37th Disability blog Carnival

On May 8th the 37th disability blog Carnival will be held over at Cripchicks Webblog. The question is, do you feel disabled?

I had my spinal cord injury at the age of 31 and I am now 40, most of the time I do not feel disabled or what ever that is supposed to mean. I do experience chronic pain every day which really sucks, but believe it or not I'm actually getting used to it.

I have a daily routine that I follow, it's normal to me now. My home is set up so that I am less disabled (I control my environment with assistive technology and my service dog, I have attendant care). I still speak with a few of my close friends prior to my injury but my circle of friends has definitely changed after injury.

The friends I surround myself with are individuals who understand disability, have a disability or are involved in rehabilitation. Friends who are smart, fun and fellow Penguin fans. I can go to dinner, the bar or anywhere with these people and not feel disabled. One friend may get the door for another, one friend may read the menu if it is not in braille, someone may use my wheelchair to balance themselves as we walk into the place and someone is definitely cutting my food up and placing my fork into my brace ........

I mention all of this because most days I do not feel disabled. Other times my life screams disability. I recently went to a picnic, where I was the only individual in a power wheelchair. I have to say that I always feel like an alien when I attend events like this.

I need to use a folding portable aluminum ramp (40 pounds) to get into the home, which means people have to put this out for me. I try to stay out of high traffic areas because my chair does take up space. If people go to an inaccessible place in the house I really can't participate. I try to introduce myself but sometimes people only see the wheelchair...... whether that is reality or my perception who knows?

I guess I feel more or less disabled depending on where I am at, who I am with or what I am doing. I definitely have my comfort zones even though I try to expand the zones.