As a freelance writer, I never know where my next assignment will take me, and I have found myself interviewing some very interesting people. I recently interviewed Karen Meyer, a feature reporter for the ABC news affiliate in Chicago, who happens to be completely deaf (the interview was conducted via email). She not only prepares two feature reports every week on issues related to people with disabilities and the organizations that help them, she also teaches classes at DePaul University to help students understand what it is like to be disabled. Part of the class involves “putting students in disabilities,” such as having them go around campus in a wheelchair or blindfolded.
I interviewed a former student of Meyer’s who had to go from the campus to Navy Pier, a distance of just over four miles, using the public transportation system, as if she were in a wheelchair. She said she had to plan her whole day in advance, because not every stop was wheelchair accessible, and sometimes she would have to go several blocks out of her way. She ran into obstacles such as potholes, construction zones, and streets that were closed. It was very frustrating for her.
I also interviewed two blind college students, and I got a taste of what their world is like. I was left having the utmost respect for these people, and for anyone, who has to go through life with a disability.
Life is hard enough for those of us who don’t have a disability. I cannot imagine having to go through life with an added layer of difficulty, trying to figure out how to do things, or get somewhere, on a daily basis.
One blind student I talked to had to switch colleges because he couldn’t get the help he needed at the first one. He made the point that other students just have to show up to class. He, on the other hand, has to worry about getting PowerPoints or other visuals explained to him, remind his professor that he needs his test in electronic format, and get pdfs converted to Word documents so his screen reader software can read the text to him. Every single day, he has to try to figure out how to do something that we sighted people take for granted. He told me he might think on a problem for hours, trying to come up with a solution for how he can accomplish something.
And yet he never complained. It’s just the way his life is, and he accepts it.
We might tend to whine and complain about our circumstances, but do we really have anything to whine and complain about? I don’t think so, not after talking to these people.
So it put things in perspective for me, and made me more grateful for my vision and my hearing, things I take for granted. Things we probably ALL take for granted. It made me grateful that I don’t have a disability.
Most people I know don’t run into people with these kinds of disabilities often. So it’s good to be reminded to be grateful for those things we take for granted. These people deal with issues on a daily basis that I can’t even imagine, and I’m sure they deal with them better than I ever would.
I think we have come a long way from the days when disabled people were looked down upon as “poor wretched souls” that drew our contempt in the worst case, our compassion in the best. On the contrary, I have all the respect in the world for people who live life every day with an added layer of difficulty. They are the true everyday unsung heroes, an example of courage and perseverance in the face of obstacles most of us can’t even imagine.
One thing that we all should remember: The Disability Club is a club any of us could join at any time, through accident or illness. So please be kind and understanding when you see someone with a disability, especially those that are not so apparent, like mental disabilities. You have no idea what someone else is dealing with or how hard their life is. Please show respect and compassion to others who are less fortunate than you. Because it’s the right thing to do, and because one day you might find out yourself what life is like “on the other side.”
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Hope & Relevance 