Inspiration Porn

     Throughout my entire life, I have been around people with all kinds of disabilities. I have seen people in wheelchairs, people with missing limbs, and Down Syndrome. Growing up I had more experience being around Autistic people though because I have a lot of family members who have it. Some of my family members have high-functioning autism and you would barely even be able to tell that they have it. I also have family members whose autism affects their everyday life and they need help to be able to navigate.

    My little cousin, Connor, I have been around since he was brought into this world and I was able to understand his disability so well because I was almost ten years older than him. It's amazing how over the years I have noticed the little independent man he has become. He has gone to endless amounts of speech, occupational, and physical therapy over the years, but they have greatly helped with his independence. When he was little he would only ever eat pizza and chicken nuggets and his mom would have to bring the food upstairs to his bed to eat. Here we are almost 15 years later and he is in the kitchen making his own food that he will now eat at the table. 

    At the time I remember being so proud of the fact that he was becoming such an independent little man and was doing everything on his own. As much as I wanted to make a comment to him and make a big deal about his newfound cooking skills I didn't. The reason for this was that I knew how desperately he just wanted to fit in like everyone else. He wanted to be seen as a normal guy who was just making himself something to eat. I see at family parties when my older family members make a big fuss about the fact that he completed a simple task he just rolls his eyes. He gets frustrated because he knows that he can fit in just like everyone else and he doesn't need people to constantly point out the fact that he is doing it goddammit. Just like the people in the paralympic video when they talk about how they aren't special they are just like everyone else. 

    I totally agree with Stella Young when she talks about how people objectify disabled people for the benefit of non-disabled people. As an able-body, I can recall so many times when I have seen someone liberally treat a disabled person differently because they think they have to "dumb it down" for them. Where they put their hands on their knees and bend down to them to congratulate them for doing something as simple as saying what time of day it is. The vast majority of disabled people don't want to be treated that way they want to fit in and do the 'normal' things that everyone else does everyday.