Mr. President, We Are More Than an Inspiration

I watched President Obama’s State of the Union address last night, and I have to say I was disappointed. I was disappointed because, to me, it felt like the same old rhetoric. The President talked about a large number of issues, while almost completely ignoring our nation’s largest minority group, disabled people. He even forgot to mention us when talking about the many different types of diversity that make up this great nation. The only time disability was highlighted at all was when the President told the story of Corey, a wounded veteran. Don’t get me wrong, I was glad to hear our president share Corey’s story because it was an important one, and I think those stories need to be told and honored. However, I couldn’t help but feel that disabled people  were relegated to the same role we are always given--inspiration.

In policies, politics, and life in general, disabled people are so often trotted out as examples of working hard, overcoming obstacles, beating the odds, and never letting anything keep you down. Disabled people’s lives are so often used to say to the non-disabled population, “if they can do it, so can you.” The everyday lives of disabled people are all too often turned into caricatures, or used as feel good human interest stories to “inspire” and tug at the heartstrings of the audience. I can’t count the number of times that people have told me I am inspirational just for being out in public. I can’t count the number of times that I have heard somebody say, “If Karin can do it, so can you,” or have had somebody look at me with a sideways glance and say to their children, “Be grateful for your life; it could be so much worse.”

 Very seldom though, do those same people ever ask me about my life. Rarely, do the people who hold me up as an inspiration want to hear about the struggles I face as a disabled American. People don’t want to hear about the lack of accessible housing, the ridiculously high unemployment rate, the astronomical cost of personal care, or the painful scars left by years of bullying and  ableism. When it gets down to the real issues, people rarely want to talk about disability. Last night was no different, our President was happy to tell Corey’s story as an example of American strength, but he virtually ignored the needs of the disability community when outlining his policies.

When you’re disabled, people often treat you as if you exist to inspire them, to give them that warm fuzzy feeling in their stomachs, or to make them feel better about their lives. When you’re disabled, people so often expect you to be all about overcoming and making the best of every situation, no matter how impossible it  seems. When you want to talk about the real issues you are often painted as bitter or angry, or even worse, silenced, and ignored.

If you want to see people like Corey and myself as inspirational then you also need to take a step back and try to understand the struggles that we face. It’s time to remember that disabled people are not simply poster children for overcoming. It’s time to remember that Corey, myself, and every other disabled person is not here for your inspiration or to give you that warm fuzzy feeling in your stomach. We are people, and we want to be treated as such. We want to be able to get jobs and not work for sub-minimum wages. We want to be able to go to school and not have to worry about restraint and seclusion. We want to be able to live our lives and take care of our needs without having to live in poverty, just to survive. This is the part of disability nobody talks about because it’s not pretty, and it doesn’t look good on a poster, on the stage, on television, or as a sound bite in a speech.

I am a disabled American. I want to live the American dream just like everyone else. I want to be able to go to work and support myself. I want to be seen as a person with rights, and opinions, and value,  just as I am, not by overcoming my disability, but by living with it.

Mr. President, it is easy to clap for people like Corey, or myself when we are up on a stage, but it is time to start considering us. It is time to start legislating for us. It is time to start counting us. We are so much more than an inspiration, we are human beings. Please don’t forget that.