āI donāt think people with disabilities should be in [insert occupational field]ā
Okay. Have you taken time to consider how many disabled people you have already worked with in that field that you didnāt realize are disabled?
I know able-bodied people like to think that disability is obvious and visible all the time, but itās not. The fact is, you donāt know what someone else is capable of in their own body, even if you know everything there is to know (not possible) about their disability/s.
Iāve helped with medical emergencies with my own equipment, Iāve had to administer medication or do extra checks at work, Iāve had to explain that Iām not being rude when Iām eating fruit snacks during a meeting, Iām just trying not to die, and every time someone (not everyone, but always someone) finds it incredibly difficult to comprehend that I am disabled.
Iām young. Iām skinny. Iām active. I do a very physically demanding job. They canāt understand how Iām disabled and all of those other things, nor how they didnāt know about it until that moment.
I had this discussion very recently with a coworker at a new job. She said disabled people shouldnāt be in archaeology; itās too physically demanding and when they inevitably canāt live up to the standards, the people around them have to āpick up their slackā.
I explained my view as above and she said āIāve been doing this longer than you, I donāt think you understand.ā I said āI understand perfectly; you think I canāt or shouldnāt be doing this job.ā
She stared at me. Dumbfounded.
People never stop to consider who they are having that conversation with. When able-bodied people think ādisabilityā they think they are the all-knowing authority on who that applies to, but most have a very limited grasp on the sheer coverage of that word.
And even if they understand, they should not be the authority over our lives.













