As October comes to a close, I have been thinking a lot about Disability Awareness Month. It isn’t a well known thing. I only know about it because I work at a university with a strong disability advocacy program. But it is so important.
Since my diagnosis with MS, I have been fortunate to not show any visible signs of the disease (yet!). I realize that my future may look very different and I may face many more obstacles than I do now. I see the MS warriors who use a cane or other mobility aid to get around. I see the MS warriors who suffer fatigue that makes it difficult to work their 9 to 5. I also see the MS warriors struggling with their mental health and all the other side effects and implications of this chronic illness.
So this month I made a point to go about my life conscious of what is and isn’t accessible to people with disabilities. Once you start thinking in this mindset, it is shocking to realize how little accessibility there is in our everyday lives. Despite the laws that have been passed and the strong advocacy efforts of many, our world is still very inaccessible. You will see the obvious things like people parking in handicap spots without a sticker and the less obvious like the removal of curbs in a suburban neighborhood causing chaos for a blind resident.
When you have an illness that will most likely lead to a form of disability, you start thinking about these things more, but I think it is something we should all be thinking about. We should all be considering how mental and physical disabilities affect the people around us, especially when we can’t see those disabilities right in front of us.
MS and Mimosas 