My Soapbox (And YES, it has a ramp) ;-)

The definition for the word handicapped is ~ To cause to be at a disadvantage; impede.

I wonder how many people really think about what it means to be 'handicapped'. I admit, I probably didn't think about it much either before my accident (see first post).

I have been in a wheelchair now for 8 years but the only time I FEEL handicapped is when I am faced with a situation like I faced yesterday.

My daughter is a Peewee cheerleader, which means traveling to other schools for the 'away' games. The high school we went to yesterday was so ill-equipped that I could not enter or exit the stadium on my own. I could not get into the restrooms on my own. I could not reach the stands on my own, in fact I couldn't get INTO the stands AT ALL. I had to sit in my wheelchair, on the track, for the entire game. It was atrocious!
It made ME want to cry, now can you imagine if that had been a CHILD being forced to endure that??

Do you know what makes a physically challenged person FEEL handicapped?? It's not the physical challenge itself.  It's the inability to do the most basic tasks ON YOUR OWN, like going into a restroom. I am almost 40 years old, I don't want to have to ask someone for HELP to get into the bathroom for crying outloud!

I am not asking for SPECIAL treatment. I understand that we live in the country, that a lot of these places are small country towns. But I also understand that this is not some third world country where people aren't aware of the laws and needs of the physically challenged. This is 2010 (closing in on 2011) in the United States of AMERICA, and people need to understand that pouring some cement and shaping it in something that resembles a ramp does NOT make it handicap accessible!

I know there may be some of you out there who think I am overreacting. That I need to put on my big girl panties and deal with it ;-) But I want y'all to sit and think about something.. When I was 31 yrs old, married 10 yrs, 3 kids already, I certainly didn't think I would ever find myself as a Right leg, above the knee amputee, wheelchair bound, for the rest of my life.

You and you and you and even YOU need to realize that this CAN happen to you or your spouse or your kids. Most likely, someone in your life WILL become wheelchair bound or Walker dependent at some point in your life.

I don't want to become the person that everyone hates to see coming ( oh noo its the handicap nazi again), but neither can I just let this pass. What I really want to do is make people AWARE so they can voluntarily fix the problems that need to be fixed before it has to come down to fines.

I guess maybe I should become an Accessibility Consultant ;-) Businesses could hire me to come in and test everything about their business, letting them know exactly what needs correction and how it needs to be corrected :-) Hmmm , I may have to seriously think about this one :-)