Ain't I Human?

Do you know what it's like to be human like me?

I know there are people who think severely disabled
are a waste of public school monies;
We don't fit the mold of going to college, having a family,
or can produce values like others.

Statistically, we are more likely to be dependent,
obese, unemployed and undervalued.

But ain't I human?
Look at me
Look into my eyes!
Look at my arms, my ears, my nose.

Look at me and give me the opportunity to be human like you.

Help me to help others.
Allow me to walk with you;
Don't hide your children from me;
Don't shun me or segregate me into isolation.

I don't want your pity, nor your care, if I don't need it, just the opportunity to be human like you.

Do you remember when you were dependent and needed help?
Who helped you?
When was the last time you took the time to come to see a human like me?
To sit and listen, to help another human being?

I have lived for 18 years
And know what it is to be marginalized.
I will most likely not get married or have children,
but ain't I a human still?

When I get angry and cry, people run from me
and none but my mother and father understand me....
Ain't I human?

There are those who might think I don't need a 1:1 aide,
because it costs too much and you have a priority to see the able body children
get to college.

The schools benefit when a child goes to college, but not when they go to a group home.
Ain't that human?

It costs more to educate a human with a disability than one without;
It pays to raise the Advance Placement Index (API)  than it does to a accept those
that are non-academic.  What is learning and progress?  Do all life forms learn and advance?
How about just letting me be human?

One day, you all will be like me, dependent with a disability;
It's just a matter of time, as you grow older.

When your money runs out and your family is gone, you sit alone in your isolation,
Then you will know what it is like to be human like me.

By Peter Dragula


Author Notes:

Adapted from the famous poem by Soujouner Truth (1851).  It seems sometimes like people who don't work with the severely disabled understand what it is to be isolated or to have a disability.  Those who can't speak, need advocates to remind us all that we are only "temporarily non-disabled".  We all need help at some point in our lives.  We are all human.

Resource:

Truth, S. (1851). Ain't I a woman.  Women's Convention. Akron, Ohio. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/wori/historyculture/sojourner-truth.htm