I get fed up with the endless questions on how do I cope, how do I drive, how can I ski. Can't people see I'm more than just a wheelchair user? That I have a far richer and deeper life? Last week I finally understood why people ask these questions. It's beyond their experience, this wheelchair existence. And because I'm pretty open, people want to sate their curiosity and think it ok to ask me their questions.
I came to this perhaps obvious conclusion by acting in exactly the same way I criticise others for. I was having lunch with a group that included a blind woman. She was a careers advisor but I asked nothing about her work. I'm not particularly interested in what careers advisors get up to. No, I asked her about being blind. About how she skis when she can't see (she has a guide right behind her). About how she copes with moguls (with difficulty). I don't know any blind people and it's something about which I have no knowledge or understanding. And it turns out I'm just as disabilist as everyone else. I'll try to be a bit more patient next time someone asks me about my wheelchair life.
(and completely off the point, I found this in your face signage whilst searching for a graphic to accompany this post)
