Handicapped but Successful

A WORLD CUP race in alpine giant slalom skiing is just about to begin. The announcer tells the expectant crowd that the first of the two forerunners has started down the slope. Several TV cameras follow him as he hurtles down the steep course, rounding the flag-topped gates and raising big clouds of snow. When he finally crosses the finish line, he is cheered enthusiastically.

What’s the reason? Isn’t he just a forerunner, not a competitor? Yes, but he has only one leg! On one ski he has successfully negotiated the extremely difficult course, where later several of the two-legged, well-trained competitors fall.

Yet, it is not unusual for severely handicapped persons to accomplish such feats. Many handicapped men and women, young and old, do weight lifting, engage in horseback riding, sailing, marathon races by wheelchair, and share in many other challenging sports.

Handicapped persons have achieved great things in other fields as well. Ludwig van Beethoven composed some of his greatest masterpieces while totally deaf. Franklin D. Roosevelt was president of the United States from 1933 to 1945, although severely handicapped by polio. Helen Keller, blind, deaf, and mute from childhood, became a prolific author and educator. The Greek statesman Demosthenes is called one of the greatest orators of all times. Yet, as a young man, he was an inarticulate stammerer and extremely weak physically.

While such great achievements may spur many disabled people to try to do something extra themselves, it must be remembered that every handicap is individual, and one handicapped person cannot be compared with another. Interests in life differ. Innate abilities differ. And mental inclination also plays a large part.

The Most Difficult Time

The time immediately after a disabling accident or illness is likely to be the worst for the stricken one and those near him. The initial shock is often followed by feelings of despair and hopelessness. “There are times when you’re not ready for any pep talk, when all you want to do is crawl into your misery like a wounded animal, when encouragement seems like an assault,” said a mother of a disabled child.

A mixture of mourning, anger, self-pity, and despair may seize a handicapped person completely during that time. Therefore, the shorter this period is, the better for all involved. “It passes, because it has to,” the mother added.

Jimmy, a handsome young Swede who was stricken by an illness that made him stiff from head to foot, told about the initial shock and the terrible period that followed. “But,” he said, “as soon as I accepted my handicap and stopped pitying myself, I began to forget about it. Then I began to live again. Now I train myself to think not of what I lack but of what abilities I still have, and I try to make the best of them.”

Maximizing One’s Possibilities

By mobilizing a strong willpower for practice and training, some disabled persons have achieved more than they could ever have imagined. One example is Maj, a woman from Lapland in northern Sweden. When only 22 years old and newly married, she lost the use of her legs.

“The first time they put me in a wheelchair at the hospital, I broke down,” she said. “I saw ahead of me a life of passivity, stagnation, and complete dependency on my husband and others. But little by little I began to realize that my handicap still gave me certain possibilities. So I decided to maximize them.

“First, I learned to crawl on the floor like a baby. It made me happy just to be able to move about on my own. Then I practiced standing upright, leaning against a wall. I felt it was great progress to be able to do so. Then I learned to walk with crutches. Soon I was able to do some housekeeping.

“I decided that each morning I would try to add something new to my repertoire. I managed to serve breakfast, do the beds, vacuum, clean windows, go shopping, and so forth. My husband would assist me when I asked for help, but he also cooperated by not insisting on helping. Instead, he let me try. Slowly, I became more independent, which gave me self-respect and made me happy.

“My husband and I are Jehovah’s Witnesses, and he decided to volunteer his services to help in building the new branch office and printing factory for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Sweden. Our volunteer applications were accepted, and we spent more than four years there. I was able to work almost full-time in the laundry, serving a staff of up to 200 workers. My able-bodied workmates considered me an equal worker. True, it was sometimes difficult, and repeatedly in prayer I asked for God’s help. But it was a happy time too.”

“Of Course You Can!”

For a handicapped person to be successful, it is important that family members and others cooperate in the right manner. That does not always mean to assist. It may mean to refrain from assisting. Telling a handicapped person facing a certain task, “Of course you can!” and then letting him try, is often of greater help and encouragement than saying, “I don’t think you can. Let me do it for you.”

Handicapped people should be dealt with as naturally and seriously as any other persons. They do not want others to underestimate their ability to handle everyday situations by being overly helpful. It may be just a small matter that may hinder more than help, such as buttering a slice of bread for the one who only asked for the butter to be passed to him.

“What hurts me most of all,” explains Jimmy, “is when able-bodied persons treat me as if I were somewhat mentally retarded. Sorry to say, some people talk and act as if they think that every person in a wheelchair is mentally retarded.”

Rehabilitation efforts should give the individual self-reliance and the inspiration to take hold of his situation and learn to live with his handicap as independently as possible. Most disabled persons get along best when they can decide for themselves when and how services should be performed. Overprotective services from others can bring apathy and annoyance.

Ann-Mari, a severely handicapped Swedish woman who uses a wheelchair, says: “I am handicapped as to ability to move but not as to ability to think. That is why I want to use that ability to make the best of my situation on my own.”

Adjusting the Environment

To help disabled persons maximize their possibilities, basic adjustments can be made in their homes, their outdoor surroundings, and in their means of transportation. Some 500 million persons in the world are estimated to have a functional disability affecting movement, vision, or hearing. To make life more comfortable for them, the social-welfare authorities in many countries submit design guidelines to architects and designers. This has led to helpful adjustments that have benefited handicapped persons.

Many who are handicapped have worked out ways to make life easier for themselves. Wheelchair users, for example, have seen to it that their homes are more convenient for them by having certain doors and thresholds removed, or by having door hinges moved to the opposite side. Some have had cabinets fixed on the wall at waist level, electric switches changed to the large rocker type, and electrical sockets positioned higher on the wall.

A disabled person is sometimes the best inventor of his own aids. Bo, a young man in Sweden whose legs were paralyzed in a car accident, worked out how to make his wheelchair more comfortable and easier to maneuver. He constructed a wheelchair that even enabled him to climb stairs! Now he is working as a wheelchair designer at a local factory.

However, it is usually wise that the need for physical effort not be eliminated. Otherwise a disabled person’s lack of exercise may lead to such problems as stiff knees, swollen legs, and weakened muscles. Thus, while using an electrically propelled wheelchair may be an excellent aid at times, using one’s own arms to power a wheelchair can give the muscles, heart, and lungs good exercise.

A wheelchair should be as individually designed as possible. A person handy with tools can help in adjusting the seat, height, balance, weight, and function of it to best fit the user. “I have found that a wheelchair should be as narrow as possible to be practical,” says a young man after having completed a trip around the world on his own. He traveled by air, train, bus, and ship in an arm-propelled wheelchair.

Dressing and undressing are often problems for the handicapped. Ready-made clothing is usually not designed for them. Siw, a middle-aged handicapped woman in Stockholm, Sweden, says that she finds it easier to wear a sleeveless cape instead of an ordinary coat. Also, she replaces buttons and zippers in skirts with elastic. In fact, the need for comfortable clothing that she can manage has turned Siw into a skilled stylist and dressmaker.

Some simple adjustments may help one-handed persons or persons with weak arms and hands get along better in the kitchen. For example, fastening can and bottle openers to the wall will make them rigid and accessible. Driving stainless nails through a cutting board will help a handicapped person keep items such as a loaf of bread in place while slicing it. And a double suction disk can keep flat-bottomed pots and plates in place while the handicapped is beating and stirring ingredients in them.

Hope Aids Success

Hope is something everyone needs, not least the handicapped. One of the best hopes they can have, of course, is that of recovery. Yet most blind, deaf, and crippled persons are given no hope of recovery by qualified medical men of this world. Their situation, however, is not hopeless.

While on the earth Jesus Christ healed sicknesses that no medical doctors could cure. Under the rule of God’s Kingdom, he will exercise his God-given powers to heal all who are in any way ailing or handicapped. The Bible describes the situation that will then exist, saying: “At that time the eyes of the blind ones will be opened, and the very ears of the deaf ones will be unstopped. At that time the lame one will climb up just as a stag does, and the tongue of the speechless one will cry out in gladness.”​—Isaiah 35:5, 6.

Spurred on by this hope, many handicapped persons have been of great comfort and encouragement to others. With a positive attitude, making the best of their abilities, they feel successful in life even now.

[Pictures on page 24, 25]

Specialized devices such as these are a great help to handicapped persons