I have read this entire thread. Thank you all for being so candid. I now know I am not crazy. Thank you for sharing your experiences.It was both enlightening and saddening to know you all have experienced the same incidents that I have. My friends tell me it is "all in my imagination". That is because they knew me before the injury.THey know I am an intelligent capable woman. When someone sees you in a wheelchair or using a cane they seem to make assumptions about you, and those assumptions are all negative.
I was injured last year in a MVA and am now disabled. I can walk a little with the cane, but could never walk around WDW. I had to rent a wheelchair or an
ECV. I could not believe how rude people were. I have encountered it since using the cane, but it was worse while I was in the chair.
People try not to look at you, they avert their eyes, they bump into you, you are invisible. OH, and the smells. People think nothing of passing gas in public and guess who is eye or should I say "nose" level to it. Thats right, us. THey will aalso stand right in front of you. I had people stand right in front of me for the parade! Actually went in front of me and my chair! I asked him a few times to please move, I was at the front of the parade line and there for almost 45 minutes before the parade. He acted like he did me a big favor by moving, and then blocked my 6 year olds view. THe woman next to me was in a chair too, well she was a bit more verbal than I was, and the guy finally moved.
With the cane,I have experienced pretty much the same thing,rude behavior. I actually had a few kids in WDW touch my cane. THey moved it, pushed it up and walked under it, without any word from their parents! Imagine touching someones cane. What if I fell right down? Hey, what happened to not wanting the lady with the cane to fall down? It would be absolutely wonderful if WDW had a path for wheelchairs and people ambulating with canes.Maybe mark it with blue lines? Naw, wouldnt work, they would still run in front of us and cause us to hit the wall. Like that didnt happen atleast three times in WDW.
I do get some doors opened for me sometimes, as well as people slamming doors in my face at the mall. People will see you struggling and turn and just slam a door on you. I say I understand that you dont know if I want the door held open or need help. But
ask me. Maybe I would welcome help opening that heavy door. IF I am having a good day I may not ask or need your help. But there are days I can barely make it to walk my daughter around the block to school.
The woman who wrote that people equate disability with mental deficiency had it so right. One of the other class mothers at my daughters school actually asked me if I finished school. SHe was shocked when she found out I had a Master's Degree, and praised "someone like me "for doing something like that with "well, good for you, dear". It astounds me that anyone would even ask me such a question. Well, it really shouldnt. I worked in customer service and in marketing/ sales for years. It made me rethink the percentage of people that are good and bad. Well , to be honest it is 80-20 in my book, with the bad ones way ahead of the game!
There must be a way to educate the public about physical disability. Physical disability is not mental disability. Are people afraid this could happen to them? Maybe. It did happen to me. Did I treat wheelchair bound people the way I have been treated? No. I have always cared about people's feelings. But hey,
thats just me.
Let me know your thoughts,
Deeloves dis