
Kindness Toward Disabled People Is More Complicated Than You Think - DoreenMichele
https://time.com/5881597/disability-kindness/
======
giardini
Those who acquire a disability early have lived with it awhile and adapted to
their environment. So I don't even think about it, knowing that, if they need
help they will almost certainly ask.

Those who are disabled by accidents have a harder time IMO b/c it takes time
to learn how to adapt and they will always remember what life was like before
the accident. That memory is hard to let go of: part of you is gone forever.
I'm more attentive to these people, knowing that often the learning and
adaptation is occurring right in front of me.

Then there are those, mostly elderly, who don't yet realize that they are
becoming disabled/weak. I see them in stores, for example, struggling to reach
or lift (e.g.,cases of bottled water, an item on a shelf 8 feet up). I always
offer to help, and always leave them with the reminder that "Tall people are
here to reach the top shelf, so don't hesitate to ask!"

Sometimes I think of a life with normal height and strength, a life where I
wasn't the only one who could see the grunge growing atop the refrigerator or
who could help move a piano up the stairs. But we're all different, we all can
do different things and, thanks to our differences, there's always someone (or
some ones) for the task.

