There is a day, week and month for everything these days. From National Cup Cake Day to Autism Awareness Week and Movember. All have the same aim of celebrating and/or promoting a particular cause. Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. However, I’m not really feeling in the mood to celebrate my blindness. Whilst I accept my disability, I wouldn’t say I’m proud to be blind. It isn’t an attribute I have chosen, it is one that was written in my DNA. In the same way I’m not one of those people who is proud to be female or Asian. It is just who I am. Nevertheless, I am proud of some of the things I have achieved despite my disability. Gaining a First Class degree in English Language and Literature and representing England at the Commonwealth Games taking the top spots.
I harp on about it a lot, but us disabled Brits are so lucky to live in such a disability friendly country. On this day of raising awareness of people with disabilities, I would like to remind people that not all disabled people are as privileged. Even in this day and age, there are millions of disabled people who are hidden away by their families. Then there are the ones who literally can’t leave their homes because their country is inaccessible.
Whilst today is my day, I would like to take the opportunity to thank my Guide Dog Calvin for his 8 years of service to me, the government for supporting me financially, my employer for giving me a job and my friends and family who all allow me to live an independent and fulfilling life. Thanks to them living with a disability really isn’t so bad.
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