I was riding the subway one day and this woman came up to me, sat down by me and said, “Oh, my God, it’s such a shame! Such a pretty girl, such ugly hands!” (My hands and feet were deformed at birth; the condition is called syndactylism.) So I said to her, “So would it be better if I were all ugly?” She giggled and mumbled something about a tragedy. I said, “I don’t think it’s such a tragedy. You ihink my hands are ugly, you should see my feet!” and got off at my stop.
– Bree, syndactylism
Until high school I went to special school for the physically handicapped…. We had monthly clinic visits by an orthopedist who would come, like a circuit judge, to the schools…. I would have to get out there in my underwear in front of the doctor, the physical therapist, a couple of teachers, maybe the principal, other kids and parents. I’d be paraded around and had to listen to my “case” being discussed.
– Victoria, cerebral palsy
When I was younger, I was extremely aware that someone was staring at me, even though I couldn’t see. If I made a mistake and ran into a tree, someone would see me. Someone would know that I wasn’t normal.
– Sheila, blind
I have Down’s syndrome. I can’t stand it when people yell at me and come up to me and say things. That hurts my feelings. Some people don’t treat you right. I don’t like people calling me mentally retarded. I want them to call me by my real name. When people call me names, sometimes I yell back, sometimes I ignore them.
– Ann Marie, Down’s syndrome
Going through the first year after the accident happened to me, I was stuck with scars on my body. I knew that kids were looking at me because of my burns but their facial expressions were really scary. They’d look at me like I had some kind of disease or something. They would draw pictures, as if I looked like a monster, and they would put the pictures up on a tree. I felt so hurt inside, and once in a while outside. I wish I had told them, “Well, I happened to be burned, but I still have a brain.” I didn’t think of what to say. I would just take it in and accept it.
– Lois, deaf
People stare at you if you’re different. They can make you feel like a Martian. I never really wanted to go out because I was so selfconscious. My family would say, “You have to go out, we’ll take you to the beach.” I wouldn’t. So my father would get off work at night and we’d go to the movies. The only show I’d go to was the late show that started at 10:00 o’clock. It was dark in the streets and in the theater. My father would wheel me out as soon as the lights came up.
– Terry, post polio
If I had one wish, it would be that people realized how their staring hurts me, and that I can’t help being small. I was just made that way. I guess other people just don’t know how it makes me feel … or else why would they stare?
– Ginny, short stature
You want to know what makes me really uncomfortable? Every once in a while there are these people who come up to me and don’t say anything. They keep real quiet and just look at me. It’s as if they’re going to find the answers or something all over my face.
– Laurie, blind