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Other People Disclosing Your Disability For You
I am more than happy to disclose about my disability especially since it is so visible and I also want to bring awareness to muscular dystrophy. But there are times that I do not want to share, or I am very tired and I want to go about my day without having to explain my private medical history to a stranger who just asks out of curiosity.
Have you ever been approached by someone who asked why you used a mobility device or walked a certain way? Did you perceive their questions as rude or intrusive? Did a friend or family member ever step in and tell them about your disability? How did you feel about this? Do you think there is a time and place to discuss your disability to strangers?
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3 Replies
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I have to say it really is something that hasn’t bothered me. Usually I see it as a good opportunity to explain about muscular dystrophy and all the different types and what my type is about. I know people never know about this so it’s always nice for me to be able to tell someone probably more than they wanna know ha ha. I’ve had family say in certain situations oh he has the disability or he is disabled and again that’s fabulous and I usually follow up then with what I have. I do find that normally people don’t ask and I’ve even run into some childhood friends and we say hello and later I think that was strange they didn’t even ask about me using a cane. Sometimes if we talk more than a moment I will just tell them.
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If a friend of mine or someone who is becoming my friend doesn’t ask me about my  disability I take it as a sign that they see me regardless of my wheelchair but I still like to educate them about my form of MD.
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Leah, agree, but I think the situation is different. For example when I see people that I haven’t seen in 20-30 years and remember I’m still walking and using a cane, I think the majority usually ask what happened. They don’t know I have a disability. They probably think it can be a million different things. But I agree everybody is different and some people may just not notice it, others may notice and not really see that as an issue to ask about and others are concerned and may ask if I have a bad knee or I hurt my ankle or something similar. But I would say the majority of people in that situation always ask what happened 🙂
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