IMAGE Center Blog

Found History is Disability History

Meredith Ritchie

As you may have heard in the past couple of months archeologist in England have unearthed the skeleton of King Richard III.  King Richard III was the last king of the House of York, ruling in the mid 1400s.   The skeleton was found under a parking lot in Leicester, England, which was the former site of Greyfriars Franciscan church.

Why do we in disability care?

King Richard III had a disability.   In his early and mid-teens he developed idiopathic scoliosis.  Now days a person who has scoliosis is treated with physical therapy, orthopedic braces or surgery.  However in the fifteenth century there was no treatment.  Thus Richard III had a severe S-curve in his spine, that gave him a shorten stature and raised the right shoulder higher than the left.  This would have been what gave him the “hunchbacked” appearance, which is often mentioned in documents about him.  I feel a special connection to him in this way, as I developed the same condition in my early teens.  I know how the spinal curve would have impacted his everyday life, and I can understand what sort of appearance it would have caused.  The difference was simply 500 years difference in time. 

Disability and History

King Richard III’s later demonization came, primarily, from the Tudors who ruled after him.  The play Richard III by Shakespeare did a lot to help this bad reputation.  Yet most of the contemporaneous works speak more fondly of King Richard III and while they mention his disability they are more realistic.

Here was a man who was very active, hunting, horseback riding and leading in battle.  He was also described as a cunning and shrewd ruler.  This was not a man whose disability was seen as a hindrance.   The more people with disabilities whose contributions can be studied in history the more positive image we can have of ourselves.  A young person with a disability may be discouraged from participating in sports because “people with disabilities are incapable” Yet if Richard III could lead battles in the days of knights and swords why can’t this kid play sports.

History is full of role models for people; it is time that the disability community starts claiming ours.  And with this amazing discovery of Richard III’s grave there is no better time.

The article below was reported on May 5, 2009 by WSBT television in South Bend Indiana and has received wide distribution on the internet.  It illustrates how good intentions often produce unhealthy outcomes.  As you read the article, please notice that every person involved in the story wanted to be positive, say yes and empower this nine year old boy.  However, as you read the article, also ask yourself whether the end result was really healthy, either for Cameron, or for his community.

What actual purpose did/does he serve on the team?

Wasn’t it a bit of gratuitous nonsense to call him the “team manager?”

What benefit is there in giving him a title without a real purpose?

Why was he unable to throw the ball to the catcher–surely blindness doesn’t create weakness does it?

If we’re ever going to create a world in which disability is thought of as a normal part of life, don’t we have to begin by treating people as more than potted plants?

Finally, doesn’t this article just drip with a complete lack of faith that this kid will ever be able to do something useful?  Doesn’t it really say, “We really ought to make him feel good because he won’t have much of a life otherwise?”

And, isn’t it sad that his mom knows so little about the possibilities that thousands of blind people are living every day?

I insert my comments into the story in brackets. []

Blind baseball player “hears” his dream come true on local Little League team

by Troy Kehoe (tkehoe@wsbt.com)

Story Created: May 5, 2009 at 8:13 PM EDT

Story Updated: May 5, 2009 at 10:43 PM EDT

EDWARDSBURG — Tears of joy flowed in Edwardsburg as history was made on the baseball diamond. A Little League hopeful who thought he’d never be able to be a part of the team finally “heard” his dream come true. It was a party on the diamond, as Edwardsburg Little Leaguers celebrated the “official” addition of a new teammate. But this baseball player isn’t like anyone you’ve ever met before.

To say Cameron Beaver is a “baseball fanatic” might be putting it mildly. As far as 9-year-olds go, you’d be hard pressed to find a bigger fan.

“He’s very upbeat and very energetic. And he just makes everybody around the park excited too,” said Edwardsburg Little League President Pat Maloney.  You have a tough time finding a better teammate or a more enthusiastic player, either.  Yes, you’d also be hard pressed to find any Little Leaguer quite like Cameron.  You see, Cameron can’t see.

Just a few months after he was born, he was diagnosed with “bi-lateral retinoblastoma”–a cancer of the retina. To keep the disease from spreading, doctors had no choice but to remove his eyes.  Cameron’s love of baseball, and his dream of someday playing quickly faded into fantasy.

“This year, he came out for the team with his older brother Aaron, and the first words out of his mouth were: coach, can I be on the team?” “And… what do you say, you know?” said Tony Gaideski, head coach of the Edwardsburg Little League’s Legends Restaurant Team.

So, imagine Cameron’s surprise when coach’s answer was, “yes!”

“I said, absolutely, Cameron! You’re on the team, buddy! No doubt about it!” Gaideski said.

Except there was doubt.

[Yes, there should have been doubt.  What would this kid do that was meaningful?  What team responsibilities could he take on?  Might he be a bat boy or ball boy?  Team score keeper?  How about asking blind adults to help figure out things he could do?]

Last year, Cameron “unofficially” joined the team. But, that was never approved in writing.  Little League safety rules for upper level teams like Aaron’s prohibit those with disabilities like Cameron’s from actually being on the field. So coach Gaideski asked Maloney for help. Maloney then asked Indiana District 14 Little League Administrator Marlin Culp for help.

On Tuesday night, it was official.  As team lineups were announced over the loudspeaker, there was one new name added at the end: Cameron Beaver.

The grinning 9-year-old emerged from the dugout with help from his coach, and took his place along the first base line.

[Why did he need help from his coach to go to the first base line?]

Then, things got even better.

“We’d like you to throw out the first pitch, Cameron,” said Maloney.

“All right!” replied Cameron, his tone more an exclamation than an answer.

The ball didn’t quite make the catcher’s glove, but that didn’t stop the crowd on hand from launching into a standing ovation.

[Perhaps if they had believed in this kid just a little they would have taught him to actually pitch the ball.]

“In my 32 years of Little League, I’ve never heard of anything like this,” Culp said during an address over the Little League stadium’s loudspeaker. “I’m glad we could make this happen.”

Cameron was too.

Clutching the baseball signed by League officials, the trophy for being the Edwardsburg Little League’s “volunteer of the year,” the brand new baseball cap and the major league all-star game pin he was presented with, his response was pretty simple.

“Look at all these prizes I got,” he said with a big grin. “It all makes me feel pretty special!”

[Special indeed.  No purpose on the team.  An audience wildly praising him for accomplishments that a five year old could accomplish.  What will this do to his expectations for himself?]

It made his mom Susan feel pretty special, too.

“This is awesome for Cameron,” said, wiping away tears. “He’s not usually a part of anything. And this is just awesome for him to be a part of this. Words can’t really describe it. He’s just so excited and happy. He loves it.”

[It's telling that she says he's not really a part of anything.  I wonder why?  Is it because he's treated like a five year old at home so kids his age don't want to play with him?]

Cameron’s response to that was, well, what Little League is really all about.

“I just felt good inside me,” he said with a laugh.

Then, when asked if he was excited about being an “official” part of the team, he paused for a moment.

“As a matter of fact, I am,” he said.

His jersey now reads “team manager,” and that’s exactly what he is.

[Team Manager??? That's really disgraceful.  I suppose we'll be working with him in a few years trying to help him find employment and he'll be surprised to learn that you actually have to do something to earn money.]

“Every inning we come off the field, he’ll be the first one out of the dugout,” Gaideski said. “He leads the team cheer, and a lot of the players will actually argue about who gets to sit next to Cameron on the bench now.”

“At first sight, you wouldn’t even think he had a disability,” agreed Legends team assistant coach Josh Masten. “He’s just a good kid to have around.”

[That's nonsense.  All of you know he has a disability.  In fact, you know it so well that you make up titles for him and have to help him to first base.  Don't try to dress it up with some drivel about how you don't think he has a disability.]

Now, he’s a good kid that will be around the game he loves. You don’t need to “see” that to believe it.

And there was one other bit of exciting news for Cameron Tuesday night.

Culp says Little League’s District 14 is developing an expanded “challenger program” that could allow Cameron to actually “play ball” on the field by “hearing” the ball as it comes to the plate.

“That would be the highlight of his life,” laughed Susan. “This will be hard to top. But, that would really be a dream come true.”

[Yes, there are actually beeping baseballs and leagues he could play in and do something requiring skill.]

For most of us, finding our dream job is a slow and uncertain process.  Recently I spoke to somebody who indicated that the reason he wasn’t working was that “I’m not sure yet what my passion is.”

It occurred to me that perhaps some folks may be confused about following their dreams and fulfilling their passions.

First of all, let’s get something out of the way.  It is the very rare person who has a deep driving passion to paint, sing, write, prepare exotic foods or dance.  When somebody does have such a drive, and that drive is matched with talent, we call him or her a genius.  Most of us are a mix of talents and abilities, some stronger and some weaker than others, as you might expect when there is a random combining of the dna from your father and mother in to the human being you are.  Some things you may wish you could do but aren’t very good at, like singing.  Other things you seem to have a nack for like woodworking but the nack must be developed through much discipline and at it’s best you can build a nice coffee table.

You may enjoy speaking and have a nack for keeping the attention of audiences but struggle with the creation of really top notch speeches.

Or, perhaps you have talent in managing people because they respect you, but find that the details of management simply aren’t your strong suit, so you spend hours forcing yourself to master the details of projects.

I describe each of these scenarios to you in order to help you understand that this is the human condition.  This is how most of us find ourselves.  Some mornings we wake up with little drive and little interest in changing the world and other days we’re certain that we can leap tall buildings with a single bound.  But, on both types of days, we trudge off to work because we have learned that life is about the valleys and the mountains and that both must be crossed in order to reap the reward of fulfilling accomplishment.

Finding one’s true passion may take a lifetime of trial and error.  You may discover that the thing you were certain was your passion simply proves boring and uninteresting.  And, you may discover that some mundane and not-so-glamorous task turns out to be richly rewarding to you.

The point is, you often won’t know any of this ahead of time.  Life is about “doing something, even if it’s wrong,” as the old saying goes.  The more you do, the more chance you have of finding things that match your talents, skills and aptitudes.

And, the final point I would make is that some of your daily work should be difficult.  It should be hard and frustrating for you.  It should stretch you.  It probably won’t be fun and it probably won’t be glamorous.  That’s the nature of life.  The reward for doing all of these boring activities is that along the way you will also find that some of them become the expression of your inner self and that, as you grow, you do truly find your passion and fulfill your dreams.

This is a great time of year to look for work.  Everybody who is actually in their office is in a good mood because of the summer and not too busy to talk with you.  This is the time of year when creative CEO’s and directors are recharging their batteries, formulating plans, and analyzing shortcomings.

So, what about you?  Are you meeting with them?  Are you networking with them?  Have you written a thought provoking article lately about your field?  Have you developed a new program idea?

If not, you should know that the economy doesn’t really care.  No, no, I’m not being snarky or negative.  I’m making a point.

The economy is currently producing the same level of Gross Domestic Product now that it was in 2007 with fifteen million fewer workers.  The reason for this is in part that the economy is more efficient now than it was then.  But, whatever the reasons, you should be aware that you aren’t needed in today’s workforce unless you demonstrate unusual drive and skills.

Lest you think there “Aren’t any jobs,”  I refer you to the monthly data from the Department of labor that indicates there were three million openings in May of 2011 and that the labor turnover was about three percent.  So, in your local company with 200 people, six of them either left, died, got fired, or something last month and there were vacancies needing to be filled.  The question is, will they be filled by you?

Are you really networking with the people who know about new positions?  Are you demonstrating your value to them by creating articles, developing new ideas, really staying connected with the middle management folks who do the hiring?  These are the folks in positions of effect–that is, what they do creates new positions, sets goals, determines strategies and carry out the accomplishments of the company or organization.

Are you excited enough about your chosen profession to read new articles every day?  Do you keep up with trade publications, blogs, magazines and listservs to put your finger on the pulse of current thinking and opportunities?

Do you have a sense of what makes you special, unique or better than the next person?  If you don’t, how will others know what it is?

With today’s employee surplus, its a buyer’s market.  Employers can pick and choose amongst possible applicants, knowing there is no shortage.  If you aren’t quite right, somebody else will be.

If you have a severe disability there are other issues.  The world’s message to you is, “stay home,”  “You’ve got it hard enough already” and,  “the government will take care of you.”  So, If you want to work, you’d better be prepared to do what the experts do when they look for jobs, not just be one of the herd.  Nobody I know who has employed the techniques listed above has ever failed to find meaningful employment, but, many I know who simply send out resumes and fill out standard applications are sitting at home and probably will be for the foreseeable future.  So, if you really don’t understand the modern work finding process, hook up with somebody who does and do what they tell you.  Stop using worn out old methods that don’t work and learn the newer and more effective methods of how to link with others.  When you do, the process will become interesting and fun and … Well, it’ll be all the things you hoped your profession would be.

Have you ever wondered how an amputee ties his or her shoes, how a blind person knows what clothes to wear, or how someone who is paralyzed transfers in and out of a wheelchair? The Image Center’s Disability Skills Library is a collection of  candid and informative YouTube videos which provide the answers to these questions and many more. Currently featuring over 9 hours of footage from around the world, our library is a comprehensive compilation of disability information. Check it out!

For most High School students with disabilities life is very lonely. Far more than at any time in our lives, adolescents want to be accepted and liked. Unfortunately, the code for this is, “You need to be like everyone else.” And, the kid with the disability simply isn’t “like everyone else.”

I never dated or had a girl friend while I was in high school. With what I know today, there could have been a different outcome but as they say, “hind sight is 20/20.” My high school experience is best summed up by that line from the Janis Ian song: “At 17″ “To those of us who knew the pain, of Valentines that never came, to those of us whose names were never called, when choosing sides for basketball.”

For most animal species, the “survival of the fittest” doctrine favors physical and mental fitness. When your life is filled with concerns about protecting your young and your food supply this is understandable. Although we humans are, for the most part, past the need to consider our spouse’s ability to kill enemies, we are still genetically programmed to favor physical fitness and prowess. We are also programmed to not consider mates with physical disabilities. Our programming says, “They are not fit to raise my offspring.” That’s the blunt truth of it. So, when you’re looking for a sexual partner as a person with a disability, you’re looking for somebody who is smart enough to look beyond their programming. Like your mother always said, “You should see the person, not what they look like.” But, that’s a difficult hill to climb for adolescents.

Unfortunately, we’re talking about some very deep programming. We’re hard wired to look for particular mates and removing that programming can take a lifetime. But, if you keep an open mind you will meet people who can look beyond your disability and you yourself can help people see beyond it. There are some things we can do that do make a huge difference in our attractiveness to others, so let’s talk about them:

1. Dress like the people you want to attract. Clothes signal your personal values, cleanliness, interests, etc. So, think of your dress as a costume that will link you to those who like that costume. You’ll notice I didn’t say “be neat,” “comb your hair,” because you might not want to attract that kind of person. Just know that you’ll attract those who dress like you do, so, attention to detail in this area is important.

2. Unless you really like people with low self esteem, be aware that you will be seen by some of these folks as “all I can get.” On the upside of being different, those who value their differences and see themselves as not “part of the crowd” will also be attracted to you because of your difference. So, just be aware and decide for yourself how you want to proceed.

3. Don’t seek a mate at bars and night clubs. As a former bar and restaurant owner, I can tell you that, as a general rule, these really aren’t places to meet healthy people. “Picking up somebody at the bar” seldom results in lifelong happiness. But, perhaps you’re not looking for lifelong happiness, so, take your chances. Just be aware that the bar scene is about people looking good for one another–putting on a costume. If you have a visible disability you will have limited success in that scene.

4. Your place in society determines how attractive you are to many people. If you have the position of President of the club, Director of a program, Congress woman or company CEO, people will be attracted to you. So, take on positions of authority/leadership if you’re so inclined because they will help others see you as competent. It’s not just that you are being visibly competent, but, others are attracted to you because they say in their minds, “If others elected her to this position, they think a lot of her, so, I should think a lot of her as well.” Again, much of this is a bit ridiculous, but, it is human nature and you should know about it. I use to volunteer to be the Secretary of organizations. Nobody wanted to to it because it required work. It gave me the opportunity to demonstrate my skills and put me in front of the group. That was invaluable experience and also helped me make friends. Yes, sometimes even female friends.

5. People are attracted to competence, ability, and skill. If you have competencies in your life that set you apart, they will also make you more attractive. Being a good writer, speaker, dancer, woodworker, sales person or social worker all make you attractive. So, doing things well counts! In a bow to our genetic programming, it is fair for somebody who is considering whether to raise a family with you to want to know that you are competent at things that will result in security for children and one another. And, if you have measurable skills you are also employable. Jobs are another identity that make you attractive to others. The first question most people ask, after they know your name, is, “What do you do?” It’s that important!

6. So much of physical attraction is hard wired to rule out disability and difference that most people will not consider you a suitable mate. You just need to learn to accept that and move on. If it helps, just console yourself with the fact that you wouldn’t want to date anybody that shallow anyway.

7. Pattern to be ware of. “Big Strong virile male attracted to weak small female. “Oh,” she says, “My hero.” This usually produces miserable people. He wants somebody to do whatever he says and she wants the freedom to be something different than she initially portrayed. The reverse of this is “nurturing female” wants to take care of disabled male. This also results in miserable people. These relationships usually end badly because eventually one partner gets tired. That’s right. Relationships that work usually require some level of equity of contribution. So, as the saying goes, “buyer beware.”

8.  Become comfortable with expressing who you are. People already notice you, so, make that an advantage.  Attracting the opposite sex, or even the same sex, is best done through your being.  Demonstrate honesty, kindness, humor and caring, and you will find people to love.  Learn to tell people that you care.  They won’t just figure it out.  Go out of your way to do good to others.  I know it sounds corny, but, use the visibility of your disability to become memorable as a person of quality.

So, there you have it!  Eight rules to de-mystify the dating and mate search process for people with disabilities. Because of the world’s tendency to exclude us from their list of eligible candidates, we often find the mates who do understand us are those with disabilities. This is understandable and often preferable. But, I would suggest that one measure of progress for us as we look into the future will be the percentage of people with disabilities whose spouses do not have them. This will be a measure of the extent to which we are truly being accepted by society and the extent to which we are learning to manage the impressions others have of us.