Here comes a comeback

I have been at a mainstream school since my grade 3 year in 2003. Primary school is the polar opposite to high school in every way.

Primary school was amazing! You have more friends than you do people you avoid. In high school, people judge you before they've even said a word to you.

Now, for me, that's something that I've learned to deal with. Not just at school but wherever I go. I try to change their minds but sometimes it takes a long time for them to come around. I focus my time on the people who see me before they see my wheelchair. Those are the people I want to spend time with, laugh with and have fun with.

I am a person who gets along better with guys than I do with girls. I think girls have too much drama often created by themselves. It seems too much effort to worry about. So, me having mainly guy friends brought about concerns about my social situation. Teachers had concerns, I was fine.

There are some people you can't change because their perspective comes from a place of ignorance.

I'll sketch the scene for you. It was break time at school, I was walking down the passage - well, not walking but you know what I mean - and a guy who was just standing with his friend, looked up, and said "Watch out, here comes the cripple". I can imagine what you are thinking right now. My friend who was walking with me was ready to smack him silly but I told him not to. I turned around and said "Watch out, here comes the idiot". I just sat there, looked at him and waited for a response. He was offended by me calling him an idiot. I thought, he had no understanding of how offensive his comment was to more people than just me. In the end, all I told him was that I can't help being a cripple, but he can help being an idiot.

I have learned that the way to deal with ignorant people is to have better comebacks than them. It's funny, because people don't expect me to say anything at all never mind have something important to say.

Hopefully, by speaking up like that will open their eyes and minds to not see a 'cripple' but see the possibility in the person.