Disabled or Not?: How Assistive Technologies Are Just Like Glasses

More than sixty percent of the United States' population wears glasses or other types of corrective lenses, but only twenty percent of the population is considered disabled. Glasses have become so common that they are no longer typically thought of as assistive technology, but they are. Glasses are a piece of technology that assist people who have a visual impairment. People who wear glasses technically do fit under the definition of disabled; without their glasses, their visual sense as well as their activities (such as reading) would be limited. So why is it any different for others who use any other type of assistive technology; why are they considered disabled?

Just like glasses are a visual aid that assist people in seeing, mobility aids such as canes, leg braces, walkers, and wheelchairs, assist people in walking; feeding tubes, such as nasogastric tubes (ng-tubes) and gastrostomy-tubes (g-tubes), assist people with eating; technologies such as ventilators, bi-paps, and c-paps assist people with breathing; and hearing aids assist people in hearing. This list could continue on and become exhaustive in listing all the assistive technologies that have been created; there are even other assistive devices that aid people with seeing, just as glasses do. However, glasses tend to be treated with a less demeaning attitude than other assistive technologies. Recently, glasses have even become just as much of a fashion statement as they are an assistive device. However, this is not the case for most other accommodations or aids.

I have a disability, and yes, I use a wheelchair for mobility, but I am no more disabled than the person who wears glasses to correct their vision. I may not be able to walk without my wheelchair, but most people who wear glasses cannot see when they are without them. So, my wheelchair should not be considered any different than a pair of glasses. If I am considered disabled, then anyone who wears glasses to correct their vision should be considered disabled too; if they are not considered disabled -- simply because their vision is corrected by their glasses -- then I should not be either; my wheelchair corrects my inability to walk. With the aid of my wheelchair, I can get from point A to point B, just like anyone else can by walking.

We may all be created equal and should all have equal access, but at the same time we are all unique. Not one of us is the same, and to deem someone who accomplishes a task as abled, while deeming anyone else who fulfills that same task in a different way as disabled, is silly. Accomplishing a task is accomplishing a task; no matter how it is done, it was able to be done. Using an assistive device, like a pair of glasses, can help with accomplishing a task. Even if a person has a disability, they are only disabled when they do not have access to the correct technologies that enable their abilities.

Not being able to walk on my own, and therefore using a wheelchair for mobility, is not what makes me disabled. Not having access to a wheelchair would make me disabled, and the lack of access and the mindset of others is what truly makes me disabled.