Claudia Olson ’22 | Assistant Features Editor
Writing about disability can be a tricky task. I’ve always had a passion for writing, but only rarely do I write about my experience of living with a disability, because I don’t want others to misinterpret my story. I don’t want others to feel pity when they read about my struggles, nor inspiration just from the fact that I am able to live a fairly normal life. I never had a teacher with a disability, so it was hard to find help resolving these issues that complicated my writing. Coming to Smith, I wanted to find a community of disabled students who had stories similar to mine — stories that needed to be told. Through Empowered Voices, I’ve found the community I was searching for.
Empowered Voices is a writing group sponsored by the Office of Disability Services that seeks to give students with disabilities a way to express their experiences and a safe space where their experiences will not be criticized. During meetings, we write short pieces, share them with each other and give positive feedback. At the most recent meeting, we wrote about the process of learning that we were disabled and growing up differently than our peers. In my case, I was diagnosed with dwarfism at birth. I grew up knowing I was different and seeing these differences manifest themselves as I grew up. However, the students I talked to at the meeting didn’t know of their differences for their entire lives. They grew up first, then were given a label once they started to stand out. I found these new perspectives fascinating. Since I had little prior interaction with disabled people of my generation, I didn’t have a clue what it was like to grow up in the same time period but in wildly different circumstances. By seeing through these other points of view, I feel better informed about the disabled community. I hope to continue learning from others as I continue attending meetings so that I can better advocate for myself and others as an entire community of people with unique differences.
I believe writing is a powerful tool that, when used properly, causes people to shift their focus from the lives they lead to the lives of other people they may not even know. Social justice movements, and disability advocacy in particular, need strong writers to be successful. Everyone needs to know about the experiences of those affected with disabilities so that we can create a more accepting and accessible world. I am proud to be a member of Empowered Voices so that I can contribute to this goal. Writing is not only a passion of mine: it has become a necessary tool that lets me be more than a disability.
