{"id":4473,"date":"2014-12-02T17:20:20","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T22:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.une-sen.org\/press\/?p=4473"},"modified":"2014-12-02T21:27:39","modified_gmt":"2014-12-03T02:27:39","slug":"international-day-for-persons-with-disabilities-dec-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/?p=4473","title":{"rendered":"International Day for Persons with Disabilities – Dec. 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IDPD_2014\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by Michael Freeman<\/em><\/p>\n

Not every challenge that I have faced as a person with a physical disability has been physical; some of my greatest challenges have been of the mind.<\/p>\n

While in Ottawa for one of the recent human rights committee meetings, I was faced with one of my life-long fears. It was almost crippling for me, but no one else could even recognize that there was an issue\u2026 until I finally started sharing.<\/p>\n

Why do I feel like I have to hide behind a cheery disposition? Why do I feel alone in my thoughts and unable to share the truth about how I am feeling?<\/p>\n

My degenerative physical condition is leading me down a path that makes me feel, at times, helpless and hopeless, forcing me to accept that which I am powerless to change.<\/p>\n

Even as I write, I am reluctant to share for fear of my monumental challenge being dismissed as trivial.<\/p>\n

As the committee members and I stood in the lobby of our hotel after a long day of meetings, we discussed having supper just four short blocks from where we stood. I began to think about ways to excuse myself. I was not going to call a taxi for a distance I once walked with relative ease. I told everyone that I was too tired to attend \u2013 that I would just go to my room and order room-service. One committee member suggested that I could use a wheelchair and they volunteered to push it for me.<\/p>\n

There it was: my fears were becoming a reality. I now needed help \u2013 mechanical help \u2013 to do something I once did with relative ease.<\/p>\n

There before me was a wheelchair. I had a traumatically difficult decision to make: eat room service food, alone, yet again or swallow my pride and anything else that was keeping me from accepting the assistance offered.<\/p>\n

That was the beginning of what I understood to be a very slippery slope. There would be no turning back.<\/p>\n

In reality, I had been using assistive devices throughout my life and had never thought of them that way. I don\u2019t know why it was harder for me to use the wheelchair, but it was. I had a real mental block that caused stress, panic and adverse emotion. I was surprised to find that some of that melted away as soon as I sat in the chair.<\/p>\n

The mental stress of living with a physical disability has been a monkey on my back for many years. I went from a rather happy-go-lucky kid to an angry and confused teenager to an isolating and insulating adult. The mental stress almost took over at the time I wrote the poem \u201cSelf Imposed Prison\u201d.<\/p>\n

Self-Imposed Prison
\n<\/b>By Michael Patrick Freeman<\/p>\n

Here I sit
\nAlone at last
\nMy thoughts are mine
\nBut mine alone.<\/p>\n

No one wants to know how the mind works
\nOr the things it thinks
\nWhen it belongs to a man
\nlike me
\nAlone at last.<\/p>\n

Here I sit
\nWaiting
\nWanting
\nSearching for a reason
\nTo leave this self imposed prison.<\/p>\n

Times have changed for me; I am less isolated. I get involved in activities that interest and challenge me. I do less insulating because I have started to share my burden with those who will listen. I understand this world uniquely because of how I have worked through my disability, both physical and mental.<\/p>\n

By sharing our life\u2019s story with others, we all heal as individuals. Share your story today.<\/p>\n

December 3 is the International Day for Persons with Disabilities; if you\u2019d like to share your story with us, please leave a comment below.<\/em><\/p>\n

Michael Freeman is the Union of National Employees\u2019 national equity representative for persons with disabilities. This article was written as part of our union\u2019s member journalism program. If you\u2019d like to find out more,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 to pitch a story or for any questions, please send an email to <\/em>communications@une-sen.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Michael Freeman Not every challenge that I have faced as a person with a physical disability has been physical; some of my greatest challenges have been of the mind. While in Ottawa for one of the recent human rights committee meetings, I was faced with one of my life-long fears. It was almost crippling … <\/p>\n

>> “International Day for Persons with Disabilities – Dec. 3”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,9,12,19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4473"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4473"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4484,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4473\/revisions\/4484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}