ICAN Perspectives: A Q&A on International Day of Persons With Disabilities

Every year on December 3rd, people around the world observe the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. At Inclusion Saskatchewan, this day holds special significance as we strive every day to ensure people with intellectual disabilities lead our work as changemakers, and celebrate the way inclusion makes every community more vibrant!

To mark this important occasion, we spoke with members of ICAN to hear their perspectives on the challenges they encounter and their thoughts on how those challenges can be addressed. Read on to explore their insights and experiences.

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Q: What does disability mean to you?

"I wish people understood that we are not different."

"My voice matters."

"I don't like that I had to go through really hard times and now I have to be the voice for other people to avoid them having the sam experience."

"I'm not different, it just takes me longer to do things or I learn differently than other people."

"It's a really hard and complex question. It's not easy to put into words."

"We deserve the same respect as everyone else."

"Sometimes you don't really realize you have a disability until other people make you realize."

"Being called 'slow' doesn't mean they're different but might be slower to learn things sometimes."

"Just because I have a disability doesn't mean I can't push myself, but a pep talk may not mean that I can do it. You need to make society easier for me as well. I can't be the only one trying to change."

"Why fit in when you were born to stand out. People who are just like us are kind of meant to stand out and be different and simetimes for some people that's okay and for others it's not."

Q: What does advocacy mean to you?

"We can advocate for ourselves and help others advocate."

"Standing up for what you believe in and advocating for yourself. In high school, they focus on 'your vision' and you have to learn to advocate for yourself and learn to tell teachers what you need and speak for yourself."

"When you have parents from different time periods, they are just learning things as they raise their kids and having to teach them what is right and wrong. It is still advocacy if it's your family."

"As an adult, I don't think I have as many issues with people in public. This could be from advocacy, but it's also because I have gotten better at masking. Being around other people like me helps me feel less isolating."

"With family, there is a lot of things they expect me to do and make it seem like I'm the problem and then wonder why I feel like a burden and feel sorry for myself all the time, but it's because they make me feel like that."

"Families stepping in and advocating for things that I don't want and then when I speak up for myself it's not seen as advocating. People just want me to agree with them, not speak my mind. It feels like people don't want me to speak my mind."

"It feels like I'm trapped in a bubble and people think I'm dumb or stupid, but I'm smart in a different way and it's like having a superpower in a different way."

"Being kept out of inclusive spaces with peers at schools and advoacy is a lot harder when you are in segregated space."

"You have more than one friendship bubble in segregated programming and get to meet more people but never have a tight knit friend group. I wish I had that, but then I think that age in a friendship doesn't matter. In the same way, my disability shouldn't matter in a friendship."

"How advocacy shows up in everyday life and unexpected ways - using strategies that support memoriy that seems odd to thers, and when they ask, the explanation you give is a form of advocacy and normalizing support strategies so they have a different understanding moving forward and maybe don't judge other people in the future."

"If something helps you, just keep doing it. There's a lot of times I wish my friends would have stood up for me but they dodn't. Having the support of friends to advocate sometimes would make a big difference for how I feel."

Q: What does inclusion feel like?

"Joy."

"It feels great! A lot more great when it happens more often."

"I think I got included more often so that I notice my limitations a lot more and had to learn to mask more."

"It can be so different than not being included and can be hard to get used to."

"Being with all your friends, even new ones. Inviting more people into your friend group so they experience inclusion too. When there is drama in friend groups, inclusion is hard."

"Inclusion is having people think about your feelings and how things that are not fair do not lead to inclusion."

"Not being judged."

"Being yourself."

"Not being called a baby. I'm older than that. Not being treated like a child. Doesn't mean we don't understand complexity. Not everything is black and white."

"We learn stuff on our own a lot and it feels good to be listened to."

"I kind of wish people would know that it's like to be in our shoes. Have them live in our shoes for a full day. If they did then they would know how we feel about certain things like being left out and always having to advocate for your needs."

"You guys are my second family and I like seeing new people."

"Good and happy."

Q: What helps you feel included?

"Let me decice when I want help and need help. Don't expect me to accept your help or advice just because you decided I need it."

"If I need help I'll ask for it. This is my life and I'm going to live how I want to live it, not how you think I should want to have it."

"I'm happy when I'm with everyone here."

"To speak. Having everyone have a voice. Having space to use that voice."

"Being at the mall."

"Being asked to be included. Instead of always having to ask other people all the time."

"Being able to talk about the same things when you are in a group of people who are interested in the same thing. When conversations go in a direction that I don't understand, I can't be included."

"Being able to do different jobs and stuff. Having lots of opportunity."

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Want to learn more about ICAN or interested in joining our community? Check out our ICAN page to learn all about the Individual and Collective Advocacy Network.