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This past weekend I was attending a developmental disability advocacy training weekend and our main presenter was Dr. Patrick Schwarz, author, speaker and Chicago-land advocate for children with developmental disabilities when it comes to their education.
We got a ton of great information over our two days together, but nothing spoke to me as a person on the spectrum as much as when he used the phrase, “Autism as an attribute.”
Now, I’ve written several times and spoken many times about the fact that our disability is merely a piece of who we are. In fact, the title of this column, Life With a Side of Disability, has that very sentiment in mind. Our disability should be a side dish to the meal that is our life.
We’re people first and our disability makes up who we are, but so does the color of our skin, our hair, eyes and the way we look, whether tall or short, large or small.
To me the phrase, “…as an attribute” takes what I said and kicks it up a notch. I don’t know about the other twenty-seven people in my class, but this resonated with me so much that the moment I heard Dr. Schwarz use it the first time, I immediately made a note that said, “Thursday LWSOD column on attributes.”
I have lots of attributes that make up who I am. I’m 6 ft tall, need to lose about fifty pounds, have blue eyes with brown hair that’s mostly grey now and I wear Buddy Holly-esque glasses. I’m a comic book nerd, enjoy reading in general and love my many different colored pairs of Converse shoes.
Oh yeah, and I’m autistic.
Too often we, and those close to us, focus on the disability instead of who we are as people. Yes, in some cases, the disability will be a bigger attribute than others, but it’s still an attribute of your overall being.
Hopefully this gave you a new way to think about your disability or the disability of your loved ones. I know that it’s affected me in a positive way, and I hope it affects you in a positive way as well.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this and how you view your disability. Does it encompass who you are or is it simply an attribute that makes you the unique person that you are?
To find out more about Dr. Schwarz, visit him online at www.patrickschwarz.com
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Photo courtesy Unsplash.
