Disability Culture: Commonality of our Existence

You may have heard me refer to disability culture on this blog. While discussing the situation at Gallaudet University, there has been mention of a Deaf culture and the need to maintain one.

What is disability culture , you may ask? It has been described as a group identity formed from our history of oppression and a common bond of resilience. *

People with disabilities are a diverse group. As noted over on The Gimp Parade in a post yesterday, some would say there is a ranking and hierarchical system that exists, placing those with certain disabilities over others. There are those who spend time discussing whether one is "disabled enough" to be considered disabled.

The reality is that within each type of disability, there are degrees. For example, with a spinal cord injury, you have paraplegics and quadriplegics. The less paralyzed you are, the better, some would say. So for years I've applied the phrase "para-wannabe" to myself when I tried to "pass" as a paraplegic instead of a quadriplegic.

Yet, despite these differences among us and between us, there is a group identity based on what we live. I don't believe anyone can fake being disabled for long among those of us with disabilities. Living with a disability requires resilience, resourcefulness and a survivor type mentality often reserved for reality TV shows.

Living as a quadriplegic on some days is not unlike being in one of the Survivor shows. You try waking up alone, paralyzed in both your arms and legs, trying to accomplish the tasks of feeding yourself, preparing food, keeping food in the house, dressing and cleaning yourself - and working full time - when no other human being is around to help. I don't count a cat who has no opposable thumbs as a useful partner.

Those of us with disabilities understand the truths of the commonality of our existence and, hopefully, will not be way laid by creating more barriers between us. I believe we need to work on the issues facing us that still put barriers in front of us from society in general, rather than focus on individual differences that can serve to divide us and distract us.

This is not to preach to anyone about how they feel, but simply to state that my position is to work for unity among those of us with disabilities. We do not need to be divided and conquered - we need to tap into the commonality of our experiences and work for the common good.

We need to be proud of our ability to survive and thrive in this world that is created and maintained by and for those without disabilities. And, when we are able to get a leg up, we need to look around and see where our brother and sister are to find what kind of helping hand we can extend or create to make those possibilities come true for them.


*definition from Steven E. Brown, MAINSTREAM MAGAZINE, 1996