I should be dancing!

I should be doing a victory dance. A couple weeks ago I blogged about a cultural competency course I went to and the inaccessibility I went through getting there.

Today I received apologies from a head trainer and from the head of my district. I feel honored with the sincerity that my employer, the Oregon Department of Human Services, took my complaint. The decision was made that the facility just is not adequately accessible to hold future trainings.

So why am I not dancing?

I would like to say that I am a "together" disabled guy. I'm not. I often wish I weren't disabled, that I didn't have to deal with my disability....that I didn't have to deal with my walker or my scooter, depending on my pain level any given day.

Most of all, I wish that other's were not forced to confront my disability...such as the Ambridge Center.

But you know, the dance of life does not allow me to leave my disability for no one to see. It's with me 24/7.

When I walk out my door and into unfamiliar territory, life is sometimes scary. People might not understand what I say, or might assume my IQ is very low. I have trouble signing receipts. Self-serve cafes are very scary to me.

But when I get around people I know, situations like at work where I am a known quantity, life is easier. I might need to ask a friend for help with my tray in the cafeteria, but later on when someone needs to figure out how to get to a pcms screen, I'm their guy.

I just feel bad in a way that my accessibility needs are a burden I had to share with my agency and the Ambridge Center. It is a learning experience for us all.

Just an aside, I was in Salem today at the DHS building for a meeting concerning the Title IV-E program I work with. At morning break I heard a crowd in the foyer of the building. There was some disability awareness activity. Dr. Bruce Goldberg, head of DHS, shook my hand. And I saw the ADA representative for the department who I had met at the Ambridge Center last week.

I'm playing the Rolling Stones right now...and I'm dancing...