The guy who stopped by earlier to say that we were patronizing people with disabilities kind of chapped my bum. I liked Scott "Blind Guy's" voice on Idol...a few weeks ago. Now he's stinky like that old chicken in my fridge. Dude's gotta go. Compared to the other contestants ringing their big bells, his voice is a thin little wind chime. I wish he were better because I like when people with disabilities are really really so good at something that you don't even see the "disability" label.
I think all the American Idol contestants have disabilities. Well, all of us, we each have at least one big disability that we need to figure out how to work around, go beyond, hide or highlight. I kind of hate that word disability. And I tell ya, I realllly hate when people want to say "disabled" but instead say, "differently abled" or "not typically abled." Because it takes too long to say all of that stuff. I also hate that "disability" is this big general pot that you can throw deaf or armless or autistic or schizophrenic people in all together, and then the rest of us without obvious disabilities are looking into the pot trying to figure out how to talk to everyone correctly.
I saw my new idol Aimee Mullins talking more last night about how to not only overcome our physical or mental disabilities but to use them as a strength. I was so inspired, again, that I turned into Paula Abdul: In the rear of the auditorium I jumped up from my seat and gave Aimee a standing O as she walked off the stage. Then I looked around and saw everyone else politely applauding from their chairs. I was the only one about of 400 people on my feet. I may as well have had a crayon-drawn mustache across my face.
I try to go back and think like a child. Children say what's on their mind, they're inquisitive, they talk about how they're different from other kids, nothing is impossible. Why does Shabba have brown skin but mine is white? Why does Shabba walk different? What kind of a name is Shabba? I don't want to be scared of being embarassed for asking questions like this. I'm a big believer in celebrating - not ignoring - our differences. In order to celebrate them we need to notice them.
Notice a blind guy feeling his way across the American Idol stage and making a joke about how he didn't know he was wearing pink pants until just before he performed.
Notice a female athlete with prosthetic legs who was once told she'd never run be an Olympic champion.
Notice a guy with Down Syndrome whose parents never thought he'd have a job but is now working, in charge of stocking apples and oranges in the market.
And I'm going to sometimes say things like, "He danced really well, for a blind person." or "He does a great job, especially for someone who doesn't have a whole brain." because I was brought up with certain reference points. I don't think we should feel badly about ourselves for noticing things or saying these things. Kids don't. How do you dance across a stage without seeing the edge of it? How do you model on a runway without legs that look like all the other legs? Are those kinds of questions insulting? Would I be insulted if someone said to me, "How do you stand up when the wind blows, since you have such little feet and a big top?" I don't know. It's funny to me when Salty D. says it. If I were insulted I'd guess I'd say so. I'd expect that from anyone else too.
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