"…Currently, I am watching them singing and dancing aged between 12-18…in this little corner of the building. A place where I am having my short-term internship. A place I called their own little space where they find happiness and fulfilment. This is where they feel loved and appreciated because no one judges them. They are not scared of being themselves.
Surrounded by heaps of support system: Disability support workers, their friends and entertainers. You can see the joy brought by simple activities set up for them, and I've learned that their happiness is not measured by what others think of them but rather by what they feel about themselves. Being who they are and being accepted by the people around them is one of the greatest gifts they could ever have.
Most people feel pity because they are having this kind of deficit. We think fate has not been good to them... Questioning ourselves, "Why do they have to suffer/experience this? They can't value life if they have this kind of state…"
That's what we know. That's what we think.
But you know what? I've been with these guys for over a week, and in that short contact, I learned that disability is not a disease. Neither is an illness. Nor a deficit. But instead, a circumstance. A status. A situation where they don't act based on the norm. Most people call them "disabled people" because they don't do what a "normal" person does. But actually, they are humans, too. They may be blind, deaf, or mute, but we share something in common–FEELINGS, and it is not different from what they feel. And they are one of the people who can perfectly describe genuine HAPPINESS. When I was with them, I felt they were happier than me. They don't stress themselves out. Simple things such as going out to a park, mingling with the same old friends and going to the centre daily to do some little activities won't compromise their happiness. In every little thing a simple life has to offer, they welcome it with a big embrace.
And yeah, people with disability don't need our pity and sympathy, but rather, they need our respect and empathy in such a way we accept them for who they are and still treat them as an individual.Photo Source: WikiHow/Miss Luna Rose
“When you hear the word ‘disabled,’ people immediately think about people who can’t walk or talk or do everything that people take for granted. Now, I take nothing for granted. But I find the real disability is people who can’t find joy in life and are bitter.” - Terri Garr
