Time to Speak Out

  

Last Saturday, after an annoying experience in a store (I won’t say which one because I like most of the people who work there), I came up with an idea for a book called “Time to Speak Out”. It would be a handbook for people who don’t have any physical disabilities to understand how to interact with people who do, especially people who are nonverbal like me. 

Next month I’ll be 68, and I feel like nothing has changed much within my lifetime regarding society’s idea of who people with disabilities truly are. I feel like I need to speak out and make it clear that we are just like everybody else. 

What made me have this book idea was that I went in to a store on my own to buy some things I needed. People there take different shifts, and I know most of the sales people, but there was one person on shift that day who had trouble understanding what I was trying to say. I was sitting in front of the products I wanted to buy and pointing at it as well. Of course, I also used my communication board and spelled out the names of the items I wanted too. Suddenly, the sales person grabbed my joystick and drove my wheelchair backwards about a foot, thinking I wanted to move away from the shelf for some reason. In the end, I remained calm and patiently explained what I wanted. They finally understood and I paid for my purchase. 

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Far from it! Usually I can just shrug it off and even laugh about it, but other times I feel sad and angry at how little has changed. I mean, would the sales person ever try to grab another customer and try to steer them to a different spot? I think not!

It’s time to speak out!