Young Turks

I was having drinks with some people in the disability community last night. In my conversation with one woman who is an established and well-known figure in the disability community, I remarked how I don’t know many people with disabilities in their twenties and thirties. The majority of disability activists I know are at least ten years older than me. She replied that when she was growing up, she bonded with other disabled peers who shared her desire to fight for access and equality. She then told me that today’s young people with disabilities seem more integrated into society and not interested in identifying themselves as a separate community. To some extent, she’s probably right. People in my generation came of age in a time where we were already guaranteed at least some basic rights and services. We took it for granted that we could go to school and do most of the ordinary things our able-bodied friends did, like go to a movie or eat at a restaurant. Most of us assumed that we would get into college without much difficulty. And to a growing degree, we are expecting to be employed and financially independent.
A lot of the tough battles were already fought for us. And perhaps that’s made people in my generation and younger somewhat complacent. Over the next decade or so, the vanguard of original disability activists will begin to fade from the scene and a new set of leaders will be needed. I’m curious to see how and whether my peers will rise to the occasion. I wonder if the world we grew up in–a world that in some ways seemed ready-made for us—will shape our own strategies for the inevitable battles yet to come.