Living on planet Earth, is a challenge. The challenge is not only for the able-bodied, but for the disabled individual, as well. Just because a person is disabled does not preclude them from dreaming, from setting goals. It is not necessarily the goal but the able-bodied individual that gets in the way.
I have heard on numerous occasions, "but, you are disabled", "but, you are in a wheelchair"... like they were telling me something I didn't already know. Able-bodied individuals can be so obviously ignorant... They mean well... well, I would think they mean well. Others are just plain MEAN!!!
Able-bodied individuals think that for some reason the disabled *need to be protected* from themselves. We do not. We just need to do things in a different way... a way that works for us.
For instance, I target shoot. I love going to the range and plinking on paper targets. It's a stress reducer, for me.
There are other individuals in wheelchairs that like to go skiing, or snorkling, or sky-diving, mountain-climbing (not for me, but good for them), riding horseback, flying their own planes, etc. The disabled have the same dreams and ambitions as able-bodied individuals do. Yet, we get stymied by the able-bodied. Why... it is only because of *THEIR* fear that "something might go wrong. Yet, that very "something might go wrong" with the able-bodied... Do they back down, no. So, why should the disabled. We are, after all the same. We are both HUMAN. Do they not realize that we have researched things, just as much as they have and have a *FULL* understanding of the risks involved.
What I find funny is that the gov't promotes "anti-discrimination", yet, when someone who is disabled seeks permission to do something, there are a whole bureaucracy of paperwork that has to be completed and understood... Been there have gone thru the "Paper Tiger", on more than one occasion.
This has to stop. Everyone wants to be treated the same. Be it racially, ethnically, sexually, physically, etc. My question is *WHEN* is that going to happen???
The LGBTQ community have made great strides in their quest to be treated fairly and equally. Yet, when the disabled community attempt to be heard, they get pushed away, pushed aside... "oh, you might get hurt"... Isn't that *OUR* choice??? Is it easier to IGNORE than include???
What I have found demeaning is that the disabled are assigned tasks that are so mundane and meaningless. We get to fold paper and stuff envelopes... Oh wow, brain drain. Yet, the able-bodied think that is the hardest task we can accomplish. How ignorant of them.
I am not the only disabled person that knows their way around a computer. Nor am I the only person in a wheelchair that knows how to use a joystick to get around. Pilots use joysticks to fly. I would love to learn how to pilot a plane. Yet, there are those pesky foot pedals for brakes to deal with. There are planes that come with hand controls.
What I do not understand, for the life of me, is why an able-bodied person is stuck behind a video screen piloting a drone towards a "bad guy" target, when a person in a wheelchair could do that very task. We can even come with our own chair...lol
