Please do not tell me, Doctor, that my baby is disabled.
This is number 35 of fifty pieces of poetry and prose written by Peter Limbrick as a monument to adults and children who have lived and died or are living now in inhuman situations. They are all inspired by real experience.
Label
Please do not tell me, Doctor, that my baby is disabled.
It is such a leaden word to hang around such a young neck.
This medical label you would use (as if a label were
necessary) speaks only of what she cannot and possibly will
not do.
You can tell me her vision is impaired, her hearing is
limited, her brain is not sending the right messages to legs,
arms and hands. You can tell me her reflexes are immature
and that she is not yet doing what other babies of her age
can do.
Then I will tell you, if you will really listen and believe, how
she smiles when she sees me, laughs when I tickle her and
rolls to get her teddy. Then about the games we play in the
bath, how she touches my face, tries to sing, looks so sad
when I cry.
You cannot know what she will be doing next year or when
she is five years and ten years old. By the time she is fifteen
she might be into music, painting, swimming, horse-riding,
sailing. She might be in a group of mutually supportive
teenage friends.
When she is twenty-five she could be doing something
amazing to raise money for children in need. At thirty, a
way might be found for her to talk to medical students
about respect, rights and positivity. You have no idea what
abilities she is hatching.
Of course, as a young woman she might decide to adopt
the disability label as a political stance. Her choice entirely.
In the meantime, if you must have a label to hang on her,
please choose another word that is less condemning,
a word for which there is real evidence,
not one that is predictive guesswork in a negative mindset,
a word that is carefully selected to help her through her
unusual life.
Your disability label is not doing either of us any good.
The other 49 pieces can be seen here:
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 1 to 10)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 11 to 20)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 21 to 30)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 31 to 40)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 41 to 50)
