First, They Came For Disabled People

Hello,

For the past two weekends I had the privilege to see Orange County Community College's production of "The Diary of Anne Frank". My sister played Margot Frank (and did a great job btw) so I saw the show four times. Watching the story of the Frank family, the van Pel family, and Mr. Pfeffer reminded me of several things. The first being NEVER ever hate someone because of who they are and what they cannot control. The show also reminded me to always be thankful for what you have, while Anne Frank was frustrated with the conditions in the annex, she knew it was paradise compared to the concentration camps.

Seeing the show made me so grateful to be living in the time that I do in the place that I do. If I was alive in Europe during the Holocaust and did not escape, my death would have been a near certainty. Along with the fact that I am Jewish, I'm also disabled. The Nazis targeted the disabled community first. Over 250,000 disabled individuals perished in the holocaust. People with genetic abnormalities were also sterilized, so if I wasn't killed I would have been sterilized at the very least. It's absolutely revolting to think that people would have wanted me dead for being a disabled Jew.

 I am thankful that times have changed for the most part we must remember that it is never okay to harm someone because they are different, regardless of the scale of the harm. So to the people who think I'm going to hell because I'm a Jew, to the people who teased me because I'm a cripple, it is that kind of behavior that allowed the Holocaust to happen. We cannot allow a tragedy like that again, never again.

For more information on the disabled victims of the Holocaust, go HERE.

Crippie's Tippie- Do not hate, as Anne Frank said "all people are truly good at heart".

Self Image And Disability

Salutations!

One thing I wanted to do with this blog is answer questions that I am often asked. One of the big ones is "how does being disabled effect the way you think about yourself?" First off, my main disability causes some skeletal deformations. That means some of my bones are shorter, and warped.

That's my arm, and probably the most normal looking limb I have. Thanks to my disability my legs are different widths and heights, my arms are crooked, not to mention the 15 scars from my 10 surgeries, it's safe to say in general my body does not look "normal" by any standards.

That being said, I can't say I'm terribly self-concious about these imperfections. I used to be insanely self-conscious about every imperfection my disability bestowed upon me. When skinny jeans and leggings started becoming popular I REFUSED to wear them due to the fact that my legs are kinda crooked and are different widths. One day I got tired of limiting myself because I don't look "normal". I obtained a pair of skinny jeans and go figure, they didn't look half bad. Sure, my legs looked crooked but when I went out in public no one seemed to notice. It was then that I realized that all my "flaws" are not visible to the untrained eye and thus NO ONE CARES! No one cares if my arm is slightly warped, no one cares if I have a giant scar on my leg. Once I realized that other people don't care, I stopped caring.

Along with realizing that no one else cares about the imperfections, I made peace with my body by gaining some control over it. I did this by getting a tattoo. Most of the visible alterations of my body are scars, I had no say in what they would look like and while they are kick-ass they're not particularly attractive. The tattoo was an alteration that I could control, and it was colorful and beautiful. Tattoos in general are becoming more and more popular within the disabled community, actually. While I can't prove it, I'm gonna say that I'm a trend setter.

In conclusion, being a cripple can have a negative impact on one's self-image, especially if your disability leaves you severely deformed. But if you make peace with what you cannot change and change what you can, a cripple can have the self-esteem of a normal person... if not more!

Crippie's Tippie of the Day- If people laugh at you, tease you, and bully you because of the way you were born, ignore them. They tease you because they are idiots who do not know any better. They might want to make you feel weak, but you are stronger and braver than they will ever be.