There's nothing wrong with me, or why I love access

Today is Blog For Access day. So, I am blogging for access.

It is no secret that my life and world are filled with and fulfilled by disability - in my community, in my profession, in my home, in my heart, and in my head.

Yes, there is cynicism and and snarkiness - like when  a colleague suggests that transcribing their audio critiques for the whole class so that one deaf student can participate in the workshop is a time-consuming hassle and I simply stare back, raise an eyebrow and chortle, "oh really?".

Yes, there is some naivete and overeagerness - like when a new acquaintance confesses that they are afraid of losing their sight and I make horrifying, gregarious proclamations about how amazing it will be when they can't see anything at all and how, oh, how amazing Audible.com and Voiceover are.

The fact is, disability is not definite, nor a definition. Just as every person has an individual consciousness, every person with or without a disability has an individual experience. Living with a disability is natural and normal for many people. Conversely, many people are not comfortable with their new (or old) disabilities. Part of being a person is learning and growing and along the way, integrating aspects of ourselves into our identities.

If someone were to ask me what the hardest part is about living with a disability, I would say it is other people. But that's a cop out, too. For every bank teller who asks me instead of my partner whether or not he can sign his own name, there is a waitress who puts the coffee down with a simple "Coffee's on the left". If access is tolerance, than it works both ways. We can and should expect access and awareness of access. We also can and should educate and inform about what access means to each and every one of us individually.

The biggest lesson of my adult life has been to slow down, to take a deep breath, and to listen. Let us all do this a little more - and just watch the access grow.