Defining People by their Disability

I just got out a class in which we ended with a very interesting discussion about disabilities.

One comment that was made by the teacher was that an important thing to remember is not to define people by their disability. For instance we shouldn't think of little Tommy in our second grade class as, Little Tommy the hard of hearing student. Rather, Tommy needs to be thought of as oh that's little Tommy in my second grade class, who has two brothers, is a great reader, doesn't like science and he's hard of hearing.

I found this particularly interesting as I am in this class largely because I didn't let my instructors know that I was disabled until mid-way through the semester when trouble started to rear its ugly head. I wanted to see if I could make it without having to tell people about my Narcolepsy. I wanted to be known as me, not as the Narcoleptic Student Teacher.

I am going to have to take one additional semester largely because I refused to tell people about my disability.

Which raises two interesting points. First, at the beginning of last semester I had only been diagnosed with Narcolepsy for about a year and a half and yet I had internalized the concept (without realizing it) that I was different, and that I would be labeled or thought of differently ... and I kept the fact I had Narcolepsy to myself for as long as I possibly could.

Second, I didn't want to be defined as being Narcoleptic. I was having as being known as having brown-haired, being a little geeky, loving the Chicago Bears, being a good English student and a horrible math student, etc. I was fine as being defined and labeled with all the attributes that make me up ... but for whatever reason, I didn't want to be known as being Narcoleptic. I was fighting having to internalize that as being part of me.

I am a Bears fan, I am good at English, I have brown hair, I am horrible at math ... but I am also Narcoleptic and it is just as much of a part of me as anything, and everyday I find myself figuring out how to accept it and even embrace it.

I am learning to enjoy being Jim, the Narcoleptic. I just don't want people to know me only by my disability, especially on a professional level.