New Day

For me the biggest challenge of working with a group like DRAC is that it's an all volunteer organization. No one really gets paid. And that's not so bad it's that the volunteers the organization brings in are folks on the fringe. Folks that are so shunned/isolated from traditional self-help groups, advocacy groups and the like that there's no place left for them in the “normal world” but DRAC or people again who have been so marginalized by society for their peculiar rarities, disabilities or individualism's they have to be drawn to DRAC's wide arms. Many folks are angry and vindictive. Some folks will been discriminated against and to some degree emotionally brutalized all their life and for the first time taste a little power as they learn to advocate for themselves. They are banded together with a like-minded group director whether trying to make a bus system accessible, the restaurant was stairs usable to a person in a wheelchair as the able-bodied person who walks up the stairs or a school or education program that might limit programming or activities to a certain segment of students.

I think I am a disability snob. I have to force myself to work with some populations with disabilities which I feel very uncomfortable with or that I have some level of discrimination against which is one of my own inadequacies. One of my biggest pet peeves when working with volunteer organizations like DRAC is that the constituencies of the organization have a rudimentary understanding of an issue or law but speak and act as if they are authorities on the subject, and in some cases spreading false information. My personal feeling is that these folks have often hurt their cause more than they've assisted.

Now as I write this blog my own curtain of awareness is pulled back a little and I am beginning to understand perhaps the need for me to be more sympathetic and understanding and supportive of my fellow people with disabilities. In fact I must confess I am not a great speaker particularly in public and would rather have other folks carry the ball. I must allow those without the experience that I have, and those whohave more significant disabilities then I have, particularly in the area of communication and appearance and support these folks to get the experience they need to become more polished and confident. Everyone needs a chance I know this. I have had these chances and opportunities and which is allowed me to grow me over the years. It is now my turn to assist those coming along to have the same opportunity to grow.