Tommy Collison

I’ve often been talking to people who’ve been talking to me about their problems and don’t think they’re able to change some aspect of themselves. I’ve been sympathetic but lately I can’t help thinking that humans by their nature seem to be very quick to write off things as ‘something you just can’t change about yourself’. We’re annoyingly quick to dismiss the notion that we can change the offending thing about ourselves. Perhaps I’m being too vague though – to name some examples of what I’m referring to off the top of my head: “I couldn’t study for the Junior Cert so there’s no use trying now” or “It’s who I am, I just can’t change that about myself”.

On a slightly different note, the post’s title refers to a behaviour I’ve seen on numerous occasions in my dealings and interactions with disabled people (both physical and mental). It’s linked with the above paragraph in that (some) people seem willing and in some cases almost eager to blame their disability for their own short-comings. Disability is, in my opinion, one of the most-used scapegoats in history.

There’s no denying that it does have an effect on people’s lives. On occasion, I’m late for Class X because I have Class Y directly before it and the two classrooms are at opposite ends of the school – that’s something that’s undeniably the Cerebral Palsy’s fault. I find though, moreso in mental disabilities (due to their more ‘hidden’ or not-as-obvious nature), that people will unjustly attribute their problems to their disability.