Having a disability feels like an eternal venture of educating people. Many people who haven’t come into contact with disability, have rather strange preconceptions of what my life is like.
Then there are the people who know me very well, but can never know some of the struggles I have to face. We can and should emphasise, but I find the people that truly understands how it feels are those with a similar condition to me.
This isn’t to say that people can’t grasp my life to a good extent. I suppose the point is that it takes time and effort on both sides of the coin. Time or energy that we don’t necessarily always have.
Meet Hannah Ensor
They say a picture paints a thousand words. Whilst on a public transport journey and unable to communicate the situation to fellow travellers. Hannah Ensor was struggling for energy and strength. If only she had a card that could explain what was going on, everything would have been easier.
So Hannah went home and drew one of the first stickman crips. Using that exact same notion of how a picture tells a thousand words. The Stickmen were the perfect tool to educate people should a similar circumstance arrive again.
Over time Hannah saw the need for other cards in her daily life. Then other disabled people explained the kind of messages they always have to explain to people. So Hannah drew stickmen for others too.
Now you can go on the website and buy a whole range of cards. It may not yet cover every single disability or societal barrier. But it certainly is getting close.
Listen, rate, share
As always I would love to hear your thoughts on this episode. Please do leave me a rating on the PodBean or iTunes platforms. Most importantly please share this episode and indeed the whole show with your friends and family. It’s the only way we can reach more people with these great guests.
Here’s the iTunes version (PodBean is embedded at the top of this page).
Thank you for listening!
Martyn ‘educating’ Sibley
– World Changer @ martynsibley.com
– Captain of Inclusion @ disabilityhorizons.com
– Author @ ‘Everything is Possible‘
– Motivational Speaker @ pro-motivate.com/speaker/martyn-sibley
– Adviser @ Governments/Businesses/Charities
