Monday, June 18, 2012

Being Disabled in Public

So I mentioned in a previous post that I had the privilege of attending a national vigil for people with disabilities who have been murdered by parents or caregivers, back in March.  What I didn't mention was the adventure that ensued after the vigil.  My friend Lydia, of Autistic Hoya, escorted me around DC because I had absolutely no idea where I was going.  On the way back from the vigil, we encountered an extraordinarily ableist and frankly, just plain rude employee of the DC Metro (DC subway system), who harassed us and repeatedly accused Lydia of being drunk. 

Lydia recently posted about the experience on her blog, because it's taken this long for her to laugh about it.  If you've ever wondered why we are so adamant, if you've ever thought that no one really gets discriminated against for being disabled, you need to read this.  This is what we, as disabled people face by being disabled in public.