� 2001-2006 by Shiloh
�
tired2) The effect or product of perceiving.
3) Psychology.
������a) Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based chiefly on memory.
��� ��b) The neurological processes by which such recognition and interpretation are effected.
4a) Insight, intuition, or knowledge gained by perceiving.
4b) The capacity for such insight.
Perception. Thinking on what I want to say the best way to say it is, I believe most thangs boil down to perception. There are common and communal laws, beliefs, morals, outlooks and behaviors, but even so, with the way we are different from each other individually, none of us look on or react to things the same way. Because we each have diverse personalities, experiences and environments, we perceive things differently.
Example: Susie and Jameson both like dogs and they are the kids' favorite animal. However, Susie prefers small dogs, because a labrador(sp?) jumped up on her and knocked her down when she was three, scaring her. Jameson, on the other hand, likes big dogs compared to the smaller lap dogs. Which he thinks are silly. His dad owns, trains and works with sled dogs in Alaska. So, growing up around them, Jameson prefers big dogs who can help with the work needing to be done.
Similar interest, yet dissimilar. It's the same for everything else. Then again, there are the times when people are complete opposites, like night and day. They don't or can't agree on anythang.
Emma, last week or so, brought to my attention a song for a soundtrack we are trying to put together for Live C.P., a discussion/support group she heads up over on Yahoo! for those who are disabled, their friends and families. It's a cool song and an eye opener; at least, for me it was. Reading the lyrics I was offered two new other perspectives on disabilities I either couldn't really grasp or hadn't thought about in a certain way before.
Wheelchair Talking BluesI'm glad I now perceive the world of disabled people on a broader scale. I've learned a couple of things, which I love doing (learning, that is). One of which is having more tolerance or patience for the able-bodied souls who don't perceive, or realize, what seems so necessary and logical to those of us in wheelchairs. As the song points out, a lot, or most, able-bodied people don't think anything about stairs or anything else like narrow doorways or small, tight spaces or the curbs on sidewalks. Because they can walk and manuever almost any which way they need to they think nothing of things like those. They can climb or descend, slide or scooch this way or that without using too much brain power.
I went out jogging in the city air
I met a woman in a wheelchair
I said, "I'm sorry to see you're handicapped."
She said, "What makes you think a thing like that?"
She looked me in the eye with a smile on her face and she said,
"You want a race?"She began to roll and I began to run
In two minutes she was long gone
Going up the hill I could hit my stride
But coming down she flew on by
When I finally caught up with her she said,
"Hey--not bad for someone who is able-bodied.
You know, with care and supervision you could be taught simple tasks.
Would you like to eat?"I said, "Eating, yeah, that suits me fine.
We're near a favourite place of mine."
We made our way over there
And the entrance was up a flight of stairs
"I never noticed that before," said I.
"No problem," the manager replied.
"We've got a service elevator here.
It's round the back..."We went upstairs on the elevator
With the garbage, flies, and last week's potatoes
I said, "I'd like a table for my friend and me."
He said, "I'll see if I can find one that's out the way."
And he whispered, "Is she gonna be sick? Is she gonna pee on the floor?"
I said, "No, I don't think so, she had Polio when she was small,
But that was twenty years ago."He points to a table, she rolls her chair
And some people looked down and other people stared
One mother said to her little girl,
She said, "Keep away from her, darling, that woman's...ill."
We felt real welcomeThen the waiter said, "What can I do for you?"
I said, I'll have one of your special brews."
He said, "What about her?"
I said, "Who?"
He said, "Her."
I said, "D'you mean my friend here?"
He said, "Uh-huh."
I said, "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
He said, "I'm sorry, don't get sore. I've never waited on a cr�pple before."She spoke to the manager when we were through
And said, "There's one or two things that you could do
To make life a little easier for people like us in these wheelchairs."
He said, "It isn't necessary,
The handicapped never come here."As I said good night to my new-found friend
I said, "Now I begin to understand,
To understand just how it feels.
To go through life on a set of wheels."
She said, "Don't feel sorry, don't feel sad.
I take the good with the bad;
I was arrested once in a protest demo,
But the policemen had to let me go.
We were protesting about the fact
That so many public buildings lacked wheelchair accessibility
Seems the gaol was the same way."She said, "In fifty years anyhow
You'll be in worse shape than I am now.
We're all the same in this human race.
Some of us are called handicapped
And the rest of us are just temporarily-
Able-bodied."Fred Small, Iain MacKintosh
Even if they are made aware, or somewhat aware of the needs and musts of a wheelchair-bound person, they don't and can't know what it's like for us. It isn't possible unless they end up in wheelchairs themselves. It gets frustrating for me at times when I'm faced with such ignorance, because it's so obvious to me when something is or isn't accessible. And when people, like the manager from the song, don't or won't change things for people with special needs.
The apartment I was to share with Heather and the construction workers were sort of like this. Though it was at ground level without any steps (which is part of what made it "handicapped accessible"), the apartment was, as Mom and I both noted, not wheelchair accessible. What's the difference? you ask. The degree of measures taken to ensure someone in a wheelchair can get around comfortably and easily, while being able to reach shelves, the fridge, stove, etc. and get under the sinks and has room for a shower chair/bench.
To give you an idea, let's compare my Poky apartment to the I.F. one. The fridge opened up on the...left? side so I could pull it open and manuver in to reach whatever I wanted or needed easily. The freezer was just above that and just as easy to open and pull out a frozen food item to heat up in zee microwave, which was also accessible on a wheeled cart against zee wall. The bathroom was what was really accessible and you knew it, because I could get under the sink no problem, and the room was big enough for me to turn my chair around. It also had saftey bars behind and alongside the toilet and along the shower wall.
The apartment in I.F. was nice and had big rooms--all except the bathroom. I had to do some tricky driving to even fit in there without gouging the wood cabinents. What made the apartment "accessible" were the wider than normal doorways, according to one construction worker when Mom asked about accessibility. *rolls eyes* As I said, varying degrees in measures taken.
This song helped me to see things from an able-bodied perspective. Never before had I--even though I knew walkers just don't think about how differently we must do some things--considered just how really clueless they are. It's not their fault, unless they've been around disabled people before, the ADA standards and common everyday occurrences like climbing or descending stairs don't even phase or penetrate their worlds.
The other thing that broadened and altered my perception of disabled circumstances was the lady's end comment about people being temporarily able-bodied. She was right. Some people as they age either go blind, lose their hearing, go senile, end up in diapers, having to use a cane or walker, or become wheelchair-bound. Again, I knew these are possible outcomes for anybody before death, but, I never thought of it this way before. And it makes me feel better, like it evens up the odds or playing field--making everyone equal. =0S I know it's silly, but that's how I feel.
Perception. Yes, most everything boils down to perception. Two or more people can look at, hear, feel, smell, taste or experience the same thing yet come away with similar or dissimilar perceptions of it. Perceptions can also change and be influenced. Yes, our worlds are of perceptions.
|
moon phase |
