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Pushing through - in a disability context


2 panel cartoon. 1: When a non-disabled person says 'push through' to a disabled person.... Image: stickman in a green 'comfort zone' pushing through a red barrier to 'possible but difficult' zone that has a slightly uneven floor. They are saying "Just push through, you'll be fine! It's just a bit challenging!". At the end of that is a second red barrier - beyond which are spikes and a warning symbol labelled 'Actual harm zone'. 2: REMEMBER: the disabled person may be in a very different place to them! Image: identical to the 1, except barrier 1 is a small pile of rubble, and an exhausted stickman is at barrier two - saying "Um...really not a good idea".

I don't think this concept is understood - or talked about - nearly enough. In my experience disabled people spend very little time in our comfort zone, where things are easy. There are so many extra challenges to doing things, interacting, etc that if we are up and about, we are probably pushing ourselves. So when we reach the point of 'uh oh' we are looking at real life consequences if we push further. But for a non-disabled person, most of their life can be within their comfort zone - a zone where they can functioning easily and with little effort. And when they reach 'uh oh' it is often the point of moving into something that is difficult and might be actively draining - but not harmful.


So please: before telling a disabled person to 'just push through' - please stop and think. They've probably already been pushing through for hours/days/years - we may even already be in the 'actual harm zone' so maybe it is wisdom to stop pushing now.



 
 
 

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