Your Rights Are Mine Too Part 1

Whether it’s good or bad, I don’t know, but I tend to be someone that follow the rules by the book; I guess it’s the way I was brought up. However, now that I’m an adult, I see that there are many grey areas in life. Thanks to my mum, I was allowed to attend mainstream school. So like everyone else, I learnt what a right is.

Yet, my pretty young self quickly learned how people saw disability rights differently; therefore, their views towards me as a person changed, some good and some bad by teachers and people who worked at that school. I knew about the concept of perspective, if not the subject of discrimination. In my opinion, discrimination and inaccessibility is empowerment by isolation.

Let me give you an example of what I mean; I couldn’t go to my school’s playground for years because it had stairs and no ramps. My teachers came up with a solution to leave a classmate with me in class during the break with a list of names on rotation. Plus, if I wanted to take part in anything taking place in the hall, I had to ask dad to come and carry me up the stairs.

My mum, in particular, fought teeth and bones for a lift to be installed. As a matter of fact, it was installed a year after I left that school. At least, I’m glad that her hard work didn’t go to waste, and the students that came after me didn’t have to endure what I had to. Of course, I have my own answer to this question, but I want to hear your thoughts. Is inaccessibility discrimination to you?

Alex