Things We Wish People Knew about Differently Abled People like Callie…..
1. Please don’t stare. A smile and a wave is much better. Staring hurts her feelings.
2. Callie can do whatever she wants to do–swimming, horseback riding, dancing. She just might need an adaptation or it might look a little different. She still can participate to the fullest of her ability.
3. Her prosthetic leg is not the coolest thing about her. There are many cool things about her–her birthday is on Halloween, she rides horses, loves animals, and her favorite color is “glitter rainbow.”
4. Her prosthetic leg is pretty cool looking though
5. We wish we saw more people like Callie in media, books, films, ads, and on TV. When we turn on the TV, open a magazine, or scroll online, we don’t see a lot of people that look like her. We would bet you probably don’t either. We would love for that to change!
6. Its extremely expensive and time consuming to manage all of her healthcare needs.
7. She’s worth every penny.
8. We don’t want your pity. We would love your compassion, acceptance, and empathy though.
9. We would love your help championing for people like Callie. Allies are amazing. We would love to have more people advocate for inclusion, adaptive resources, and funding for people like Callie.
10. The disability isn’t the issue. The accessibility and lack of adaptive items is the issue.