Things I wish I knew before becoming disabled

There are many things in life that we wish we knew, but here are a few things that I wish someone had told me before I became physically disabled.

The world is not an accessible place. Even with the Americans with Disabilities Act in place, not all locations are required to be accessible to those with disabilities. For those who are not aware, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, is a set of laws that help protect against the discrimination of people with disabilities. This includes equal access to public spaces as listed in Title III of the Act. There are locations such as small businesses and historical locations that do not need to abide by the ADA laws of accessibility, making them inaccessible to many. It is also important to note that even if a location is abiding by the laws, it does not mean that the space is accessible to everyone, as all people have different access needs.

People are not going to understand “what happened to you.” As a person who became disabled in high school, there was a huge lack of understanding from my peers. People never fully understood “what happened.” For me personally, nothing “happened” except for the progression of disorders I already had. Many people would tell me that they “miss the old me.” Yeah, you and me both. 

My friends went on my disability journey with me, so they had a good understanding of everything, but there were people outside of that circle that had no clue what was going on. Many individuals thought that I was faking my disability, but my friends put a stop to that very quickly. It is very important to build a strong support network of people who will always have your back.

People are going to stare. Let’s face it, we are all guilty of it. You see something or someone different and you stare. When my disability journey began, being stared at really bothered me. There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop others from staring, and it is something I was forced to accept. After a couple years into my journey, I began to take back some control of the staring situation: I would stare right back. My other mentality was to give them something to stare at. I would do weird things if I caught someone staring and they would usually avert their gaze once they realized what I was doing.

Your life doesn’t have to change. Things will be different, there is no denying it, but you don’t have to stop doing what you love. There are so many ways for you to continue to be involved in the activities that you enjoy despite your disability. 

You are still the same person. Regardless of what is going on in your life—whether it be something relating to your physical or mental well-being—you are still you. Things may happen that shape who you are but again, you are still you. You get to decide how to live your life and only you can decide how you want to move forward.

Knowing all that I know now, I don’t think I would change anything about my life. That, however, doesn’t change the fact that I would have liked to know a few things before starting my journey.