© 2024 KUAF
NPR Affiliate since 1985
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
KUAF is hiring a general manager! This position will include overall management, leadership, and planning, as well as fundraising, content development and delivery, and technical system development. Click here to apply and to learn more!
KUAF Community Spotlight

Disability Minute for July 20, 2015

Today, we hear from Arkansas Support Network's Kasey Hodges. Kasey, using a speech synthesizer to help her communicate, talks about how frustrating it can be to be treated much like a child by those who may not know her capabilities.

TRANSCRIPT:

Never assume you know a person simply by looking at them. Some of the greatest minds of our time have “disabilities”. We have evolved as a culture over the past 25 years, yet some things have not changed. When people see somebody with disability or impairment, many people can’t help glancing or staring, especially kids. Wheelchairs are magnets for attention. Kids are naturally fascinated and/or curious. They’re bound to have questions. Some parents believe that it’s rude for kids to go up and ask questions about impairments, or they try to answer them themselves. And some parents don’t realize that the person with the impairment can probably hear them. Assumptions could be harmful because they may not be correct. As a woman with cerebral palsy, I’d rather be asked because it’s the only true way to learn about the whole me. My wheelchair is not a reflection of my intelligence. I am definitely different from other people, but I am not below them, or above them, for that matter. However, it has been assumed that I am hard of hearing or need to be talked to like a baby. A few times, new aides have asked me if I could spell their names. Mind you, this was after they were told I was attending Hendrix College. It’s frustrating when somebody ignores my accomplishments and asks me a question for a kindergartner because I use a wheelchair and communication device. Unfortunately, some people similarly tend to talk to whoever is accompanying me first before realizing I am fully capable of holding a conversation. Nonetheless, I had a hairdresser who only addressed my aide and either didn’t catch on or didn’t care that I could understand and respond to her.

Also, sometimes people misinterpret the relationship between a person with a disability and a non-disabled person if they’re together in public. Once when my guy friend, Blake, and I went to a local restaurant to play trivia, a guy who obviously had been drinking went up to Blake and told him good job for being with me and helping me with my drink. I shouldn’t be made to feel like a charity case.

I mostly just laugh these occurrences off because I know there’s nothing wrong with me; it’s a societal issue. But I’m seeing that it’s important to try to change viewpoints if not for myself, then for others with disabilities.

KUAF Community Spotlight
Pete Hartman is KUAF's operations manager.