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Wheels in the City

Wheels in Public

The public persona of persons with disabilities has both positive and negative aspects that are probably evaluated differently by each individual on wheels.  I am not like every other person with a disability nor do I wish to be associated with each one of them.  I have become particularly annoyed with assumptions made due to physical appearance and/or abilities.  So much so that sometimes I fail to recognize their legitimacy.  I will examine these assumptions in order that only legitimate beefs remain. 

 

In my teenage years I became particularly annoyed with a high school teacher who continuously confused me with another student in a wheelchair.  Being especially concerned with preserving a unique identity I failed to recognize the regularity of his actions.  Categorization and classification are unconscious activities of the human mind.  Everyone performs them everyday.  It was visible in my own life as I commonly confused people who had similar tones of voice or similar ways of walking.  Looking back, having considered what I learned, I was surprised that he was able to acknowledge me at all.  That being said, I am thankful that as people with various disabilities become more and more involved it becomes harder to classify everyone of us in a similar category and unique identities prevail. 

 

Another pet peeve of the public persona is that when I meet people for the first time they will often assume that I know and have information to share about another friend of theirs who has a disability.  I am aware that these are probably people that assume that their friend in Washington knows their friend in Texas, simply because they live in the same country.  Furthermore I recognize that I do come into contract with and know more people than average from the disabled community.  However people need to understand that just because I may ride the parallel transit with someone does not mean that we have anything in common besides physical limitations.  Therefore the extent of our communication might be small talk, if that.  Still, because of the age of political correctness I should not expect to be exempt from this social faux pas.  Therefore have no valid reason to over re-act to such silly questions. 

 

When people get to know me, I want them to see my unique qualities.  But in my view the public should be public and I sense a definite lack of anonymity on such occasions where it seems that people can instantly recognize me, even if I have no idea who they are.  Such phenomenon can not be blamed on any individual after all large objects, such as wheelchairs, tend to stand out.  In addition motors that make noise will be noticeable.  Also accessibility in extremely visible locations such as the front of lecture halls makes in-conspicuity impossible.  I mean to alert society to the fact that sometimes blending in is valued and it might be worthwhile to develop technology and accessibility arrangements that are not so open.  I also mean to alert the disabled community to the fact that whether you want to be or not you will be noticed so represent the group well, and keep on rolling in the city.

 

~ Chantal

Published Tuesday, March 06, 2007 7:00 AM by Chantal

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Eric said:

While it's natural to get short-tempered with stereotypes and assumptions people make about you, it's important to recognize that rarely is there any malice behind the mistake. I do not have a disability, but I spent two years living in Japan, in a small city with a very small population of Westerners. What relevance does this have to the above post? Well, two things. The first is the way my perception of Japanese physical features evolved over time. It is a well-documented phenomenon that people have trouble distinguishing individuals of other ethnicities - this is true around the world, not just a "product of racism." I was no exception. When I first arrived in Japan, I had difficulty telling Japanese colleagues apart. This changed quite quickly, however, and by the time I left, there were occasions where I honestly mistook Japanese people for Westerners. So don't be offended if a person who doesn't know you only registers "person in a wheelchair" - that's human nature and it will change once they get to know you.

The other thing that resonated for me in the post was the feeling of being the object of attention and curiosity. I was the only non-Japanese person in the school where I worked. At the mall, my wife and I were usually the only Westerners strolling around. We got used to stares and stereotypes. Sometimes it got annoying, but on those occasions, I tried to get a handle on whether the error was just regular human ignorance or an actual attempt to be nasty. It was almost always the former.
March 23, 2007 1:47 PM
 

Amputee said:

People stare and laugh at me when I go out in public

August 14, 2007 4:26 PM
 

crippyboy 104 said:

thats because ur crippled[=

April 9, 2010 11:06 PM

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About Chantal

Chantal Huinink was born 22 years ago, 2 ½-months premature, with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Today, you’ll find her using an electric wheelchair, attending her second year of psychology and child studies at the University of Guelph in Ontario, and living in residence. Her hobbies include basketball, swimming – which can involve some sinking - and sketching. Chantal believes in a life filled with laughter and adventure…and her adventures are exactly what she bases her Wheels in the City columns on, and exactly what she enjoys writing about most. Learn more about Chantal and Wheels in the City…