Last week I wrote a blog about ableism being more prominent than ever. It is never acceptable to me that people with disabilities are viewed as less than. Right after I published the article , a political action committee started airing a commercial showing the PA Senate candidate during one of the more awkward moments of the debate. The candidate recovering from the stroke was searching for words, and could not articulate what he wanted to say.
The commercial cut to people on the street asserting that the candidate was not fit. I stand by my statement that just because he cannot say something does not mean that he isn’t thinking something meaningful and appropriate.
Only another person with a brain injury can understand how difficult and frustrating it can be to know what you want to say and just not be able to do it.
When I was a child I attended a school for children with brain injuries. I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at 18 months by a famous neurologist. While my brain injury did not affect my speech, I was around others all day who had a hard time speaking. There were those whose speech was affected by lack of coordination in mouth or tongue, and those who had information processing issues. I got used to what they sounded like, and sometimes aided in interpreting when a word or two was not understood.
Anyway, this neurologist said that through therapy, time and patience, the uninjured parts of a brain can take over the functioning of the damaged parts of the brain. It takes some time for the new pathways to form, and the point of the therapy is to create the stimulation for the process to occur. It gets better.
The debate was a challenging situation. He did not hide, he faced it. People with disabilities face situations in life that don’t always show us at our best. But we move forward resolutely. We are resilient.