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rejects - Stuart Miles

The more I am around people who are not handicapped, the more I realize that there is no place for me in the ‘normal’ world. I have never belonged and I never will. I want others who are handicapped, no matter what that looks like, to know, yes, I know how it feels to be an outcast.

I know how it feels for people to treat your handicap like it is an inconvenience to THEM. I know how it feels to have someone mistreat you because you have a handicap. I know what it feels like to have someone intentionally do things that target your handicap and cause pain or discomfort.

I know what it feels like to have people make certain you know that because you are handicap you are a second class citizen and have no right to ask for any accommodation or help.

I know how it feels to have someone make you feel like you should not be around or even alive because you have a disability. Like you should be put in a box somewhere so no one can be bothered with you.

Yeah, I know how that feels.

Sure, part of it is just plain ignorance; they don’t understand the issues that come from disabilities. But a lot of it comes from being selfish and self-centered. They don’t care about other people and are insensitive to the needs of others. All they care about is what they want when they want it. No one else matters to them.

This is the antithesis of a Christian attitude. Many so-called ‘christians’ will help people – until it infringes upon their own comfort or desire. Then it is game over. The evil comes out and the devil gets glorified. The hate I have observed and experienced in my life by ‘christians’ in response to disabled people is horrifying.

So, no, real Christians follow Christ’s teaching and reach out to help others. They operate in love and bear good fruit.

But these others bear nasty, rotten fruit and they are so bound up they don’t even know it.

They never stop to think beyond their own small, self-centered world to realize that handicapped people go through those ‘inconveniences’ every single day. In their world it is all about them and no one else matters.

Every day I make accommodations for the ‘normal’ world. Yet when I ask for one simple accommodation I am labeled ‘inconsiderate.’ I am inconsiderate because I try to avoid severe pain and discomfort.

So, let’s talk about that.

Let’s talk about the inconsiderate person in a wheelchair who is slowing you down.

Let’s talk about the inconsiderate blind person who bumped you with their cane or dared bring their service dog into the restaurant where you are eating.

Let’s talk about the inconsiderate deaf person because, well, if you don’t know sign language you have to write notes in order to be understood.

How about the inconsiderate autistic person with sensory processing disorder who cannot tolerate bright lights or glare or loud noise or strong odors because it sends shooting, electrical shock like pain through their entire body?

But, hey, as long as YOU are comfortable, right?