Betty Alfred <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Yes - the "before time" refers to my predisabilty days.  I know
> I'm kind of the lone ranger on this listserv, since you all
> have had CP all of your lives.  But still, I feel at home here.
> Maybe part of it is that I want to "go to school on you," as my
> husband would always say to the guy putting before him.
>
> My concern is with day to day encounters with nondisabled
> people.  When I meet people and we start chatting, I always try
> to find a way to work in a little bit about disability
> awareness -- just a little if I can.  Sometimes I let it go for
> practical reasons, or if I have a funny feeling about doing it
> -- like if I sense that the person is not going to respond
> well.  But I found out the hard way that thinking these things
> every waking minute can make you go nuts.  I do a lot -- a lot
> -- of silly, stress relieving thinking too.  If I didn't have
> that balance, I'd be a basket case.
>
Balance is all, in what we eat, what we do to our bodies and how
we deal with other people. The world is not fair, but it is fun,
and by proselytising too much we are reducing the amount of fun
in the world.

I must admit, I have little patience with "disability warriors"
who only "fight" on disability issues - particularly those which
most affect themselves. I know you are not one of those!!

Looking back, most of my energy in "changing the world", has been
on behalf of people with mental handicaps, rather than physical.
A group with even less chance to change the world. I find it so
strange that a lot of physically handicapped people are as biased
against the mentally handicapped as the rest of the population.
(It may be that we with CP have probably all been mistaken for
drooling imbeciles at one time or another, and we are all so
proud of our intellectual abilities, that we can lose sight of
the fact that intelligence is only one ability, there are many
others - perhaps more important).

Here I am, losing my balance again!! Ommm, Ommm, Ommmmm.

> Scrappy -- I like that.  Scrappy is good.
>

But not as good as Scooby!!!

--
Deri James