"Zither, chess, book, painting, sword.
These symbolize classical skill."
Being disabled has taught me not to take for granted those skills many people hardly recognize as such: Walking. Feeding, dressing, and bathing oneself. While I was growing up, because I could master easily those activities of daily living, the focus became my fitting in: "Just focus on what you can do," I was told, when I might have liked to try tennis or dance class or karate. Sit down, stick to what you know, and if you're talented enough, maybe eventually no one will notice that you walk funny, fall a lot, and sometimes even drool. In the '80's, pre-ADA, nobody imagined that people who weren't "confined to a wheelchair," might conceivably use one, anyway, for some things, some of the time: Like tennis, or dance class. Wheelchair karate? I don't know, but if you ever find any, let me know so I can:
These symbolize classical skill."
Being disabled has taught me not to take for granted those skills many people hardly recognize as such: Walking. Feeding, dressing, and bathing oneself. While I was growing up, because I could master easily those activities of daily living, the focus became my fitting in: "Just focus on what you can do," I was told, when I might have liked to try tennis or dance class or karate. Sit down, stick to what you know, and if you're talented enough, maybe eventually no one will notice that you walk funny, fall a lot, and sometimes even drool. In the '80's, pre-ADA, nobody imagined that people who weren't "confined to a wheelchair," might conceivably use one, anyway, for some things, some of the time: Like tennis, or dance class. Wheelchair karate? I don't know, but if you ever find any, let me know so I can:
But never mind. My point is, I wish I'd had more tools at the time to creatively confront those skills society said people like me could never attain. My internalized ableism even eventually persuaded me to give up my first love, theatre, and while what I understand as "a retreat into writing" seems to have led me to this match made in Heaven with my actor-turned-writer husband, what I hope to give our children in the challenges they face is the insight to discover that skill is as much about how you approach a task as what you attain in the doing of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment