You Can Acknowledge the Barriers Without Living in Them

There are real barriers that come with living with cerebral palsy and with having a visible disability.I have experienced frustration, anger, bitterness, limitations, and situations where cerebral palsy absolutely affected what I was able to do. I also understand why conversations about ableism, accommodations, access, and fairness can carry so much emotion.At the same time, I do not want my life to become an ongoing us versus them conversation.In this episode, I unpack why I believe both things can be true. We can acknowledge the realities of disability while also asking ourselves what we are going to do with the life and circumstances we have.My experience with cerebral palsy is my own. Someone else with the same diagnosis may have completely different challenges, abilities, support needs, and opportunities. That nuance matters.But I still believe there is value in asking ourselves a simple question.What am I going to do next?There are times when we need accommodations. There are times when we need help. And if we are trying to accomplish meaningful things in any area of life, disability or not, we are probably going to need other people along the way.That is different from allowing frustration, resentment, or comparison to become the place where we stay.I also talk about why I am not trying to convince people who have already decided they completely disagree with how I see things. The people I care most about reaching are the ones somewhere in the middle. The people who know they want something different but have not completely decided what direction they are going to take.You can acknowledge what has happened to you. You can be angry about it. You can recognize the barriers in front of you.And you can still decide what you want to do from here.