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All week I have been thinking a lot about the topics we have been discussing in class and I've been finding it pretty crazy how much issues around disability overlap with other topics we have been talking about. That said, here I go...

So, much to the amusement of my friends and classmates, I began a story with, "I saw so many disabled people!" this weekend, and it was true! We talked in class about how we have been taught from an early age not to stare at disabled people and we have been too scared of offending them, that I feel like in some ways they have become invisible to us. I know that sounds horribly harsh, but I do think it is true. Sure, we visibly see disabled people, but we don't actually see anything but their handicap because that is what they become defined by. Just last night I was taking a quiz about Grey's Anatomy characters and there was one my friends and I just could not get. When we finally gave up, we realized that that one character was the doctor who was autistic. I'm not saying we forgot who she was because she was autistic, but that our only way of recognizing her was by her disability. But back to my exclamation. I'm not sure if that statement is offensive. Because the topic of disablity is so new to me, I find myself keeping my mouth closed, too afraid to say anything that might be offensive or insensitive. But this weekend, I did see a lot of disabled people. Not just their disability, but them as people. I didn't just look the other way and pretend I didn't see them. Yet, I found myself back in that same situation in which I didn't want to offend anyone by looking at them. Ahh, this can get so complicated.

Anyways, moving on...

In discussions about disablity outside of class, I heard about situations in which people identified as disabled in that, although they were "able-bodied" they felt like one of their limbs should not exist. Sometimes this desire, this conflicting identity, is so strong that they cut off their undesired limb in an effort to become who they "really are." This situation is said to be reflective of a mental disorder, yet I wonder why. Although somewhat disturbing, aren't these people who "suffer" from this "illness" no different to others who feel like they don't belong in their bodies? I don't know...its just something I've been thinking about.