Why We Still Need Awareness
As the month of March comes to a close, I think we need to talk about awareness. As you may, or may not know, March is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, as well as the awareness month for several other disabilities and chronic conditions. I’ll be the first to admit I definitely have mixed feelings when it comes to all awareness around disability. I am aware of my disability every day. I am aware of my CP every time I need help to get out of bed, and every time I have a spasm. I am aware of my wheelchair every time I encounter and an inaccessible space. Living, working in, and studying disability has made it impossible for me not to be aware of it.
So I often found myself wondering, “do we actually need awareness?” For a long time my answer was a resounding “No.” In my mind, the time for awareness had come and gone, I only wanted to talk about acceptance. I struggled to see what good awareness could actually do.
While I still think it’s true that acceptance is a big part of the issue, I’m starting to realize I may have been too quick to write off awareness. I’m starting to realize that maybe it’s time to give it another look.
Sure, I often tongue-in-cheek say that I’m always aware of my CP, but what if it’s not about being aware of CP, but getting people to be aware of what it means to be a disabled person in the world that so often ignores disability? What if awareness was more than just prevention? What if awareness meant talking about issues around disability that we often like to pretend don’t exist? What if that’s what awareness means?
We still need awareness. We need awareness because we live in a world where people still refuse to admit that ableism exists. We need awareness because we live in a world where disability is still seen as a fate worse than death. We need awareness because even in 2016 being disabled is often synonymous with being less than human. We need awareness because we need to talk about these things. We need awareness because we need a chance to have a platform that allows us to acknowledge that these issues exist. We need awareness because we need acceptance, but acceptance can’t come without a real conversation about disability issues.
We need to start the conversation. We need people to listen. We need to move beyond platitudes, and start talking about real awareness. We need to talk about lack of access to housing and healthcare. We need to talk about unequal employment opportunities. We need to talk about transportation. We need to do away with ignorance. We need to make sure people know what it really means to be disabled in America. This is the kind of awareness that we need.
Awareness is not simulations and bake sales. No, it's so much more than that. It’s a chance to put an end to the excuses of not knowing. It’s a chance to break open the taboo conversations we are too afraid to have. If the chance to make sure that disability issues take center stage, and that we are not ignored, not forgotten and not patronized. Real awareness means making sure that stories of disability aren’t cast into epic tragedy, or inspiration porn. Real awareness means understanding that being disabled is a valid way of life, and disabled people deserve the same rights and respect as everybody else. Real awareness means talking about the issues that scare us, and make us uncomfortable. It means addressing inequity, and it means refusing to ignore the elephant in the room.
For me, awareness cannot be about trying to fix, or eradicate disability. It cannot be about problematizing the way I live, or talking about disability as if it is something to be afraid of. It cannot be about reinforcing the stigma, instead it must be about eradicating it. Awareness needs to be about acknowledging the inequities in our world. Awareness needs to be about understanding that the presence of an impairment is not in itself a bad thing, however we live in a society that treats people as if they are less than human because of the presence of an impairment. Awareness can never be about othering, and treating disability as if it is some foreign concept, or something to be pitied. Awareness needs to be about history, justice, and respect.
Awareness is not about the color of your t-shirt or the lights on your building. Real awareness means refusing to be silent when you see injustice. It means trying to understand even if the issues don’t directly affect you. It means remembering that we are all in this together, and that we all have a stake in the fate of our fellow human beings. Real awareness means refusing to sweep issues under the rug because it’s easier than dealing with them. Real awareness means not being afraid to admit that you make mistakes, and that you don’t always know as much as you want to. It means remembering to take the opinions of disabled people into account, and do things with us, not for us.
I use to avoid awareness, because I thought it cheapened the experience of being disabled, but the truth is I just misunderstood what awareness could and should be. If we approach awareness respecting the mantra of “nothing about us without us” it can be powerful and important. If we approach awareness with an acknowledgment that we don’t have to sanitize our stories to make other people less uncomfortable awareness could change the world. We need acceptance, there’s no doubt about that, but we still need awareness too, because we need to make sure that people understand that the disabled experience is real and valid, and that we cannot and should not be ignored.
So I often found myself wondering, “do we actually need awareness?” For a long time my answer was a resounding “No.” In my mind, the time for awareness had come and gone, I only wanted to talk about acceptance. I struggled to see what good awareness could actually do.
While I still think it’s true that acceptance is a big part of the issue, I’m starting to realize I may have been too quick to write off awareness. I’m starting to realize that maybe it’s time to give it another look.
Sure, I often tongue-in-cheek say that I’m always aware of my CP, but what if it’s not about being aware of CP, but getting people to be aware of what it means to be a disabled person in the world that so often ignores disability? What if awareness was more than just prevention? What if awareness meant talking about issues around disability that we often like to pretend don’t exist? What if that’s what awareness means?
We still need awareness. We need awareness because we live in a world where people still refuse to admit that ableism exists. We need awareness because we live in a world where disability is still seen as a fate worse than death. We need awareness because even in 2016 being disabled is often synonymous with being less than human. We need awareness because we need to talk about these things. We need awareness because we need a chance to have a platform that allows us to acknowledge that these issues exist. We need awareness because we need acceptance, but acceptance can’t come without a real conversation about disability issues.
We need to start the conversation. We need people to listen. We need to move beyond platitudes, and start talking about real awareness. We need to talk about lack of access to housing and healthcare. We need to talk about unequal employment opportunities. We need to talk about transportation. We need to do away with ignorance. We need to make sure people know what it really means to be disabled in America. This is the kind of awareness that we need.
Awareness is not simulations and bake sales. No, it's so much more than that. It’s a chance to put an end to the excuses of not knowing. It’s a chance to break open the taboo conversations we are too afraid to have. If the chance to make sure that disability issues take center stage, and that we are not ignored, not forgotten and not patronized. Real awareness means making sure that stories of disability aren’t cast into epic tragedy, or inspiration porn. Real awareness means understanding that being disabled is a valid way of life, and disabled people deserve the same rights and respect as everybody else. Real awareness means talking about the issues that scare us, and make us uncomfortable. It means addressing inequity, and it means refusing to ignore the elephant in the room.
For me, awareness cannot be about trying to fix, or eradicate disability. It cannot be about problematizing the way I live, or talking about disability as if it is something to be afraid of. It cannot be about reinforcing the stigma, instead it must be about eradicating it. Awareness needs to be about acknowledging the inequities in our world. Awareness needs to be about understanding that the presence of an impairment is not in itself a bad thing, however we live in a society that treats people as if they are less than human because of the presence of an impairment. Awareness can never be about othering, and treating disability as if it is some foreign concept, or something to be pitied. Awareness needs to be about history, justice, and respect.
Awareness is not about the color of your t-shirt or the lights on your building. Real awareness means refusing to be silent when you see injustice. It means trying to understand even if the issues don’t directly affect you. It means remembering that we are all in this together, and that we all have a stake in the fate of our fellow human beings. Real awareness means refusing to sweep issues under the rug because it’s easier than dealing with them. Real awareness means not being afraid to admit that you make mistakes, and that you don’t always know as much as you want to. It means remembering to take the opinions of disabled people into account, and do things with us, not for us.
I use to avoid awareness, because I thought it cheapened the experience of being disabled, but the truth is I just misunderstood what awareness could and should be. If we approach awareness respecting the mantra of “nothing about us without us” it can be powerful and important. If we approach awareness with an acknowledgment that we don’t have to sanitize our stories to make other people less uncomfortable awareness could change the world. We need acceptance, there’s no doubt about that, but we still need awareness too, because we need to make sure that people understand that the disabled experience is real and valid, and that we cannot and should not be ignored.
