The Documentary

Now that I have you all hooked, I want to announce something very exciting: There should be a documentary to go along with this blog. The reason I say should be is because I haven't gone out to shoot much footage... yet. Real life and the weather can be chaotic sometimes. I'm hoping to have a little preview up by February. The working title is: "RIC: The Landmine", because honestly it is. When you live in The Fan/VCU area, there's always construction. And it isn't always safe. It's especially not safe when you have to jaywalk, cars driving in front of you, construction workers yelling at you, and yes, often construction workers stalking you. This IS my life.  When I was in college, I saw a documentary called "Gardens of Death". It was a documentary about children in other countries who lost their limbs and lives to undetonated land mines. When I was thought of a title documetary, that was all I could think of was landmines. No, people with disabilities don't usually lose their lives or limbs to a pothole or a dirt ramp. But it shreds us of our dignity. I'll explain that in the next one. Just think about that for a little while.

Introduction

My name is Sarah and this is my story. There are so many out there, but this one is special to me. I want to record the daily struggles I have with accessibility. The beginnings of this blog will be part of my Partners in Policymaking project, which is sponsored by the Virginia Board for people with Disabilities. Even though it's sponsored by the VBPD, this blog is my opinions and not necessarily theirs. After I graduate from Partners, I hope to expand it to an adoption blog and just daily life.. The first thing I have to do is explain what accessibility means to me. Accessibility means that everyone has access to buildings, favorite foods, attendant care, travel, marriage, parenting, and medicine. Yes, I know they're in random order. Even if you physical access to something, other people's perceptions may block your emotional accessibility.  Emotional accessibility is when other people's opinions affect your confidence or the belief that you are able to do things on your own, even though they always say that other people's opinions don't matter. You can block out the negativity for many years, but eventually one day, it will get to you.    This affects the way that you eat, sleep, breathe, and socialize. I am hoping to open people's eyes through this blog so that they understand what accessibility truly means and break down some of the barriers that now exist. Just because we live in a developed country, does not mean that everyone has access to everything they want or need.