Hi
some thoughts about self definition
I teach in a college in which I have to climb two floor everyday. the cost of having a lift is far too much and the authorities would not want to spend that much money for one person. I cannot get into the library because the stairs are very slippery and difficult. Within the library too, there are three floors. I cannot go to the canteen as the route is too messy so I either carry my lunch or go without it. I cannot use the electric cattle because staffroom is on the first floor.
I have a wheel chair but the lane in which
I live is not wheelchair friendly, so unless is pushing me, I cannot get out in the evening. Most of the libraries are inaccessible
Yet if I were to compare myself with a colleague who is visually impaired, her issues are totally different, yet she from my vantage point is not constrained in her mobility.
cannot get out in the Similarly for her, I at least have a hand driven car, which makes commuting easy. she hates to identify herself as disabled, whereas I have very consciously asserted my disabled identity in my fight for the rights of the disabled. However, if we were to get into these debates about specific disabilities, within our context, we would get totally marginalised.Definitions thus always need to be contextualised.
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