A Special Post On A Special Day

 

Today (December 3) is International Day of Persons With Disabilities. Every year, I make it a point to post something in my blog to create awareness. But every year I encounter a question – what new things can I tell the world about my disability? A lack of clarity makes me fear that I may be giving you the same information year after year. We need wheelchair friendly infrastructure in cities, inclusive educational institutions are required and more job opportunities for the disabled are a must. We know this.  All this is about what can be done for me. For a change, I thought I must write about what I can do for myself. Even after the government, doctors, teachers, family, friends and God have done their part, complete benefit is possible only when I start taking care of myself.

Saying Yes To Professional Help

I used the term professional help because it means different things for people with different kind of disabilities. For some it could be speech therapy and for others it could be a session with a psychologist. For me, with Cerebral Palsy, physiotherapy is a must. The pain associated with it, the time it requires and the consistency it demands makes me run away from physiotherapy. But not having an opportunity to exercise, makes me realize how these painful sessions make it easier to live with a disability. I know a lot of people who have abandoned physiotherapy because it gives them a lot of pain and can never give them normalcy. If you are one of them, then you must make time for a physiotherapy session in your schedule. It may not transform your body magically, but it’ll help you stay at your best. I’m not being a hypocrite. I’m doing what I say. I promise.

 

Know Your Disability

 For the longest time, I thought my version is the only version of Cerebral Palsy. I never knew of any variations to it. Visits to hospitals and having doctors at home, helped me expand my knowledge of what else CP can look like. Knowing things about my disability gave me a new perspective in dealing with it. This awareness tells me about the intensity of my disability and what I can do to overcome my limitations. There are people who are better and worse, but my family has taught me to count my blessing. I would encourage you to do the same. I seek motivation from through the Internet. It gives me a lot of ideas about how I can make my life better. You should try it too.

Accept It

Inclusion isn’t possible if you don’t accept who you are. I looked forward to complete transformation. I thought I’ll walk around like everyone else after my trip to the U.S. With time, I realized that I have to deal with limited mobility for the rest of my life. It is, undoubtedly, frustrating at times, but I’ve learnt to work around my disability. I do almost everything that a normal person does. My ways of doing things may be different, but I’m still living a life very close to normal. I reminded my mom about the special day this morning and she said “I don’t want to wish you because I don’t think you’re different.” I think that is the attitude we must all develop towards our disabilities. Once you achieve this, disability wont bother you as much as it did earlier. The world’s opinion about you is only a reflection of your opinion about yourself.  

I hope you liked the post. Let me know what you think. Thanks so much for reading :)