What Happened to the Redefining Disability Challenge?

If you are a regular reader here at DeeScribes (and thank you if you are!) you know for several months I was posting my responses to the Redefining Disability Blog Challenge on Wednesdays. If you are new and want to see some of these posts, I have them listed in order on a special page you can find here.

I stopped writing these challenge posts when I broke my femur in January. I decided to take a break because I needed to focus on my rehabilitation. And frankly, the next question in the post requires more research and time than I was willing to or able to invest while recuperating.

I do plan to continue with the challenge because I think answering the questions is useful for me as an advocate and writer. The challenges have forced me to consider how I view my identity as disabled, what that means, and why it has taken me almost 42 years to embrace the label with pride. The response from readers has been encouraging and eye-opening. Disability is a part of who I am. I rarely consider how my reality is different from the norm, because it is just what I have to do to get through this amazing thing called life. I never set out to write a disability blog, but I have to write about disability occasionally because it is such an important part of who I am. The challenge questions allow me to write about disability with intention, which is easier than answering a general question like, “Tell me about your disability.”

So, next Wednesday I will resume the challenge with an important question about disability and the media. I hope you will continue to read and comment on these posts. I enjoy the dialogue these challenges spark and know the questions will be fun to explore.