Finding Ability in Disability

In a box filled with memorabilia saved by my mother, I have a letter dated in the early 1960’s from the General Manager of Six Flags Over Texas. He wrote in response to a letter of appreciation my mother had sent to him. During the summer, our family vacationed in Texas and we spent a day at the amusement park. My mother was overwhelmed by the way they helped her son (me) enjoy the park, even though I was in a wheelchair.

If you know my mother, you would expect her to be thankful for such kindness and you would not be surprised that she went out of her way to express appreciation. That is just the way she is. I don’t really remember the experience. I have vague recollections of going to Six Flags when I was young, but I cannot recall any specific events of the day.

That is the way my parents taught me to deal with my physical handicap. Just to get you up to speed, I had a serious case of polio at the age of one. I did not walk at all until age eleven when I gradually started using crutches. During teenage years and young adulthood, I primarily walked on crutches and used a wheelchair for special needs. As I am now creeping past middle age (if I live to be more than one hundred), I am back in the wheelchair fulltime.

As my parents taught me about life, they also taught me how to live with a physical handicap. My father encouraged me not to be afraid to try anything (which often made my mother nervous), and my mother showed me how to be grateful for anything I could do and for any opportunity that came my way. Neither of them allowed me to expect any special favors.

I have always worked hard and tried to carry my own weight. I am well educated, I have an ever-expanding family and I have been able to provide for their needs. I have had a series of great jobs and I am a hard worker. To be honest, sometimes I expend more energy just getting dressed and to the office than some people do in an entire day. I enjoy the good parking that is reserved for me at the mall, but not as much as my wife enjoys it. I am not afraid to ask for help if necessary, and I can only recall one time when a person I asked walked away and said no.

During my lifetime, the world has become a much friendlier place for people with a physical disability. As a child, I never anticipated that a building would have a ramp as an option to stairs, or that restrooms would be large enough for maneuvering a wheelchair. I attended seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and there was not one building on that one hundred year old campus that was wheelchair accessible.

One of the primary reasons that places are so much more accessible is because of the Americans with Disabilities Act adopted in 1990. From my perspective, it was a good thing, even though it does not address every challenge faced by people with disabilities. The reason I bring up this subject is because they are on the verge of making some changes to that historic legislation. One thousand pages of changes are being considered to better address the myriad of needs.

I am confident that some of the changes are extreme and probably unnecessary. That is usually the case with American legislation. But, I am in favor of making as much of the world accessible to as many people as possible. Many of the barriers we face can be eliminated with better planning and with little expense. In fact, many times it cost no more to build an accessible space than it does to build an inaccessible space. The issue is not money.

There is also much that can be done that is beyond the scope of legislation. I have stayed in numerous hotel rooms that met all of the ADA requirements but still posed significant challenges. I stayed in a Holiday Inn once that had a nice wide door leading into a large accessible bathroom, but there was so much furniture in the room that I couldn’t even get to the bathroom door. Another disturbing trend is hotels using beds with mattresses that are about five feet in the air. It is not easy to slide across from a wheelchair when you have to go up several feet.

It is a shame that we need legislation, or that some are complaining about the cost of making changes. I read one report that estimated a cost of $20 billion over the next forty years. It seems somewhat ridiculous to project a cost over a period of forty years since there are so many advances taking place every year. I wouldn’t be surprised if a person in my condition can actually walk up and down stairs at some point in the future.

I have benefited from ADA. However, the best resource I have had in dealing with a disability is people. I have parents and family members who have sacrificed in order to make my life possible. In school, elementary through graduate, students have carried me up and down tens of thousands of stairs. Neighbors and friends have gone the extra mile to provide assistance. Countless strangers have appeared at just the right time to help out.

I think that is the way it is supposed to be. People helping people through life. You might be amazed at what someone can accomplish if they are simply given the opportunity.

One afternoon Jesus met a man who needed someone to help. He sat next to a pool, a miracle pool that promised healing to anyone who could get into the water at the right time. However, this man had no one to help him so he remained a helpless member of society. Fortunately, Jesus changed this man’s condition. The lesson for the rest of us is to keep our eyes open for opportunities to be the arms, legs, eyes, or ears of someone in need.

Comments

[Royce]

It is the “one” who said “no” that surprises me in your story. Those who live in privilege (of race or gender or education or physical ability or wealth) too often cannot see the world through the eyes of those without privilege. Whether it is an inaccessible stairway to job or education or health; the blindness of privilege is one handicap that is difficult to overcome.

I pray that Baptists and Christians will be in the forefront of support for the accessibility laws and in the forefront of opening doors and building ramps for everyone in God’s creation to be all that God has made them to be.

I pray we will remember the one who deserved every privilege, but chose to die to give access to a disabled world.

[Ron Cook]

Terry, you always have much to say, and your weekly offerings should be read widely. Few can speak so personally and so well to this particular topic. Thank you.

[Charles Edenfield]

Amen to Ron's comment. Terry, you are an inspiration to all of us. And BTW we all have disabilities of one sort. The inability to learn life's lessons well, the inability to yield completely to the Holy Spirit, ignorance, personality defects, etc. I treasure your newsletter, and thank the Lord for your insights.

I truly love you with Christ's love

Charlie