Our blog
(Dis)ability
June, 2007
Anyway, what is disabled? Some people view themselves as disabled because they have one or two disabilities. But what about the millions and millions of abilities they have?
Oscar Pistorius, South African paraolympic athlete.
I have noticed that we, sighted people, are afraid of losing our sight. We all have asked ourselves at least once what it would be like if we suddenly went blind. It wasn't until yesterday that I thought of asking myself what it would be like if a blind person suddenly went sighted.
If a blind person suddenly went sighted, she would feel lost. She would be attacked by a huge amount of visual stimuli her brain could not interpret. She wouldn't be able to cross the street or go anywhere on her own. She wouldn't be able to read, so she couldn't study or work. She would have to attend a special school and learn everything from scratch.
The truth is that blind and sighted people do the same thing: we get information from our surroundings. What makes us different from each other is the kind of information we are able to process. I am as incapable of processing information by touch as a blind person is of processing visual information. Now, is this mean we are all disabled?
I don't think so. If Braille was the dominant form of writing in our society, I would be disabled. But in real life, the dominant form of writing is print and it excludes all people with visual disabilities. So, even if all human beings are different and, thus, have different abilities, some abilities and disabilities are considered within "normality" and others aren't.
I am "normal" because I see and I move through the world processing visual information. A blind person is not "normal". She is "disabled" because she moves through the world processing information from sound and touch.
I have no "special needs" because the traffic lights I need to cross the street are my "right" and it is "normal" that they are included in my town's budget. Blind people have "special needs" because the sound signal they need to cross the street is a "privilege" and it costs thousands of tax dollars.
The truth about disability is that it is not a physical thing, but a social thing. It depends on our attitudes and our values, and how these are reflected in public expediture.
For all of this, next time you have to make a decision, whether it's about which coffee machineyou're getting at the office or who you're voting for in the next election, think of the people who are discriminated against because their abilities are not within our definition of normality.
Laila Laván is the author of Lucy: Loud and Clear a picture book ilustrated by Beatriz Iglesias and published by Topka. Lucy is a deaf girl who is ignored by her teenage brother. But Lucy knows that, because her brother can hear, he has a weak point she doesn't. A funny and surprising story that will make you laugh out loud.
Read more about Lucy: Loud and Clear
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