My sister Carolina, is 26 years old and she’s the most loving person I know. Like everyone else she has feelings too. Having a sibling with a disability isn’t easy. Others do not understand that just like any other young adult, my sister has problems too.

In my point of view her life might be more difficult than anyone else’s because she deals with people being rude to her just because she appears a little different. That’s what it comes down to, her life isn’t defined as “normal” by those who do not live with her or work with.

My sister is not dumb.  She can be taught just like any other individual. She just learns in her own way.

Kids with disabilities go to school or work, and they live lives based on their perspective of the world. My sister has a life of her own. Her life is filled with tough times and problems just like everyone else in the world. It just happens that some of her problems revolve around a mild disability.

In a sense, no one is really “normal” or belongs under the category of being “normal.” Who are those who laugh and make fun of her to decide who is normal or what it takes to be normal? Just because someone has a disability, doesn’t mean that they can not live life. It is just a challenge. By claiming to be better than individuals with a disability, a person is just using the label as a crutch to help them support their claim of dominance over those who are  a little different than them.

There are times that we go out to eat as a family and people look at her, assuming that she can’t do anything for herself. The waitress is dumbfounded when she looks over to my mom and asks for my sister’s order, assuming she can not answer for herself. She quickly answers with her food order.  That’s how it is when we do most anything as a family.  Those around us see my sister and automatically label her as a criple person without ever giving her a chance to show who she really is inside.

People need to think twice about labeling someone by how they look or who they are. This just makes those such as my sister feel as if they are worthless thus giving them one more obstacle to overcome.