The Voiceless Minority

It's been a long time since I have written, but I recently watched a video that got me thinking. The video is linked below. I have shared it tons of times since I have watched it. In it, the speaker Stella Young brings up an idea of something called inspiration porn.             She says that the lie that has been perpetrated is more social than physical. I could not agree with her more when I posted the following status "No, I am Not an inspiration for getting my Master's degree and having a disability. No, I am Not an inspiration for getting out of bed every day. Having a disability doesn't make me inspiration, just food for thought." I got a mix back of responses. Some did not understand my point for posting the status, my point being that the inspirational things that I have done should have nothing to do with my disability. My achievements should be based strictly on their merit. They should not have an aster...

            Being a new disability advocate, I find myself continually plugged into various publications. One publication I get news from is the  American Association of People with Disabilities . Every week they put out a handy newsletter entitled  Disability Weekly . In a recent issue in a segment called  In the News,  they had a story about a mom who wrote a somewhat controversial piece. Her piece was entitled  My Child with a Disability is not My Hero.  As the title suggests, Miss Sarah Sweatt Orsborn asserts that disabled people but disabled children are not heroes. At first glance, even I, the non-politically correct writer, that I was taken aback. However, after looking further into Miss Orsborn's premise, I have to say I agree with her. The premise of the article is quite simple. Orsborn suggests that the term can be more harmful than positive.  From my perspective, as a disabled person, I cannot help bu...

The last blog I wrote was entitled “The Acceptance Problem.” It talked about an issue that is not often discussed within the disabled community, that of disability identity versus complete identity. Now it is only appropriate to talk about another issue that is not talked about which is disability and depression.         There are a variety of disabilities. There are the obvious types, which can be seen, in physical disabilities. There are also hidden disabilities that impact a person’s learning style such as Asperger’s, Dyslexia or Dysgraphia , just to name a few. However, one type of disability that is not often considered a “disability” is that of mental illness. Whether it is Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, or Depression these can be very debilitating, when one combines these disorders with a physical disability, the discussion virtually stops.        My battle with depression has led me to come to several c...