My friend and colleague John Tschida had an op-ed piece appear in yesterday’s Strib expounding on the the oft-repeated maxim from Disability Advocacy 101: living with a disability is not an inherently tragic experience. What I like most about John’s piece is his unflinching honesty in recognizing the difficulties and frustrations in learning to exist with a disability. He also doesn’t condemn those individuals who choose not to pursue such an existence and have critical life supports withdrawn.
I’m still not sure most people really get it when I explain that my quality of life is pretty good. I sometimes think it’s like trying to describe the flavor of some exotic dish; you can say it tastes like chicken, but that doesn’t really give the other person a clear idea of what you’re describing unless they experience it themselves.
Blogging may be light over the next couple days because my brother will be dropping by. I haven’t seen him since I was in Berlin last year and we’re going to do a little catching up before he goes off to California and his ivory tower.
