I look back on my childhood and to me, it didn’t seem different to anyone else, I went to school, I took part in clubs and I had friends just like any other kid. If you asked someone else, they’d probably look at me and think of course it wasn’t normal, how could I possibly compare all the hospital trips, the medical equipment, my wheelchair life to a ‘normal’ child’s life.
Growing up with a disability is something I don’t think anyone will ever be able to explain properly, it’s an odd thing.
On the one side, growing up with a disability isn’t “normal”, but it is to me, it’s all I’ll ever know.
On the other side, it is extremely frustrating. The reason it’s frustrating is due to the lack of understanding from so many people; that’s not their fault, we’re just not used to seeing disabled people in our day to day lives. Unfortunately, it is still rare to see disabled people in the media, so unless you know someone personally or are purposely following disabled actors, musicians, writers etc, (I don’t mean literally, that would be creepy, please stop) you just don’t see disabled people.
The lack of representation disabled people have in the media world, means unfortunately I still get those looks, or comments towards me. Occasionally people try to whisper about me and I would just like to clarify I wear two hearing aids at all times, I see you muttering to each other about whether I should be stood there on my own or sitting in the sun. No, I won’t turn into a pile of dust if I sit in the sun and yes, I can drink, I’m 22 and survived 4 years of law school, I deserve a drink.
One of the biggest struggles I have, is people either just ignoring me or talking to me in their best baby voice. I appreciate why people may do this, I look young and I’m in a wheelchair, which 90% of the time is being pushed by one of my parents. So, yes, I understand why people instantly go to talk to a parent or talk to me in ‘that’ voice.
My advice to you, is talk to all disabled people that same way you’d talk to any other adult. If they don’t or are unable to respond, I’m pretty sure whoever is with them would talk to you. Don’t make assumptions that all disabled people cannot communicate, it can be very isolating just being sat there in silence whilst you ignore me and talk to my Dad, I mean I’m definitely funnier than my Dad!
I started this blog, because I want to share my life, I want to share the fact that I successfully went through school, sixth-form and university. I have a great social life, thanks to my wonderful family and friends who have been there with me every step of my life. But I also want to help people, I want to explain life from a disabled persons perspective and even if it only changes one person’s thinking, then I’ve done a good job.
I will be trying to post once a week, if you have any feedback, questions or requests of things you’d like me to talk about please feel free to leave a comment below or message me on social media.
Instagram: @alexstewardd
Twitter: @alexsteward96
Speak soon,
Alex.