Ever since I became an individual with a disability one thing is sure, I am being labeled daily. By people I know and those that I don’t. I am stared at by strangers and can hear their wheels turning. Their brain is going at hyper-speed to put me in a box and slap a “Label” on it. They see a man in a power wheelchair with a service dog. Sometimes, they see me driving my specially equipped van from my wheelchair. Then other times they spy me at work or going to a meeting, the truth is I am hard to miss. More importantly, I do not want to be missed! I go through life (hopefully) dispelling one myth or another about people with disabilities. That is why am so excited by a national ad campaign called “Think Beyond the Label,” launched this month, by the Chicago-based organization Health & Disability Advocates with 30 state vocational agencies and State Medicaid Infrastructure Grantees. The funny, edgy $4 million campaign designed is designed to challenge attitudes about people with disabilities in the workplace. This campaign is exactly what we need to educate employers and others about the destructiveness of “Labels”. Because, it not only points out “shortcomings” which everyone has, but exploits the ridiculousness of pointing each one out. The campaign basically says, “if you are labeling me-then I will label you”.
I am of the mind that people cannot help labeling others; because it helps them to place who they are in a given situation. We are thought to label people and things since the day of our birth. We have it ingrained in our brains that we “must” put people into a context. We are hardwired as human beings to judge others, on appearance, verbal skills, dress, and conduct just to name a few. You might say it is in our DNA to label everyone and everything in our purview.
Here are some examples of “Labels” I have had slapped on my back (Box)
The “Hero”, this is not necessarily a bad label (if you saved kids from burning building) unless one takes into account the context. If you think I am a hero because as a person with a disability, I wake-up, go to work, and live my life, then you are wrong. Wrong label, Wrong box! Labels like “Hero” can be destructive, when they purport to treat me different, while I am trying to be like everybody else. In the workplace, this label is “killer” and not in a good way. If an employer hires someone on account of them being perceived as a “Hero”, things not go so well. This new employee is going to eventually have to do the job, if they cannot it may close a door for someone else. The perception by the employer in this instance can have a rippling effect.
The “non-believer” a person in need of heavenly salvation. Why else would I be in a wheelchair? If I believed more, prayed more, and asked to be saved I would “get-up and walk”. Yes, I have had someone say that to me. The religious label is hard on those who take it to heart; it could be devastating on those who believe it.
The “pitiful person”, someone that everyone should feel sorry for. This is especially true in instances where other cultures are involved. Also, when I travel.
The “beggar”, someone in need of money just waiting for a dime to drop on his lap. First time it happened in Times Square, NY, I was sitting outside, Duane Read pharmacy in my penny loafers, dress pants and tie. Then, a middle age woman walks by a puts a dollar on my lap. I was dumbfounded! Five seconds later, a “well dressed” man drop three dimes on my lap. Holy crap! I have been turned into my “Label”. This happens almost every time I am in the city. The first time I had enough for a cup of coffee-really.
The “unable” , a person who does not by their mere appearance look like they can contribute anything to anyone.
These are just a few examples of labels people like myself muddle through on a daily basis. There are probably hundreds or thousands which are thrust upon us as we navigate the waters of employment, health care, relationships, and just plain living. People with disabilities boil in a cauldron of myth, lies, and innuendo as society continues “the labeling game”. In reality, everyone does it to one extent or another. However, when those being labeled are affected economically and socially there is a problem. Not at all dissimilar to the way racial, ethnic, or religious groups were labeled; in some cases literally. The bottom line is that the lost of participation by people with disabilities in the workplace and other areas is detrimental to the Nation. The increase in employment and decrease of State and Federal benefits by individuals with disabilities can only improve our economic standing.
The campaign to educate employers through the use of humor is ingenious in the age of political correctness. Because, “Think Beyond the Label”, is about more than realizing how silly our views about certain people can be. It is about the limitless boundary to which anyone (disabled or not) could be labeled. In the end it does not matter if you are “footwear fumbled”, “keister deficient” or “vocally enthusiastic”. What matters is the ability of each and every one of us to see the potential in others, and recognize our own internal biases.
For more information on this campaign visit: thinkbeyondthelabel.com
Javier Robles
Apapting Equipment, Creative Ideas, Disability, Independent Living | Rich Fabend | 
February 22, 2010 9:03 pm | 
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