The Complexity of Acceptance

When you use alternate means of communication it can be really frustrating to go out in community. It is hard to know whether people are understanding you and whether they will take the time to listen.

A lot of times it's hard for people to admit that they're not always comfortable with a device or a wheelchair or person who does things differently. So the more we can expose and educate people the better off we all will be. When we talk about acceptance, we're not just talking about people in society accepting people with disabilities. We're also talking about people with disabilities who are using alternate means of communication and how difficult it is for them to be out in the community.

So what do we have?

We have society that has lack of exposure therefore lack of knowledge, and then we have people with disabilities that are frustrated therefore have lack of exposure.

So what can we do about it?

1. Be patient. It might take someone longer to communicate or to process or for you to understand them.
2. Resilience. If it doesn't work, get up and try again.
3. Just get out of your own skin. It's going to feel unusual, unique, different. It's okay. You'll learn by experiences.

What it all boils down to is everyone needs to stop worrying and just be brave.