Comments for The view from down here http://willowdove.com/blog The musings of an Aussie viewing the World waist high .... from a wheelchair Sun, 13 May 2012 09:16:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Comment on Rubbing the tummy of the person with disability by Wheeliecrone a/k/a A-M http://willowdove.com/blog/2012/05/13/1787/#comment-535 Wheeliecrone a/k/a A-M Sun, 13 May 2012 09:16:23 +0000 http://willowdove.com/blog/?p=1787#comment-535 Okay. Stand back, because I have a rant about this subject. With age comes disability. More than half of people with disability are over the age of 65. I think older people are often very much afraid of disability, afraid that it will happen to them. In addition, older people are from a generation that has often been "sheltered'. Sheltered from the sight of or the interaction with people with disability. So they are ignorant. When fear and ignorance are combined, well the result is exactly what you experienced. And for people with disability who have been brought up to be respectful of their elders, the result is a frustrating situation. You don't wish to be rude to senior citizens. As a senior citizen myself, I have no compunction about being quite direct with other senior citizens who speak inappropriately to me. The best advice I can give about your experience is this - The person spoke to you in fear and ignorance. Treat the experience as such - another interaction with fear and ignorance. It won't make your experience any more pleasant, but it puts the responsibility where it should be - on the perpetrator, not on the receiver of the indignity. Okay. Stand back, because I have a rant about this subject.
With age comes disability. More than half of people with disability are over the age of 65. I think older people are often very much afraid of disability, afraid that it will happen to them.
In addition, older people are from a generation that has often been “sheltered’. Sheltered from the sight of or the interaction with people with disability. So they are ignorant. When fear and ignorance are combined, well the result is exactly what you experienced.
And for people with disability who have been brought up to be respectful of their elders, the result is a frustrating situation. You don’t wish to be rude to senior citizens.
As a senior citizen myself, I have no compunction about being quite direct with other senior citizens who speak inappropriately to me.
The best advice I can give about your experience is this – The person spoke to you in fear and ignorance. Treat the experience as such – another interaction with fear and ignorance.
It won’t make your experience any more pleasant, but it puts the responsibility where it should be – on the perpetrator, not on the receiver of the indignity.

]]> Comment on Rubbing the tummy of the person with disability by Joanna http://willowdove.com/blog/2012/05/13/1787/#comment-534 Joanna Sun, 13 May 2012 07:05:54 +0000 http://willowdove.com/blog/?p=1787#comment-534 Interestingly it was a senior citizen "advocate" and her approach to me the other day that was the straw that broke the camel's back and prompted this post. Happy M's Day Wheeliecrone Interestingly it was a senior citizen “advocate” and her approach to me the other day that was the straw that broke the camel’s back and prompted this post.

Happy M’s Day Wheeliecrone

]]> Comment on Rubbing the tummy of the person with disability by Wheeliecrone a/k/a A-M http://willowdove.com/blog/2012/05/13/1787/#comment-533 Wheeliecrone a/k/a A-M Sun, 13 May 2012 06:54:10 +0000 http://willowdove.com/blog/?p=1787#comment-533 Tell it, Sista! I don't notice the stares anymore. The inappropriate remarks are still annoying, though. And the assumption that I know every other person with a disability in the city/state/country/world/universe is just - I don't know - ignorant and tiresome. I don't mind anything that children say. It amuses me that little boys have a really difficult time keeping their hands away from the controls on my chair. Adults are a different matter - they are, theoretically, responsible for what they say and do. My experience has been that senior citizens say the worst things to me. I won't rave on about it, but they often exhibit a real "how dare you" attitude if I speak to them - as if anyone in a wheelchair could not possibly be an actual human being. I think that as more and more of us go about doing whatever it is we do, people will get more accustomed to the fact that we are ordinary people leading ordinary lives. That's a hope I am hanging onto. Tell it, Sista!
I don’t notice the stares anymore.
The inappropriate remarks are still annoying, though. And the assumption that I know every other person with a disability in the city/state/country/world/universe is just – I don’t know – ignorant and tiresome.
I don’t mind anything that children say. It amuses me that little boys have a really difficult time keeping their hands away from the controls on my chair. Adults are a different matter – they are, theoretically, responsible for what they say and do. My experience has been that senior citizens say the worst things to me. I won’t rave on about it, but they often exhibit a real “how dare you” attitude if I speak to them – as if anyone in a wheelchair could not possibly be an actual human being.
I think that as more and more of us go about doing whatever it is we do, people will get more accustomed to the fact that we are ordinary people leading ordinary lives. That’s a hope I am hanging onto.

]]> Comment on all about the paradigm by joannanicol http://willowdove.com/blog/2012/04/19/all-about-the-paradigm/#comment-522 joannanicol Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:49:47 +0000 http://willowdove.com/blog/?p=1771#comment-522 new blog post all about the paradigm http://t.co/OT7mvgne new blog post all about the paradigm http://t.co/OT7mvgne

]]> Comment on the voice Australia has a vision of loveliness by joannanicol http://willowdove.com/blog/2012/04/18/the-voice-australia/#comment-520 joannanicol Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:46:06 +0000 http://willowdove.com/blog/?p=1762#comment-520 new blog post the voice Australia has a vision of loveliness http://t.co/aAyAqja2 new blog post the voice Australia has a vision of loveliness http://t.co/aAyAqja2

]]> Comment on media behaving badly by the voice Australia | The view from down here http://willowdove.com/blog/2009/07/27/media-behaving-badly/#comment-519 the voice Australia | The view from down here Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:43:42 +0000 http://www.willowdove.com/blog/?p=182#comment-519 [...] and I understand why the show had to cover it, I just hope it doesn’t become a repeat of the Gerrad Gossins thing of a few years ago when Dancing with the Stars felt the need to raise his vision impairment every [...] [...] and I understand why the show had to cover it, I just hope it doesn’t become a repeat of the Gerrad Gossins thing of a few years ago when Dancing with the Stars felt the need to raise his vision impairment every [...]

]]> Comment on what was lost by joannanicol http://willowdove.com/blog/2012/04/10/what-was-lost/#comment-518 joannanicol Tue, 10 Apr 2012 12:23:49 +0000 http://willowdove.com/blog/?p=1759#comment-518 new blog post what was lost http://t.co/v8192aCD new blog post what was lost http://t.co/v8192aCD

]]> Comment on what was lost by Dad (aka Christopher Ridings) http://willowdove.com/blog/2012/04/10/what-was-lost/#comment-517 Dad (aka Christopher Ridings) Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:52:15 +0000 http://willowdove.com/blog/?p=1759#comment-517 Whew! Whew!

]]> Comment on I’ll be back by tony http://willowdove.com/blog/2012/03/17/ill-be-back/#comment-512 tony Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:57:42 +0000 http://willowdove.com/blog/?p=1750#comment-512 hope you get it sorted soon, joanna hope you get it sorted soon, joanna

]]> Comment on I’ll be back by joannanicol http://willowdove.com/blog/2012/03/17/ill-be-back/#comment-510 joannanicol Sat, 17 Mar 2012 01:09:12 +0000 http://willowdove.com/blog/?p=1750#comment-510 new blog post I’ll be back http://t.co/6s4YSBBv new blog post I’ll be back http://t.co/6s4YSBBv

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