Today I'm going to the Disability Expo here in Toronto and I'm wild excited. I am looking forward to this for a variety of reasons:
I work with people who have disabilities and I think I'm responsible for keeping up on what's out there to assist me people with mobility, with communication, with having fun. Devises themselves can have an important meaning: Wow, a devise that enables skating for people with wheelchairs to skate. Wait?? What?? Skating? Disability? WTF? Yep devises have messages.
I'm also excited because I spend most of my days being 'the only one' ... the only wheelchair user in the mall, in the grocery store, in the movie theatre, in the gym ... in the virtually everywhere. Even with the friendliness and even with a welcoming attitude, I'm still the only one.
Now I'm going to a place where there will be others, like me, rolling around, or making their way around using whatever they need for mobility or for processing the place to get around.
I won't be alone.
I won't be the only one.
So, I'm getting ready to dive into the disability gene pool for a few laps. And I can't tell you how nice that's gonna feel.
Yup, that sense of fully belonging in a place, and the sense of freedom that accompanies it, is wonderful. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteyes sometimes it's nice to not be the only one. For ice skating? I want that.
ReplyDeleteWhen I found your blog, I had that feeling. Thank you.
ReplyDelete