Telling people what Jesus has done in my life
I’m passionate about telling people about Jesus and what he has done in my life because he is why I am still alive. Even before I accepted him as my Lord and Savior, he was at work in my life, and he is still working on me today.
Getting people to stop using the words Disabled, Disability, and able-bodied
I have had a back and forth, up and down relationship with how I view myself and my cerebral palsy. I will admit that I started calling myself differently-abled when I came home from a week in Sacramento after graduating from high school. I was chosen to attend the governor’s committee of people with disabilities. One of the first nights there, we were shown a documentary that chronicled the history of how people with disabilities were viewed and talked about. The documentary said that the proper way to speak about a person with a disability was differently-abled.
Now that I am older and I am healing more every day from what people around me, honestly, primarily strangers, thought I should be. I have chosen not to use the words disabled, differently-abled, or disability as it relates to me personally. I have decided to say I use a walker or a wheelchair because I don’t see those things as part of my identity. They are equipment, and I am someone who uses them for assistance.
I am proud to be associated with people who use the term disabled community. Still, the reason why I do not like these terms is that they go against the things that these amazing people stand for. The word disabled means not able, yet I know tons of people who are kicking butt in life, so yes, they are able! And if you think of the word differently-abled, Everyone in the world is differently-abled because we were all created unique, not one of us is the same.
Furthermore, the word able-bodied is one of the most heartless words I have ever heard. I believe that it implies that people who are not equipment users or that are viewed as living without struggle are somehow better than those who use assistance and have to do things in life at a different pace
If I am asked, I will tell you that my name is Marie, and I have cerebral palsy, and I would be happy to give you a short explanation of what it is if you wanted me to
Encouragement Notes Podcast 