tournament. I was struck by how many of the visitors said the same thing " I had no idea wheelchair tennis was like this - it's so fast!"

I can imagine the image they had (although I don't want to)- maybe something the pace of shuffleboard. People are also suprised that we use the whole tennis court, thinking we use a smaller one. Some people wonder what the different rules are and we tell them just one: We get two bounces of the ball - if we need it.

Like wheelchair tennis, people sometimes have the wrong image of people with disabilities. We all act on assumptions - it just makes life easier. But some people think that people with disabilities are miserable . Worse yet, some people think people with disabilities can't have much of a life. (Usually it's other barriers - not the disability - that limit us!)

So let's get down to basics here - this blog is a great forum to present all kinds of images of the disabled.

Occasionally you'll see that I include posts from other bloggers with disabilities. I also include stories about other people who have gone through journeys with their disability - such as the 16 year old quadriplegic I wrote about the other day. I try to link to TV shows , books and any other information I find on the subject of disability.

It's important that we keep those images fluid and remember that people with disabilities are just as different - and unique- as people who do not have disabilities.

If you have anything you'd like to submit, please feel free to email me. I'll do my very best to post it !