Disability is Natural

Are you ready for a change?
Ready for Good News?

Here's some Good News from others:

“Your Disability is Natural manual is one of perhaps

a half-dozen books that have changed my life.

I’ll be a much stronger advocate for my daughter for having read this book,

and I hope that when my wife reads it (I never put it down long enough),

we’ll begin to reclaim our family life.”

Stan, a Dad from Michigan, whose wonderful daughter happens to have Down syndrome

“Thank you, Kathie! I enjoyed your presentation immensely

and am looking forward to reading your book.

It has been rare in my 35 years in the disability

services field to discover such clarity!

The best to you in your work to liberate parents!”
David, a human services professional from New Hampshire

But what do apples have to do with disability?

One of the five apples is green.
One American in five is a person with a disability.

(Which makes people with disabilities the

largest minority group in the nation—and

it's the only group that anyone can join at any time!)

A green apple is more like red apples than different.

A person with a disability is more like people without disabilities than different.

Apples are natural . . . and having a disability is a "natural part of the human experience"

(as expressed in the U.S. Developmental Disabilities Act).

The sun shines equally on all the apples in the bowl,

and it's time for the light of inclusion, opportunity, freedom, and dignity

to shine equally on all people—including people with disabilities.

Welcome to the Disability is Natural website!

The source for thought-provoking articles, products to promote new ways of thinking, and more!

See the new Disability Etiquette Poster at the Disability is Natural Online Store!

Email Newsletter

Sign up for the free, monthly Disability is Natural E-Newsletter! Scroll to the bottom of the page for the sign-up box.

The Disability is Natural Book and DVD

Learn more about Disability is Natural: Revolutionary Common Sense for Raising Successful Children with Disabilities/2nd Edition, Kathie Snow's book that's changing the lives of children with disabilities and their families! But it's not just for parents—service providers, educators, people with disabilities, professionals of all kinds, and universities also enthusiastically rave about this one-of-a-kind manual for ensuring children with disabilities lead real lives—self-determined lives—included in their homes, schools, and communities!

The Disability is Natural DVD motivates change! Powerful text frames set to inspiring music describe what can happen when we believe disability is a natural part of life. Viewers are acquiring a new paradigm of disability!

People First Language

The People First Language article by Kathie Snow—first written in 1991, updated regularly, and distributed widely—is considered by many to be the clearest, simplest, and most comprehensive article on the power of language. Individuals, schools, and organizations across the country and around the world use this article to teach others the importance of using respectful and dignified words.

Posters

Choose from more than 25 thought-provoking and positive designs, including the People First Language poster and the new Disability Etiquette poster! These colorful posters will brighten your home, school, or office and generate New Ways of Thinking. Check out the "Voices" designs—messages that represent what's really important to children and adults with disabilities.

Note Cards - Bookmarks - Badges - Sticker Sheets - Magnets

All of these one-of-a-kind items are available in your choice of 28 bright, colorful, positive designs!

T-Shirt Tranfers

Choose your favorite of the 28 bright, colorful, positive designs and create your own T-shirt or sweatshirt!

Abilities Box

Isn't it time to celebrate the abilities, strengths, interests, and hopes of children and adults with disabilities? Use the Abilities Box at IEP/IPP or other planning meetings, in "awareness" presentations, or as a positive way to ensure we focus on what's really important about a person with a disability in a new situation.

Thought-Provoking Articles

Revolutionary Common Sense essays promote new ways of thinking! Articles on new attitudes, strategies to influence positive change, and other disability-related subjects question conventional wisdom and help readers rediscover their common sense! And don't miss the great info on the New Way of Thinking and Newsletter Library pages!

Kathie's Presentations

Kathie challenges old ways of thinking and provides positive alternatives at conferences and workshops. Check out her Presentation Schedule.

Thumbs Down to Pity

Check out Benjamin Snow's sixty-second award-winning film, Thumbs Down to Pity!

And Now, A Little Disability History...

Terms of Use

All material of this website is protected by U.S. copyright law and may not be reproduced, transmitted, displayed, or published in other websites, blogs, newsletters, or other media without the prior written permission of Kathie Snow.

However, you may print the pages of this site, and/or the PDF articles on various pages of this site, for your own personal use and/or to share with others as a handout (non-commercial use).

All pages of this website are also protected by Copyscape, which searches other websites to track plagiarism and unauthorized use of material from this site.

Contact
kathie@disabilityisnatural.com
for more information.

From the beginning, mythical perceptions and stereotypical attitudes have portrayed individuals with disabilities as different, aberrant, deficient, incompetent, and more. But like gender and ethnicity, a disability is simply one of many natural characteristics of being human. (The "white majority" once looked at people with "darker skin" as different and/or incompetent because of skin color. Ditto, people who constitute half of our population—women—were once seen as unequal on the basis of gender.) There have always been people with disabilities and differences in the world, and there always will be.

The Largest Minority Group

One of every five Americans is a person with a disability. Some people are born with conditions we label as disabilities; others may acquire a disability through an accident or illness; and, if we live long enough, many of us will acquire a disability through the aging process. Disability does not discriminate! People with disabilities make up the largest "minority group" in the United States, and it's the most inclusive! It includes individuals of all ages, both genders, and any sexual orientation, as well as people from all socioeconomic, religious, and ethnic groups. How can disability not be natural?

Laws and Services, But . . .

In the United States today, we have an array of laws which guarantee legal equality for people with disabilities. We also have more funding (billions of dollars) for more services and entitlements than at any other time in history—and more than any other nation in the world! Despite all the laws and services, however, too many children and adults still don't live the lives of their dreams. Instead, they experience second-class citizenship, dependency, physical segregation and/or social isolation in "special" programs, and more. In the worst case scenarios, individuals with disabilities may be on the receiving end of abuse and harm in the very programs intended to "help" them.

Contrary to popular belief, legal equality and "special" services cannot guarantee inclusion, dignity, freedom, friendships, choice, self-direction, being seen as a valuable and competent human being, and many of the other ordinary, but precious, opportunities and experiences most of us take for granted. Don't these typical opportunities represent basic and inherent human rights that apply to each and every one of us?

Most Americans may agree with that question—we can really talk the talk! But when it comes time to walk the walk, that's a different story. Attitudes, perceptions, morals, and ethics are all involved in the disconnect between what we say and what we do.

Disability is Not the "Problem"

Today's conventional wisdom about disability is based on the Medical Model: identify the problem, then provide a cure. This paradigm places the "problem" of disability within the person, so treatments and services attempt to "fix" the person: helping him achieve an "able-bodied" standard through therapies and other interventions and/or placing him in special, sheltered, segregated settings in order to "get him ready" for life in the real world. In the minds of many, these efforts will resolve the "problem" of disability. But the problem never has been the disability; the problem is (and has always been) society's beliefs about disability. People with disabilities are not broken, and they don't need to be fixed!

Old attitudes and perceptions—not the disability itself—constitute the greatest obstacle facing people with disabilities. This attitudinal barrier may not always be visible to the naked eye, but it rears its ugly head across all environments and results in children and adults with disabilities being socially isolated, physically segregated, and excluded from the mainstream of American society.

Very young children with disabilities may spend countless hours, day in and day out, receiving "special services" and interventions, or attending "special programs"—and in the process, their natural and joyous childhoods may be lost. Many school-aged children with disabilities are sorted by medical label and shuttled into segregated special education classrooms. From there, they may have to "earn" their way into general ed classrooms when they've proven they're "ready." In the meantime, they have no friends, they don't get invited to birthday parties, and the greatest lesson they learn is that they don't belong. Adults with disability labels, instead of working at the jobs of their choice and living in the homes of their choice, with the supports they need to succeed, may spend their days in sheltered, segregated day programs or workshops (earning sub-minimum wages), and their nights are spent in group homes or other segregated, congregate environments. As one day passes into the next, so their lives pass by. Their hopes are dashed, their dreams are unfulfilled, and opportunities to lead real lives evaporate.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

What will it take to ensure that the sacred words of our nation's Declaration of Independence apply to people with disabilities: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

What will it take to ensure that people with disabilities enjoy first-class citizenship and live real lives: being included, having friends, being self-directed, enjoying both the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, and participating in and contributing to their communities? Our Founding Fathers were inspired to rebel, seeking freedom from the oppressive past—the old ways of doing things. They embraced radical ideas and created a new nation. Isn't it time for us to do the same? Isn't it time for a new way of thinking?

Isn't It Time:

• for a Gentle Rebellion Against Old Attitudes and Perceptions

• to Embrace New Ways of Thinking

• to Create an Inclusive Society for All?

It's Time for Revolutionary Common Sense:
Disability is Natural!

7/14/08

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Disability is Natural
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Our words reflect the way we think, so let's get rid of descriptors like "handicapped, physically disabled, mentally retarded, learning disabled" and other words that focus on the condition instead of the person. People First Language promotes dignity and respect for all!

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