I am not your cripple --------

	SEARCH 1,000 stories, 75 discussions BROWSE 75 contents pages SUBSCRIBE to free e-mail digest
ARCHIVES \| BOOKS \| CRITERIA \| DIGEST \| HOME \| LINKS \| MAP \| MISSION \| ONGOING DISCUSSIONS \| RULES

Name: Gary Roberts
Email: jg86@hotmail.com
Date: 08 Oct 2000
Time: 22:24:54

Story

I sat across from the woman who was director of the independent living center, and she was talking about her kids.Her kids were the people with disabilities who came to the center for help. I was there in the role of a representative with the state department of rehab services, so I had to tread with care around this situation.

Not too long after that I was talking to my supervisor, and I complained about the attitude. He told me to let it drift: "You know how she is. You know she does a lot of good for those people." He shifted uncomfortably, and I knew he was not that much different in his attitude toward gimps.

I told the woman not long after that the people who came to the center already had a mother and did not need another one. She looked at me-- and I knew she was offended and I would hear back from my boss because she picked up the phone to call him. I told her that the clients came there to learn something. She said they came to have a good time and eat a good meal.

Over the years, I raised this issue at meetings and conferences. I heard people talk about those people who were on disability and who had no incentive to work. I was there when they made crude jokes about people with disabilities and talk about them in a way that we would not dare talk about another minority group.

In another place and time a woman was talking to me about her sister. She was referring to the woman as "It" while she sat beside her. I love it, it is good, I can't help it. This woman was expressing an attitude that many people have toward those with disabilities as things and not whole people.

"You know," I have had people tell me, "You are smarter then people think you are. You don't do bad for a cripple."

The other side of the coin is the pay off for many people with disabilities who make it to a certain level on the ladder: "Well, I don't think of you as disabled." This statement causes me to pause and think: "What are they saying. Have I made it because they don't think of me as a gimp? Should I begin to purr as they stroke my silver fur, or should I begin to laugh?"

I was told, "We can't hire you to work with hearing people because you can't hear. If you worked with both deaf and hearing, you couldn't provide equal services to the hearing." Then they turn around and hire someone who is not a gimp as a counselor for the deaf who never worked with the deaf before. Oh, he can learn sign language, but wait -- I can't learn to hear again. "You should work with the deaf -- that is what you are best suited for," I was told by my supervisor.

I was also told that we could not hire a client of mine who was in a wheelchair because he could not do home visits. It didn't matter that we had counselors who were not gimps who had never done a home visit. "You know," I answered, "I don't think of you as a rehab specialist; I think of you as just anyone else."

I have had limited success with clients in getting them to engage in risk taking. Many are as more afraid of success as they are to live on as a failure. To be a victim is easier than being someone who is a success. It is easier to live with no expectation than it is to set your goals high and be shot down and humiliated.

After all the years I fought to steer people away from victimhood, I ended in time a victim myself. I don't know a remedy to escape from being a man child, to avoid the dark pit of self pity and self hate. I know people who have succeeded and I admire them, but I wonder what lies beneath the surface.

hscjq

Name: Isabelle
Email: abby@email.com
Date: 07 Feb 2008
Time: 06:00:03

Story

egypt grils <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/egypt-grils.html" >egypt grils</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/egypt-grils.html]egypt grils[/url] egypt grils kamasutra manisha koirala xxx clips <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/kamasutra-manisha-koirala-xxx-clips.html" >kamasutra manisha koirala xxx clips</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/kamasutra-manisha-koirala-xxx-clips.html]kamasutra manisha koirala xxx clips[/url] kamasutra manisha koirala xxx clips free barn yard sex vedios trailers <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/free-barn-yard-sex-vedios-trailers.html" >free barn yard sex vedios trailers</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/free-barn-yard-sex-vedios-trailers.html]free barn yard sex vedios trailers[/url] free barn yard sex vedios trailers youn girlies cuties nude <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/youn-girlies-cuties-nude.html" >youn girlies cuties nude</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/youn-girlies-cuties-nude.html]youn girlies cuties nude[/url] youn girlies cuties nude spy vdosex <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/spy-vdosex.html" >spy vdosex</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/spy-vdosex.html]spy vdosex[/url] spy vdosex eve angel in jeans <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/eve-angel-in-jeans.html" >eve angel in jeans</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/eve-angel-in-jeans.html]eve angel in jeans[/url] eve angel in jeans www woman sex with horses <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/www-woman-sex-with-horses.html" >www woman sex with horses</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/www-woman-sex-with-horses.html]www woman sex with horses[/url] www woman sex with horses nuse xnxx <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/nuse-xnxx.html" >nuse xnxx</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/nuse-xnxx.html]nuse xnxx[/url] nuse xnxx heroines fuck in india <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/heroines-fuck-in-india.html" >heroines fuck in india</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/heroines-fuck-in-india.html]heroines fuck in india[/url] heroines fuck in india free phorno movis <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/free-phorno-movis.html" >free phorno movis</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/free-phorno-movis.html]free phorno movis[/url] free phorno movis lolitas paysite passwords <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/lolitas-paysite-passwords.html" >lolitas paysite passwords</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/lolitas-paysite-passwords.html]lolitas paysite passwords[/url] lolitas paysite passwords philipines extreme babe <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/philipines-extreme-babe.html" >philipines extreme babe</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/philipines-extreme-babe.html]philipines extreme babe[/url] philipines extreme babe sluty sammi clip <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/sluty-sammi-clip.html" >sluty sammi clip</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/sluty-sammi-clip.html]sluty sammi clip[/url] sluty sammi clip hindi durty kocks <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/hindi-durty-kocks.html" >hindi durty kocks</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/hindi-durty-kocks.html]hindi durty kocks[/url] hindi durty kocks vip girls hall of fame duvx <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/vip-girls-hall-of-fame-duvx.html" >vip girls hall of fame duvx</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/vip-girls-hall-of-fame-duvx.html]vip girls hall of fame duvx[/url] vip girls hall of fame duvx bdsm muvies <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/bdsm-muvies.html" >bdsm muvies</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/bdsm-muvies.html]bdsm muvies[/url] bdsm muvies casting striptiz <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/casting-striptiz.html" >casting striptiz</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/casting-striptiz.html]casting striptiz[/url] casting striptiz naket young boy <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/naket-young-boy.html" >naket young boy</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/naket-young-boy.html]naket young boy[/url] naket young boy lolit animation famili sex <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/lolit-animation-famili-sex.html" >lolit animation famili sex</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/lolit-animation-famili-sex.html]lolit animation famili sex[/url] lolit animation famili sex virginal vajina girls <a href="http://pornomovies4.ru/content/virginal-vajina-girls.html" >virginal vajina girls</a> [url=http://pornomovies4.ru/content/virginal-vajina-girls.html]virginal vajina girls[/url] virginal vajina girls

cUhjaxPHjQDT

Name: ynswrfmhadf
Email: fsslrk@xctdon.com
Date: 07 Jul 2008
Time: 21:22:17