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Interacting with People with Disabilities
Recently I had to turn down an opportunity because of my disability. Ironically the opportunity came about because of my disability. It was a speaking engagement regarding public interactions with the disabled. Unfortunately it was too far away, so I had to pass. Since it’s such an interesting topic, I thought it would make a great discussion.
A YouTube video Kevin shared a while back popped into my head. Basically it shows how despite commonalities, not everyone with a disability has the same views on a variety of topics. Therefore had I spoken to this company that’s something I would want to stress. What I feel and what others feel are appropriate actions could be completely different. For example I don’t mind getting questions regarding my disability while I know others do. My recommendation is to assess the situation to deem if it’s suitable to ask.
Offering assistance could go either way as well. Sometimes I appreciate someone offering a hand. Other times, like when I’ve asked my service dog to complete a task, outside help really isn’t beneficial and can be detrimental. What I would suggest people do is ask before you just jump in. Don’t be offended if we say no. When I decline assistance I always try to be polite and give a short explanation. Like, “No thanks, my service dog is working on it.”
Oftentimes I think people don’t know what to say or how to react to someone with a disability, so they just blatantly ignore them. We are people too, no need to look the other way. I’m not saying you need to strike up a conversation. A simple glance and a smile would suffice.
Any other recommendations? Intuition tells me you have awkward public interaction stories. Please share!
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1 Reply
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Most of the time I’m with my family when I’m out in the world so people don’t usually stop and help me. But if for whatever reason I am alone, I don’t like it when people assume I’m in dire danger and rush to protect me from something that may or may not even happen. I’m 20 years old. I know how to safely hang out at the lake without my brothers sitting right beside me.
As for awkward interactions, I recently went to the doctor and he had a student with him. I liked the student immediately. He went to shake my hand as a greeting at one point but my arm was stuck to my stomach and I couldn’t warmly shake his hand back like I wanted to. So he just touched my finger instead. Lol. It was very, very awkward. But I completely understand why he did that and in fact, I have no idea what I would’ve done differently if I had been in his shoes.
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