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End The Awkward

I saw this video on FB and almost didn’t click on…so glad I did!


I think this might be the most brilliant campaign I’ve seen in a long time.

Scope (out of Britain) poses the question:

Awkward about disability?  No worries, we can all get over it.  

So great!  And true!  I love that they address the (3 legged) elephant in the room with humor, kindness and grace.  They’re not out to make you feel bad for feeling and acting awkward around people with disabilities. They’re just trying to help.  But make no mistake, it’s a serious issue and they’re hitting it straight on.  From job discrimination, verbal abuse and even hate crimes, discrimination against the disabled is real.

In my spotlight featuring Brenna last week I had a reader bravely confess that she doesn’t know what to do when she meets children with disabilities.  Even after following my blog and the many spotlights I’ve featured she still gets a little nervous to do or say the right thing.  I confessed that sometimes I still feel awkward around others with disabilities as well–ha!  I hope that puts some of you at ease.  For me I think I’m “supposed” to know how to do this, so then I feel all this pressure to model proper disability etiquette which means I overthink it, talk too much, do something awkward and walk away thinking, What was that?

Scope has some great resources on their site like Ending the Awkward: The Basics, Assumptions to avoid, Tackling Awkward Situations and Talking About Disability.

These are such great tips for everyone to remember and I’m so happy to see an organization trying to change attitudes about people with disabilities.  Take the how awkward are you? quiz and see the rest of the videos here. 

What about you?  Do you sometimes feel awkward around those with disabilities?  What do you think about the campaign?  And if you have disabilities or are a parent/relative of someone with disabilities I’d love to hear your two cents as well.  Personally I think of disabilities as the final frontier of prejudice if you will–many people who would never think to do or say something offensive based on someone’s race, gender, religion etc, still have no problem making jokes/making fun about those with disabilities.  I’d love to hear your thoughts!    
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