Other Points of view

I have great opportunities, through my writing and Facebook support groups, to meet some fabulous people! People who always amaze me. I know how difficult it is to navigate this world. Although I can empathize and understand the frustration, I was brought up in the same world as everyone else. I was never taught to think about certain things that I have to now and even things I don’t but others have to. I talk about an inaccessible world mentality and that includes me. I know my added worries but I’m constantly trying to understand other people’s struggles. I just wasn’t taught.

I’m going to start a page for other people’s stories to hopefully let people see things through another person’s eyes. I can share stories to educate others about wheelchairs but there are hundreds of different disabilities and perspectives. I would be a complete hypocrite if I didn’t share other perspectives. Not just disabled people’s stories but friends, family and people who work with the disabled. Caretakers, friends, people who work with the disabled, those stories are drastically unheard and really need to be shared. These people often feel that their feelings are insignificant and that they have no right to complain because they don’t have it as bad. It’s just as terrible and so important for others to hear. The disabled want to hear it and other caretakers really need to hear that they aren’t alone in these feelings that they feel discouraged to tell. The better the caretakers feel, the better care they can give.

Can you even imagine how depressing it must be for those who work in a profession where they see many different disabled people and situations daily?! Although I have great respect for these people and would be lost without them, I also worry about them. While people are worried about taking care of the patient, who’s taking care of them? There is such a big lack in good care and a lot of the people in the profession did not choose it, it was just a paycheck. I wish people like that would go to a profession where the only thing suffering from a lack of care and concern is paperwork. NOT PEOPLE. This has led me and likely many others to avoid the help they really need.

These stories can include your name or be completely anonymous. Please help educate people by sharing your story and encouraging others to do the same.

In my support groups, I often see poems and everything. It’s usual to see but the other day, I saw a poem that really spoke to me! I’ve been in similar situations and although I never revel in another person’s misery, it was nice to see that someone else completely understands! It shouldn’t be something so surprising but I don’t get to see many people like me because this world is so inaccessible. So many amazing people with a lot to offer the world and insights not everyone can understand the way they can. The world should adapt and benefit from these unique experiences. There’s nothing like a shared misery and knowing that they fully understand. I messaged her immediately to ask if I could post her work. What a nice woman! I also found out that she is a lawyer and a published writer. I want to share two of her poems but I’m also going to include a link to her website. I really recommend checking it out.

Mary Keating:

Last week I tried to get a bone scan because sitting for 50 years has led to osteoporosis. Called ahead to tell them I can’t stand and to dust off their Hoyer lift. (Do you ever wonder if that contraption was first designed to move sacks of potatoes?)

Anyway, it didn’t go very well. So, I did what I usually do to cope with the unrelenting stream of dangerous and demoralizing nonsense we navigate everyday, because the world still isn’t designed with us in mind. I wrote a poem about it:

Bone Scan Appointment

There’re not enough ways

to bemoan yesterday’s

devastating delays

How the system betrays

when a hospital disobeys

disability laws set ablaze

and patients are left

with their dignity bereft

now victims of theft

as their health care is effed

Had the scanning table’s height 

matched up just right

to my wheelchair, it not invite

demoralizing fright

when a Hoyer lift is misused

and my body abused

by a staff that’s confused 

by a machine underused

and I ended up bruised

and eventually refused

the treatment I need

because they couldn’t proceed

Forget the physician’s creed

Those who don’t stand up, take heed

Your health care—it isn’t guaranteed

Mary Keating

Any one else go through similar circumstances?

—

New poem I’d like to share with you all. Hope it shows to those who are non-disabled that parking in accessible spots is a big deal. 

You Might Imagine Life in a Wheelchair

Disabled people just sitting 

around while others wait on them

hand and foot. All needs provided

for. Not very adventurous.

But each morning, I teeter on a tight-

rope with no safety net as I slide 

from bed to chair. One false move

will send me crashing into the ravine

of helplessness. I repeat the same act

to toilet, shower, and to finally escape 

in my van, fully dressed, hopefully prepared 

for the next challenge that pops up

like in a game of survival. This morning 

the accessible spots at work are occupied 

so I create my own with an orange cone—

traverse a slippery slope riddled with 

craters ready to pitch me out, plant my face 

into a asphalt lot, as I play extreme dodge 

ball with mammoth monsters. SUV’s

loom above me, oblivious to squashing

me like a mosquito. I catch a fit man

hopping into his sports car, leaving

the safe space intended for me now free.

I reach for my cell, remember I left it

in my rampvan. Navigate the parking lot 

pitfalls again only to find my cone crushed

by a woman obviously in a rush. “Miss,”

I yell, “please move. I can’t get into my van.”

She turns, waives her hand like a princess,

“I’ll be back in about an hour,” and slips 

inside the building. I venture back across

the obstacle course—aware I have no lifeline.

Attention lapsed for a brief moment,

my chair stumbles, and I take wing.

Mary Keating

http://MaryKeatingPoet.com