Being Voiceless
Losing my voice and my ability to speak for myself after my surgery was extremely devastating. I had already lost so much. To have my only way of communicating taken away too felt terrible. Not being able to express how I felt or communicate my wants and needs took away my identity as a person. I couldn’t advocate for myself. Looking back on it I was living based on what others decided for me. Every decision made regarding my life and my health was made by someone else. So in reality it was my life, but I was living it based on the decisions of others.
Thankfully, I have an extraordinary family who advocated for me and prioritized my well-being and happiness over anything else. For about 4 to 5 months my family was my voice and it is thanks to God and the decisions made by my family that I am here
Speak Up!
Gaining my ability to speak back and having a voice to advocate for myself and others has been one of the biggest blessings I have been given. I now know how difficult it is to have no voice and no say in what happens around me. This experience taught me that, if you have a voice and decide to be silent, it is no different than not having a voice at all. Lately I’ve realized how necessary it is to make our voices heard. There can be no change unless someone is willing to speak up and advocate for what we believe to be fair.
I have been part of the disability community for 7 years now and I hadn’t realized how much change needs to occur in order for us to have the same access, opportunities, and privileges as everyone else. I have met some amazing people this year who despite having a disability of their own and being extremely busy with other things, work to create change and make the lives of us with disabilities that much better.
Use Your Voice To Create Change
I hadn’t realized how much power there is behind advocating for what you want and/or need. Learning to advocate for myself gave me a sense of control over my life. Sometimes when I go out I realize that people do treat me differently because they assume I can’t speak for myself based solely on me being in a wheelchair. Many people have the misconception that having a disability means we can’t speak for ourselves and that is anything but the truth. I want to be seen and treated as a productive member of society. I think everyone wants that.
The best way to create this change is by starting a conversation and raising awareness regarding this topic. The more we talk about it the bigger the change will be. The next time you see someone with a disability think about how you would feel in their place. Put yourself in their shoes and think about how you would want to be treated if you were in their place. Whether you have a disability or not we all are human and want to be treated as one.