Disability Throughout HIstory
An historical blog“I contracted polio when I was fourteen… Within earshot, my mother asked the doctor whether I would live or die. ‘You should hope he dies, because if he lives he’ll be no more than a vegetable for the rest of his life…’ So I decided to be an artichoke – a little prickly on the outside but with a big heart on the inside.”
“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”
Life is a series of stories
My life is a series of stories that I am able to share independently. My sister, who has Angelman Syndrome, is severely cognitively disabled and nonspeaking. She cannot tell her own story. If not for her loved ones, she, like so many others with disabilities, would disappear from history.
I have always had a love of history. It helps me make sense of the world. My analytical brain looks for the patterns of the past in the (vain hopes of figuring out what the future may hold. Yet the history we learn overlooks so many - we do not learn the stories of those who were not able to share them. Disability has shaped my life irrevocably. What about all of the other lives who were influenced by disability? Where are their stories?
I am writing this blog for my own personal enjoyment. I show my love by sharing knowledge and stories with others. As often as I am able, I will share interesting stories of disability throughout history in hopes that someone may share them with others.
