IN THIS TOPIC
Handle with care
The 10 minutes rule
Final Thoughts
Living with a disability may get exciting and spiced up sometimes! With challenging situations and intriguing questions, every day is a puzzle for us to solve in the right way. How do you watch movies without eyesight? How can you drive without sounds? What is your travel experience in a wheelchair? These are some of the primary and repeated questions that we hear every day from people around us. Although these questions make our life enjoyable, sometimes we get irritated by a few unexpected people. Sympathy, courtesy and over advantage is some of the words we don’t want to hear anymore.
How can we solve these issues? How can we make people understand the true essence of our life?
Handle with care:
Most of the people talking to us see persons with disabilities for the first time, or this is their first encounter with the person. They don’t have avenues to perceive our true life like movies, media or literature. Even if they saw such material, they are either misguided or developed based on a myth.
Some people genuinely want to help us but don’t know how to go about it. In such cases, we can take time to explain what we need out of them, or we can directly say that we can take this task on our own. The key is not to hurt them by expressing our frustration straight to their faces. It’s the task of converting assumptions and judgements into curious questions where we have the scope of making a beautiful connection.
The 10 minutes rule:
Anybody interacting with a person with a disability may have preconceived notions based on their previous experiences. With a bold and perfectly crafted interaction, it just takes 10minutes to toggle the connection switch on. Here are some tips to prepare your first 10 minutes of conversation to make it blossom:
· Start with an exciting story, maybe your achievement or a success story that looks surprisingly excellent.
· Never share sad snippets from your life in the first conversation. The sad version may get faster attention than a success story.
· Explain your daily routine. Your routine is their incredible story.
· Explain how you manage your life and ask them to ask open-ended questions.
These ideas can be a starting point for your first conversation. The ultimate aim is to convey our mindset and break assumptions by not hurting our feelings.
Final thoughts:
Whenever we are out in a place, our responsibility is to make people understand us and related disabilities. The impressions we are creating last forever and the bad experiences we may have will not repeat to others. Handle the person with utmost care and take your time to explain what you are. Master the 10-minute rule and win hearts as many as you can.