UNIT 20 Disability

藝弊悝汜炾釬

Losing Sight

by Nathaniel Lewis, Albany High School

Twelve years ago, at the birthday party of a friend, was the first time I met somebody my own age who had a disability. He was tall for his age, thin, and wore eyeglasses, just like I did. It was this commonality that initially attracted me to him, since I didn＊t know very many kindergartners who wore glasses. I had begun wearing glasses to correct a case of strabismus at age two, and was able to see perfectly when I put them on. However, I was not aware of the fact that his glasses did very little to sharpen his vision, and that he was legally blind.

On the last day of second grade, at the unofficial annual picnic at Westland Hills Park, we became good friends. As we moved from the swings to the jungle gym to the sprinklers, I realized how much we truly had in common. We enjoyed the same things: Legos, swimming and being Cub Scouts. Throughout third grade, we spent nearly every weekend together. During this time, though I had been informed of his disability, I never made any differentiation between his abilities or personality and my own. Although I often helped to direct him when he didn＊t seem to quite have his bearings, I never doubted that his capabilities were similar to my own.

After that year, we were not assigned the same teachers for fourth grade, and unfortunately, we drifted apart. As we finished elementary school and I watched him from a greater distance, his disability somehow became more apparent to me. When other kids asked me if I knew him, I would think of him as the boy who couldn＊t see well, or the one in the class who had to read large-type books. Why was I doing this? In part, it may have been because I was forced to look at his situation with less subjectivity. Perhaps it was because I began to recognize there were a few things he couldn＊t do as well as others. Most of all, I believe that my feelings came from the fact that society emphasizes disabilities as a difference between human beings.

While it is necessary to be aware of other＊s disabilities, they should not be the distinguishing factor between two people. As we continued through middle school, I realized that losing contact often causes one to lose sight of somebody＊s true personality, and the characteristics that make them who they are. However, I would eventually notice his maturity, perseverance and determination in all areas of his life, qualities which have led him to develop into a young man I truly admire.

During my junior year, we were placed in the same Aquatics class. I discovered our interests now differed, but that we had both pursued and achieved a number of personal goals. The last time we spoke, at his parents＊ New Year＊s party, I was inspired by the amount of things he had accomplished in the past year. He had become manager of the school store and had won Albany High School＊s only gold medal in the regional DECA business competition. He got a job at Eastern Mountain Sports. Over the summer, he had participated in a rigorous mountain climbing and hiking trip in the Adirondacks, not for a second letting his disability get in the way of doing something he loved.

I thought back to that first day at the park, when I had worried that his sight might cause him to fall and hurt himself. Now, he had pushed himself to do something considered difficult for anybody. This inspirational individual has never allowed his disability to become his most prominent quality, and consequently, he has encouraged me to view disabilities in the same way. I feel that he has served as an example to society, showing that disabilities do not dictate an individual＊s personality or quality of life.

﹛
﹛

蔬劼吽噪蔬詢撰笢悝