Disability In A Nutshell {Completed}

What You Know and What You Don't Know

First impressions. Sometimes they're good. Sometimes they're bad. Most of the time they're annoying because maybe the person can't help or physically change what you see.

Maybe they've got a missing arm, in which case, that sucks for them, because you just got a bad impression. Must be their fault they lost an arm. Maybe they wanted to lose an arm. In fact, I'm gonna judge them based on that missing arm and they're now a bad person. Not gonna follow you on Instagram, @_One_Armed_Manic_! Nice profile pic, but you really should filter out that missing arm.

Hope you felt the sarcasm dripping from the screen.

But for anyone who does purposely lose an arm occasionally, no offense. You live life however you wanna live life, bruh. Maybe you can make it a thing, being a One Armed Maniac. You can have #ONEARMEDMANIACSWAG trend on Twitter and fight monsters.

That'd be funny if that hashtag did trend on Twitter, but back on topic.

Bottom line: Don't judge anyone based on first impressions just because they're different. Unless you think being different is awesome, which it is, since being different is disability in a nutshell.

WADDUP, TITLE REFERENCE!

But seriously, don't judge people based on what you first observe. In fact, don't judge people, period. Unless they brutally murdered your mother, seduced your father, and use you as a servant. Then, under that set of circumstances, and that set of circumstances only, you can judge them.

Did I just summarize Cinderella?

Anyway, don't judge people unless your life is a Disney movie. And if that's the case, you're probably dreaming and sleeping. So when you awaken and start scolding your dream self for being an absolute prat, don't beat yourself up, honey. We all slip.

But Cinderella didn't judge them, you say. She took them into her palace and everyone lived happily ever after.

That's because Cinderella is a WIMP. Just like almost every other Disney female protagonist! Also, ever read Cinder by Melissa Meyer? It's awesome and Cinder kicks butt. SHE'S A CYBORG CINDERELLA AND SHE'S SO SAVAGE.

I'm getting way off topic here...

Back on track! This whole judging thing goes for what you hear about a person, too. Hearing that a person has Cerebral Palsy doesn't tell you a squat about them. With Cerebral Palsy and many other disorders, there are different levels of severity and it's a spectrum. For example, I have High Functioning Cerebral Palsy, which means I can go around from day-to-day without much help and the only problem is that my motor skills are not on par with your average person. In fact, last week I got rid of my walker and I'm so happy about that! (Next rant will be the pros and cons of aid equipment, and why I decided to get rid of my walker.)

But Billy Bob Joe down the street who also has Cerebral Palsy may be bound to a wheelchair, not be able to to speak, and has a completely different situation from mine. But he still has Cerebral Palsy.

Also, someone may have a disability without you being able to tell right away. And I'm not just talking about mental differences like ADHD and dyslexia. One time my teacher told me about this guy who had a prosthetic leg but you couldn't really see it. One day he came outside to see that a lady who wasn't actually disabled had parked in a reserved parking space. Anyway, he chewed her out for it but she didn't really believe that he was disabled. So he pulled up his pant leg, took off his prosthetic leg, and shook it at her like a club.

Goals, right?

While I'm on the topic of judging solely based on looks, don't underestimate disabled people.. Our disability doesn't define our personality or who we are. Someone's not stupid just because they can't speak, or because they can't hear.

Treat disabled people like newborn babies; you don't know whether it's a boy or a girl, so don't jump to conclusions.