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?Now it's up to you to choose; are
you with me, or do you want to be another hurdle in the way of trying
to get some respect for disabled people??
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Things have to change
I've written a lot about my recent recovery of strength and function through
Mind Instruction. I've been very excited about it because I want to walk
and I am on my way there, but this is not the only change I want to see,
and am willing to work for in my lifetime. However "well" I get, (and I
believe I will make a full recovery), I'll never forget how difficult life
is when you're disabled, not because of the physical difficulties but because
of social attitudes.
It's a public scandal that the needs of people with disabilities continue
to be so unashamedly ignored and I want to try and use my "position" to
help influence some change for the disabled population.
My experiences of disability have shown me that the massive compromises
we as disabled people are forced to make, to compensate for society's lack
of disability awareness, are completely unacceptable. I believe that many
of us are so used to hearing the word "no", and being excluded, that we
have somehow lost sight of, or become numb to, the severity of the injustice
we are subjected to. This is natural because it's just not possible to be
angry 24/7, but the fact remains that we are living an inferior existence
to the rest of the population and sometimes we have to remind ourselves
of this so we don't get complacent and give up fighting altogether.
What I'm saying is nothing new, but I'm working through a thought process
and hoping that by writing it in this column, I can get you all involved
and see if we can't actually do something to change our lot and to force
our way into a better way of life with more choices.
My master plan (or should I say "Masters' plan", ooh, even my toes are curling,)
is in the embryonic stages at the moment but to start off, I'd like to use
the Youreable 'Other
stuff' forum to open up a dialogue.
Please could each of you write your name, age, a very brief description
of your disability and your top three gripes in priority order; what are
the three things that you want most to see changed because they would make
the most positive impact on your life as a disabled person?
Depending on your disability, I expect the list will be quite varied but
please keep your points short and concise as I will then be compiling all
the information, taking it to the most important person I can find and possibly
offering them some sort of sexual favour in return for a modicum of interest
in the wish list of a bunch of whinging old cripples!
We want change so we need to take action and, as my Mum is so fond of saying;
"If you want something done, do it yourself!" This phrase is not perhaps
the most appropriate to be bandying around amongst disabled people who are
not always in a position to "do it (themselves)!" but a worthy sentiment
none the less, so let's try this and see if we can make a difference.
I need as many "testimonials" as possible so please spread the word amongst
any disabled people you know. I realise that because everything I say or
do publicly gets picked over in various discussion topics on this site,
there'll probably be lots of negative comments about this column too, so
I look forward to that. Bring it on, I say.
And whilst you're having a good cuss at my expense, remind me exactly what
it is you're doing to promote disability awareness because if you've got
the time and emotional energy to come up with some of the nasty postings
I've read about me, you're clearly not doing enough.
Thank-you again for the supportive words I've read on the site and for the
cards and letters I've received. I am not able to reply personally because
of the nature of the mind work I'm doing but I very much appreciate all
your kindness. I know I am in a very privileged position in many ways and
this causes a lot of resentment from some disabled people, so those of you
who don't begrudge me and are actually able to congratulate me make the
difference between me wanting to work in the area of disability and not
wanting to, and I thank you for that.
I don't even try to get my head round the anger directed at me because what
exactly am I expected to do? Apologise for being able to earn a living and
get media attention? Drop out of the spotlight and go back on income support?
I tried to get myself heard in numerous ways when I wasn't "press-worthy"
and got nowhere because in our sorely under evolved society, working in
TV, being young, female, reasonably attractive and articulate gets you listened
to and being unemployed and stuck in a basement flat, does not.
It's not right, I agree, it couldn't be more wrong; now, when I have considerably
less to worry about than a few years ago, people are actually taking notice.
But then it's not right that the Beckhams are idolised the world over and
stories about natural disasters and wide-scale human suffering are demoted
to the back pages of the newspapers whilst the headlines are full of David
and Victoria's new haircuts, however, that's the way it is right now and
we can't blame it on the Beckhams. They're not the ones buying the millions
of newspapers with their photo on the front.
So, I can either put all my energy into trying to change society's twisted
ethos and put morals and humanitarian issues back at the top of our list
of priorities OR, I can work within the confused social structure that we
have ALL somehow created and try and change things for disabled people from
the inside. I choose the latter because I don't have two hundred years,
and now it's up to you to choose; are you with me, or do you want to be
another hurdle in the way of trying to get some respect for disabled people?
STOP THE WHINGING AND GIVE ME YOUR TOP THREE YOU OLD WIND-BAGS! Go
there
P.S I'm interviewing the lovely Mat Fraser on "That's Esther", Sun 29th
of September on ITV. I'm not sure what time so hit Ceefax. |
