Can't Understand?

Communication is at the heart of everything in this city and in this province. It is so important that without it nothing would ever be accomplished. Recently, I, and two other people, gave a presentation at a council meeting to ask for their support in persuading the Ontario government to enact legislation, which would see the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) become law. While I was extremely nervous, I managed to read a paragraph of my speech without passing out, which I felt like I would do. I had a friend read the whole speech eventually, but I had to let people hear the way I speak in order for them to understand my mission. I chose to talk about communication - imagine that, and I figured that I would share it with you with some changes here and there of course.

Communication is at the heart of everything in this city and in this province. It is so important that without it nothing would ever be accomplished. Recently, I, and two other people, gave a presentation at a council meeting to ask for their support in persuading the Ontario government to enact legislation, which would see the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) become law. While I was extremely nervous, I managed to read a paragraph of my speech without passing out, which I felt like I would do. I had a friend read the whole speech eventually, but I had to let people hear the way I speak in order for them to understand my mission. I chose to talk about communication - imagine that, and I figured that I would share it with you with some changes here and there of course.

Communication works on three levels. The first is writing and speaking, which is what I'm doing now. The second level is listening and processing what you are reading or hearing. The third, and most important, is getting the message from your brain where it has been intellectually processed to your heart where the real work begins. If you have intellectually processed it well, you knew the whys, whens, wheres, whats, and whos, so you know all the facts. Now, when you process all these facts in your heart, it takes compassion and understanding with an open mind to develop a proper evaluation of the situation. When you have compassion and understanding mixed with the intellectual knowledge, you can make good, solid decisions when your heart is in it. This is the basis of any valuable and worthwhile communication.

Now than I have given you a brief lesson on the art of communication, I'm going to ask you to consider, for a moment, the impact that an Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) would have on our society. Think of pregnant women or women with baby strollers walking into a public building with heavy, awkward doors to open and even one step to climb let alone three or four. How many of you men have heard complaints around this issue? What did you do about it? Think of aging parents who are healthy but still find moving to be hard because of the wear and tear throughout the years. Think of the person who breaks both legs in an accident and has to use a wheelchair for a while. However, this person can't get into public washrooms or around stores and restaurants as well as other public places. These are all people who would benefit from a strong, solid, mandatory ODA.

Even through the blur of the evening when I was finished reading my speech at the council meeting, I wondered who actually understand my very nervous attempt at talking in public. Our councilors and mayor will never be the same. How many of them were asking why on earth I was allowed to do it? Actually, I asked myself the same thing as I could almost feel my eyeballs rolling back into my head. Anyway, I am well aware of the atmosphere at council meetings, and I'm really surprised that they let me do it. My sole purpose for doing what I did was to open the lines of communication. Even though we went to council specifically seeking a resolution of support, we also wanted to educate them, and we had to do it by presenting ourselves the way we are. If we didn't do it the way we did (council also received Braille handouts), then they wouldn't have felt the impact of the point we wanted to get across to them. There's nothing like a good dose of shock treatment to open people's eyes. I just hope that this will lead to a better understanding of disabled people, not only at city hall, but also throughout this whole area by way of the ripple effect.

This world doesn't consist of two separate groups of people. This is not a "we" "them" life; what happens to one, happens to all, if not directly, then indirectly. So, are you hearing what I'm saying intellectually? Is your mind and heart open enough to accept it willingly?

I have cerebral palsy, and am the Disability Columnist for the Sault Star in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

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