Thursday, February 13, 2014

Having a disability

"Disability simply refers to something that influences how people treat you and their assumptions. It's not the individual, it's the product of their environment."

My mom posted this quote in a status over Facebook and it really got me thinking. With my disability I have been judged in many ways. When I say that I have this disability to people they kind of look at me like I am different. Yes I am different but you can not tell if I am different. I am like everyone else but my pancreas does not work. People think I can not have sugar, chocolate, or any sweets. Just because I have this disability that people make fun of and say diabetics are "fat", I can have anything I want. I did not get this disability because I ate so much sugar. No one should assume it is because of my weight or from eating so much food. I am not even sure why I ended up with this but it isn't because of my weight. You should not judge me or anyone with this disability or a different disability. I can not help that I ended up getting this. Diabetes does not define who I am. I am me. I am not this disability. I am a regular college student that goes through so much like an average college student. No one should treat me any different because of this. Just because I have this thing attached to me that looks like a pager does not mean I can not do the things that other people do. Don't judge someone by what they look like or what they have. We all have something going on with this and there is no reason to judge or assume anything of anyone. I have this disability, but this disability does not have me. 

~Stay Strong~
Evelyn