Sunday 2 December 2012

The Differently Abled..

A friend of mine lives life with a physical disability, a handicap if you will. I've seen close up how different her life is from those who are not physically challenged,and how much we take for granted the simple things that we can do without much trouble. Her blog(which is worth reading), got me thinking on the one sided view we have to the concept of a handicap.

Does a handicap only describe a physical or mental disability, or can we stretch the term into an emotional one as well? Take for sake of argument, the popular character Sheldon Cooper from the sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory'. Dr. Sheldon Cooper has full possession of his physical abilities and is gifted with an exceptional intellect, but when his room mate has a loud fight with his girlfriend, Sheldon is unable to handle it and goes to any and all lengths to drown out the fight, even walking out of the apartment, leading his roommate to worry for his safety. Does this inability to be in the presence of two people having an  argument( to the point which it, for that time, cripples his academic pursuits and perhaps endangers his life) point to a disability of sorts?

In a way, we all have handicaps. We are all crippled in some small way or another. Some cannot speak up in front of a crowd, some cannot keep their cool when they need to. Few cannot see the silver lining, few keep looking for a greener side. You will argue that these 'handicaps' are 'curable'. That physical and mental disabilities cannot be remedied without major medical intervention, while my so called handicaps are a matter of applying  some will power and the right support. And I agree with you fully. In both cases, the crux of the matter is acceptance. In both cases, we need to fight like hell, but accept when our inability holds us down, and ask for help. There is no shame in that. Those who see this move ahead in the race of life, no matter whether they can or cannot run.