I've been invited to join Inspirational Speakers for Schools to talk about disability. I was put in touch with the founder, Lon Kwantes, after my Jelly moment a couple of weeks ago and I'm excited by the wide ranging programme of talks that they offer.
So I've been thinking about disability and how to convey what it means to primary school children. In an interesting report (‘Disability Equality in English Primary Schools: Exploring teaching about disability equality and non-disabled children’s perceptions of disability’) I discovered that "younger children tended to believe that disabled people would not be able to have partners or marry, while many children of both age groups did not think disabled people could be employed. Both age groups suggested that disabled people could not or should not have children because they might ‘pass on’ impairments". The author notes that "“When we talked to children about the lives of disabled people, many were appalled about how society effectively disables people, excluding them from key areas of life. Most children appear to have a keen sense of what is socially just, and consider the way that society treats disabled people to be very ‘unfair'”.
My work seems cut out for me. But the more I think about it, the more I realise that how we deal with disability is reflected in how we deal with change. What makes us unique is the way we can adapt. Everyone faces challenges. Everyone adapts.
I was struck by this idea of adaptation after my yoga workshop with Matthew Sanford and, oddly, during my daughter's swimming gala on Wednesday. In the pool, I noticed some of the less strong swimmers using woggles to help them. I'm now a less strong swimmer. I wondered if a woggle could help me keep my legs up, rather than being forced to drag them through the water.
Yesterday, I tried.
The woggle wouldn't stay on my legs so we tried an Aqua Back, strapped around my thighs. What a difference! I could use both arms independently to swim backstroke, rather than both together. I could use my full strength to swim front crawl, rather than struggling to keep my head above the water. Hugely satisfying. Hugely exhausting.
To cope with difference, all we have to do is be able to adapt. And that's what I'll be talking about with my primary school children.
