Our "Disability Awareness"

Disability Awareness usually refers to making non-disabled people “aware of" disability and disabled people. I’ve been thinking that the label also nicely encapsulates the mindset that comes with actually having disabilities.

It’s the awarenesses we have to develop and maintain, in order to do the stuff we need to do and want to do every day.

It’s always knowing we have an extra layer of planning required for us to do, well, just about anything. Of course, everyone has to plan for some things, but we have to plan for everything, and our layers of planning tend to be thicker.

It’s always having to factor our disabilities into most experiences. Even being sick is more complicated. Sometimes it’s worse, sometimes not. But it’s always just a bit more of a pain.

And yes, it’s the low-grade awareness, that occasionally becomes a high-grade fever, that other people who appear to be just going about their business are aware of your disability. Which not to say they they necessarily understand it, or that they have a problem with it. That’s a whole other issue. The point is they’re aware of it, no matter what we do or think about ourselves.

Again, not necessarily a big deal, but that’s our disability awareness.