Call Me Disabled, It Is Okay! By Janie Heinrich, mobilitydog.org

It is okay to call me disabled. I cannot help but notice that sometimes the word stumbles off your tongue, almost as if it should not be stated, making it more awkward. 

People referencing me as disabled is not the issue. It is the way they treat me because I am disabled that is the real rub. 

Just talk to me as you would anyone else; my spinal cord injury does not define who I am or change the joy of being present and living a whole life. 

Acknowledge that I have been living with this disability have worked hard to find the tools that allow me the most significant movement to walk out my front door with my Service Dog, Beckett. 

I will never forget a dear friend’s 60th birthday when she told me that my service dog was not welcomed in their home, knowing full well that I needed Beckett to navigate with dignity and independence. For me, her statement shows complete indifference to me as a human being, “They would help me, they really did not mind at all,” and “My dog could run in their pool area it was not a problem.” To disregard my ability to function independently with my service dog at my side, in reality, reduces me to a chair, putting me in a position to depend on others for toilet runs, food, and drink while taking away my love of social mingling. I made the difficult decision not to attend; four years later, I have not been invited back.

It is essential to understand that we are people who embrace life, love, laugh, eat, cook, dance, sing, kayak, read, learn, garden, sew, hike, and so much more, just like you, only different.