Challenges…

Just as my cold was beginning to abate…PanKwake wakes up, asks for water, and projectile vomits it all over PinkTopia. A couple of hours later she is ‘happy as Larry’ and ‘full of piss and vinegar’. Then it hits me. I spent the whole night lying as still as possible to avoid a repeat of her performance.

Yesterday, over lunch as I looked at my monthly goals and realized that the list was longer than the month at this point, I asked Cookie Monster…

Why can’t anything be easy? Just go to plan.

Then this morning one of my fav #ActuallyAutistic Twitter friends was talking about her executive functioning. And then she said this…

Even neurotypicals have weaknesses. One could Evan say disabilities.
Neurodivergent Rebel

Yes! As I told her, I prefer the word…

Challenges…

We all have them. We face them everyday. Every single one of us.

• Good looks won’t exempt you.
• Intelligence does not make you immune.
• Even money and power won’t allow you to escape them in the end.

Along with her #AutisticSuperPowers this is one of the primary things I teach PanKwake.

That ALL of us have challenges. Sometimes it may seem that some have more than others…that’s where the fairness and thinking of others comes into play. But the truth is…

None of us know the challenges that other people face. Just like they don’t know ours.

As the Social Model of Disability says…

Impairment + Environment = Disability

Would you consider perhaps the greatest mind of our time Stephen Hawking…disabled?

Yes, he has a life limiting impairment. Yes, he requires extremes of support and care that are beyond the means of many. But in few ways has he allowed those to disable him. Yet even he admits that he would consider assisted suicide as an option.

I could give other examples of famous people who faced challenges including terminal conditions and death but honestly…one of my challenges today is to get caught up on my #HomeCrazzyHome.

So why? Why do I teach PanKwake that we all face challenges? Why do I focus more on the positives of #neurodivergence, #autism, and #PDA?

Because I want to empower her to face those challenges head on. Yes, to acknowledge them. To understand and ask for the accommodations that she needs to succeed. But also to know that everyone…all of us…face our own challenges and need extra support sometimes.

That is not disability…that is life.