“My Complex Relationship With Disability, Representation And Healing Made Me Shift Perspectives. But Are We More Accepting Now?”

My relationship with my specific disability diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy has always been tumultuous at best. Most people who know me personally will tell you I am one of the most joyful people they have encountered. Church people tell me that I have what they call a “sweet spirit” or that I’m strong because I deal with such a challenging life.

I live with my aging parents, spending most of my time in my room typing blogs or editing my novel. We have a van, but I still rely on them to get to appointments or places because the paratransit in my city is unreliable. (That’s something I will discuss in a future blog.) Because I am a non-ambulatory wheelchair user due to my disability, it complicates how I travel.

I often wonder if society has become more accepting of people with disabilities. Last week, while browsing Instagram’s Threads offshoot, I stumbled on an interesting intersection of faith and disability discourse. It got me thinking about how I view myself as a disabled person.

So, where do we begin with a discussion on disability?

Start here: I hate (and yes, I mean loathe) the word “disabled.” I joke with my family that calling me disabled “makes me sound like some non-functioning or malfunctioning electrical component.” “You can’t disable a person like you can a light switch!” That’s the logic I use when asked to explain it to someone who is able-bodied. We’re still “able” (also why I hate the term “able-bodied” for non-disabled folks). The umbrella under which my condition falls, Cerebral Palsy, has been known by name since the late 1800s.

As a Christian, my disability and my faith are both equal parts of my identity. It’s why I started this blog on the subject of disability as part of my author platform. The fall of Adam and Eve brought about many changes to humanity. Illness became a normal occurrence. People are made in the image of a perfect God. We are markers of His territory. That leads me back to the discourse I saw on social media.

Disability advocates adopted radical views in recent years. They have even redefined what counts as a disability. Let’s talk about the terminology.

Terminology related to disability

“Differently abled.”, “Special needs”, “Disabled.”, “Handicapped.”, “Handi-capable.” All of these are terms I’ve heard in my 35 years of life. But do we really need them at all? Does God want me to define myself by a condition I was born with because I was born two months premature? We can do all this work, and some people still say it’s not enough.

Why am I even talking about this, you may wonder? I have spent my life educating people about my own experience with disability, answering questions, defining terms, and explaining misconceptions. I even (unwittingly) included a character in my debut novel with a disability.

The terms we use matter, especially for disability education. They inform and define our views. The terms will change with our language as knowledge evolves. As a disabled author, it’s important to me to inform and educate where I can. I’d like to know: What questions do you have about Cerebral Palsy and disability? Would reading about a disabled character be something that interests you? Comment and let me know.