Disability is real. Unseen and unfelt by others, it still exists if it affects at least one person's life. The unseen disability fights fiction, however, when others write fictional novels about disabilities they know nothing about, instead of focusing their potential on their own lives.
End result: a poorly-written novel with inaccuracies, inconsistency, and aesthetic drudgery.
Readership: limited, intellectually-incompetent, and artistically-tasteless persons.
Why is the novel lacking? What makes the best fictional novels? Novels written based on experience. Without experience, there is a disconnect, inaccuracy, lie. Yes, fiction is fiction, but it is based on experiences and life. There is truth in fiction. Without an element of truth, fiction sucks. When those who know better, read this type of fiction, it is an insult.
Like the stubborn lie that will not be honest in the face of constant questioning or the lie that is obvious to persons with average intellect. If you have experienced these types of lies, stunned with insult, you think, "Does this person think I am stupid?" My friend, I know you have attempted to show the world your creative genius in writing about unseen disabilities. But you have failed. Put down your pen and allow another to take over.
1. DISABILITY IS REAL...
I am an authority based on personal experience and experiences of loved ones.
2. Disability is not a choice.
True, poor life choices may cause disabilities. For example, a person may be paralyzed from a stroke due to poor diet, smoking, and lack of exercise. Nevertheless, the person chooses the lifestyle, not paralysis.
If you have ever spoken to a disabled person, you know most disabled persons want to be "normal." The disabled do not want to be hindered, but being disabled was not a choice.
They were given what they were given, and they must do with it what they can. It is extra weight given to a runner in a marathon, like a 50-pound running vest. However, the marathon runner can take off the vest or choose not to run. The disabled must run the "life marathon" and the 50-pound vest is permanently attached. The option of not running the "life marathon" is death.
Like any advocate, dispelling myths is crucial.
A. Myth one: "cognitive and mental disabilities (ADD, dyslexia, anxiety, bipolar, depression) are not real."
Yes, this is a real myth that must be dispelled. Did you know the scientific community invested years of research, billions of dollars, time and energy in make-believe disabilities? Better yet, maybe it is a conspiracy, an industry's attempt to make money! Perhaps the scientists conspired with pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, and tried to convince others that they need to be cured of these disabilities. Maybe they even put drops in some of our eyes when we were asleep so upon awakening we see letter backwards! That makes complete logical sense!
B. WRONG. Disability is real.
I know you can't see it or feel it and perhaps you have not reached the developmental stage of abstraction, conceptualization, or empathy to fully grasp the unseen disability (directed at wannabe novelist). With intellect and the ability to make inferences, you can admit its existence by the "expenditure" of the scientific community. However, in the face of evidence, the untalented fictional writer still writes trash. This is why.
C. The writer thinks the unseen disability gives others an advantage. Wrong.
True, someone with ADHD may be above average, perhaps a genius. This makes the writer uncomfortable. The writer thinks, "It's unfair. How come the person who is smarter than me gets to take medication that increases concentration." It is like Einstein on intellectual steroids.
Okay, maybe the novelist lacks imagination and empathy, but the novelist's "explanations" are excuses and copouts for the novelist. The novelist does not own his shortcomings. He is the bully at school who picks on the "strange" student. It is easier and less painful for the novelist to hide his inadequacy by denying another's unseen disability. My advice: look at your own shortcomings. If you did not win the race or make the "A," do something about it. Don't be a bully. Be an adult.
True, persons with "unseen disabilities" may be above average, and perform better. This annoys some.
Reality: the person with the unseen disability who performs better than the novelist without the disability would be at the finish line before the novelist took his first step.
E. It is easy to pick on the UNSEEN disability.
Imagine this: two people running a race. One person is in a wheelchair, paralyzed, the other person is an average runner. Say, the average runner, to win, takes the wheelchair from the paralyzed person. Wouldn't you be shocked? Society would not buy that for a second. Why? Because we can see the disability. We have proof, evidence. The unseen disability is treated differently but it should not be.
Imagine an average runner is competing against Christopher Reeve (say he has superman ability), who is in a wheelchair. This is the average intellect competing against the above average intellect who has a disability. You would be scorned if you took Christopher Reeve's wheelchair. And, likewise, you should be scorned if you take the intelligent's wheelchair.
Have you ever felt on the verge of crying but had to put on a happy-face and "act"?
You know you are sad but no one else knows you are sad nor can anybody see your emotion because you masked the sadness. Do you still feel sad even though you have a happy-face? It is still there; you still feel it.
The unseen disability, unseen, but felt by at least one person, exists.
**The goal in writing pieces like this is to lessen discrimination, stigma, and isolation of those who are disabled, whether their disability is cognitive, mental, or physical.
(You can click on the RED play button below to listen to my brother's music. He plays beautifully despite significant hearing loss.)