'Disabilities Aren't Problematic.'

Image Credits: Healthline

We've all come across terms such as "disabilities," "differently abled," "specially - abled," and so on. Most of us upon hearing these terms might tend to think twice about the kinds of problems or sufferings caused to people with disabilities. This has become one way of looking at disabilities given the fact that they've been projected as an 'illness' or something 'troublesome' and when taken to the extreme, they've even been seen as a 'liability' since ancient times. Probably because then, we did not have the adequate tools and know-how to perceive them rather as a 'challenge' and thus thrive, this hindsight bias due to false notions about disabilities began to proliferate. So the important question is - "Are disabilities really problematic in today's scenario?" The answer to this question is highly subjective. In some cases, given the availability of sufficient social, psychological, financial and technical know-how to a person, some disabilities become almost invisible and are whole-heartedly accepted by everyone, thereby permitting people to 'fly-high'! Whereas, there are cases where disabilities are always considered a 'burden', 'the beginning and end of a person's day' and sometimes even a ‘barrier’ in a person's life. The main focus of this article would be to explore some personal strategies that can help a person to eradicate the troubles caused by disabilities by seeing them instead as a 'challenge' as psychology too points towards the fact that challenges are solution-oriented. In fact, don't we all have disabilities? Some of them are visible, whereas the others aren’t.

Let's say, if a person isn’t good at dancing but excels in singing, then not being able to dance effectively can also be termed as a ‘disability.’ So in this case, everything should be perceived as ‘just – normal and just – ok’. At a personal and psychological level, we may say that disabilities tend to become problematic when there's a sense of disharmony between accepting the disabilities and fighting against them. If a person with a visual disability struggles to complete a project and is facing difficulty in memorizing something lengthy, they may complain that it is because they are unable to form a visual-imagery of the given piece of information in their head. However, that is not the case. As a matter of fact, our ability to memorize and to retain information is not entirely dependent upon our visual cues. Rather, our memory gets immunity only when much emphasis is placed upon our cerebral lobes. We are then able to recall and retain things effectively. Vision is only one way to put things into perspective. However, it is neither the sole nor the most effective means of a person's effective functioning. Afterall, there's a lot more to life than this.

To begin with, if we talk about visual disability, it is no longer a 'problem' if a person is provided with enough knowledge and an all-inclusive environment. Rather, it becomes a 'challenge', which is very easy to handle and to cope with. Visual disabilities are one among those rare disabilities which do not affect a person's intellect, wisdom, perception and most importantly, a person's 'executive-functioning abilities.' In fact, some visual disabilities do not even cause a person to notice that something is different. Strange! If that's the case, why shouldn't a person thrive? When each and every problem has a solution, then, why should these 'so-called' disabilities affect a person's performance and their quality of life?

However, there are times in life when a person experiences a sense of discomfort and frustration with their own selves due to their alternative way of functioning. Such visual obstacles will cease to be problematic if one does not reject the darkness at hand and does not attempt to 'fix' or 'cure' anything.

Many of us might have come across some teens who resist using a white mobility cane for fear of being perceived as ‘different’ or ‘distinct’ which at times can cause injury and psychological stress, thereby compelling them to pretend to be happy. But such people aren’t happy in reality. Therefore, it is essential to make use of several crucial tools designed for a person’s well-being and which serve as a sense of ‘equalizer’ for people.

Moreover, in case of total blindness, it is very important to understand that focusing on the side of one’s eye-lids all the time leads to stress with no good results. Whereas, unlocking one’s intuitive and smart side can actually make a person completely outgoing , quick at performing cognitive and mental operations and at times, a person with blindness forgets that blindness even exists. As someone has rightly said, ''resisting temptations always leads to frustrations.” As a result , most of the people who have thrived with visual disabilities completely understand the importance of having a central and a balanced perspective , thereby nullifying and neutralising all the challenges caused by blindness and to replace them with a sense of ‘immunity’, a sense of ‘holism’ and most importantly, with a sense of ‘integrity with one’s soul.’

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By Sanya Gandhi

Sanya Gandhi is pursuing BA Hons Political Science from Hindu College.