The Able(L)ist

“See me now, the blind girl, living, taking up so much space, making herself at home where she does not belong.”

When the majority speaks only of its own needs and perspectives, accepting these as the norm, it also states to the world that the minority is invisible, that they do not belong, that their concerns are not as relevant.

How could anyone capture the joy of life so well, speak so powerfully about women’s rights, and yet refuse to recognize the right of people with disabilities even to exist?

Navigating life with a disability is beautiful, hard, anger-inducing, scary and chaotic. It’s a lot. Which is why, over the years, I have come up with rules to help me to live a life of dignity as a blind person.

I will hold onto this word, “visually-challenged,” as I walk on my journey of healing and growth. And perhaps someday, I will be strong enough to call myself “blind” without reliving the memories, the pain. Someday, I will make this word mine.

I am not the helpless heroine of a story that fate wrote for me. Neither am I the undaunted warrior who never gives in to weakness and despair.