Seven Things My Disability Prevents Me From Doing

If you are disabled, it is likely that you have been approached by someone and told that you can do whatever you put your mind to. My disability is something I live with, and I am not defined by my disability, but I cannot do whatever I put my mind to because my disability prevents me from being able to do certain activities, and that is okay. Non-disabled people often will tell us that we can do whatever we put our minds to because disability makes them uncomfortable, but it’s simply not true. It doesn’t matter how much I believe I can do something; I can’t change my disability and will have limitations whether I choose to accept them or not. Disability is often seen as bad, and I think that the only people who tell disabled people that we can do whatever our heart desires are those who are uncomfortable with our disabilities who would be more comfortable if we were cured. My disability does have limitations, and it makes my life a whole lot easier when people accept my challenges rather than try to pretend they don’t exist. What does my disability prevent me from being able to do? In this post, I am going to talk about seven things you didn’t know my disability prevents me from doing.

Standing without my crutches- I have been using assistive devices my entire life because I was not born with the leg muscles required to walk without them. People use assistive devices for different reasons, and not everyone who uses a wheelchair is unable to walk because ambulatory wheelchair users exist. Some people do not look disabled and have assistive devices because they experience a lot of pain and fatigue but could walk if they wanted to. I am not one of those disabled people who is able to stand without assistive devices because I have never had those muscles, and if I were to let go of my crutches, I would quite literally fall on the floor. There is no exercise that I can do that will give me that ability because you can’t fix something that is broken beyond repair. I use assistive devices because I am not able to stand without them, and choosing to not use assistive devices is not a choice for me. I cannot meditate my disability, and it doesn’t matter how much I believe I can do it; I will never be able to stand without my crutches.

Laying on my stomach and lifting my legs– I have a condition called hip dysplasia, and for those of you who don’t know it’s a medical condition where the hip joint does not develop properly and does not cover the ball portion of your upper thigh which often leads to partial or full dislocation of your hip. I was born with both of my hips dislocated and recently had my right hip replaced because it was giving me pain. When your hips are dislocated, you can live well, and a lot of people do nothing about it because as long as it’s not giving you any pain, it’s not harming you. You will never see me doing an exercise where I lie on my stomach and lift my legs because that type of movement is impossible, and even after having hip replacement surgery, I still can’t do that. Hip replacement surgery has given me some movements, but it does not cure hip dysplasia, and there are some movements that I will never be able to do, and that is okay. You can live well with dislocated hips, but there are some things you will not be able to do if you have this condition.

Standing for long periods of time or going on long walks- I am able to stand and walk short distances with my crutches but I get fatigued more easily than someone without my disability would because I have to use more muscles to walk. Exercise has helped increase my endurance so I am able to stand a little bit longer, but it doesn’t matter how much I train, I will never be able to stand as long as a non-disabled person can because my body is not built for that. When I stand for a long period of time, it puts a lot more stress on my body, and eventually, it will get to a point where I can’t do it anymore and will fall over. Exercise does help build my endurance so I am able to stand longer but it does take me longer to train to be able to stand a half hour.

Lying on my side and kicking my leg backward- When I walk, I mostly use my quads because although I have some glute activation, it’s very weak and it’s almost non-existent. My exercise routine does not have any glute exercises because mine are too weak, and just like I can’t lie on my stomach and lift my legs I also can’t lay on my side and kick my legs backward because your hip needs to be in the correct position to be able to do that movement. I can do some glute exercises, but it’s not the same experience and sometimes it feels like a waste of time because it doesn’t challenge my body in the same way as it would a non-disabled person since I barely have those muscles. Since I had hip replacement, I have gained some of these movements back, but it’s not to the capacity of a non-disabled person, and I don’t think it ever will be because surgery only helps you have less pain, but it does not cure hip dysplasia.

I can’t do a squat– When you do squats, you usually are not holding onto anything, but because of my physical disability, I am not able to do them in the way you are supposed to. I can do assisted squats while holding on to my crutches, but it’s not the same experience when you are holding onto something, and is kind of easy. Squatting can help strengthen your glute muscles, but it’s one of those exercises that I don’t benefit from because I can’t activate my glutes in the same way non-disabled people can and it feels like a waste of time. There are other exercises that I can do that challenge my body, and squatting will never be one of them because I can’t even safely hold onto weights to make my squats more challenging.

It prevents me from being able to drive- When you have a physical disability, driving is possible, but if you don’t have good use of your legs, it is more expensive because you not only have to buy the car but also have to pay to get modifications, which can cost thousands of dollars on top of the price of the vehicle. People with my disability sometimes can drive, but I will never be able to drive because of my vision, and even if I had great vision, I still would never be able to afford to drive on my income. Driving is more expensive if you need any kind of modification, and sometimes, that alone prevents disabled people from being able to drive. Public transportation will always be cheaper than buying a car and getting it modified.

Going for run- I walk to get some cardio, but have never enjoyed it and do it because it’s one of the only ways I can do cardio. As a disabled person, I will never understand how people enjoy going on long runs because I just want to get my walk over with, and running sounds awful to me. I couldn’t go on a run even if I wanted to because I am not able to run, and it’s more like a skip than a run. Running would not be a very good choice of exercise for me because it would put even more stress on my joints, since it would require more force and would destroy my shoes more quickly.

When you are disabled, sometimes your disability prevents you from being able to do certain activities and that is okay because you can’t change your disability and will find new things you can do. A disabled person is not being negative when we say that we can’t do whatever we put our minds to because that is the truth, and I am only stating a fact. It doesn’t matter how positive I am; there will always be tasks I struggle with because of my disability. It can be harmful to tell disabled people that we can do whatever we put our minds to because it ignores the challenges of disability and tells me that my disability makes you uncomfortable. These are only seven things that I cannot do because of my disability, but there are so many other things that I will never be able to experience because of my disability My disability is something I live with, but I am not defined by my disability and cannot do everything my non-disabled friends can . What does your disability prevent you from doing? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.

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