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November 02, 2004
What is the day centre?
Recently, I was out with my PA. We were parked up and I was about to get out of my vehicle, when an older lady came over to talk to my PA. She asked my PA where she was working now, to which she replied, with Lianne Crowe. "Oh yes...", she knew who I was as she had read about me in the paper. At this point, I was still sitting in my vehicle and she couldn't see me because of the blacked out rear windows. She then proceeded to ask, "Is she at the day centre?", to which my PA replied, "No, she's in the back of the vehicle; we're actually going shopping". Although I found this really amusing, I still thought to myself, are some people really that ignorant? And what exactly is the day centre? Is it where you are presumed to go if you are disabled? I do actually attend a monthly physio club and I enjoy it. However, it annoys me when some people can't see past my disability. I am not just 'Lianne Crowe, the paralysed woman'. I know I probably sound over-sensitive but it is hard to challenge and overcome the negative stereotypes associated with disability. General ignorance has affected my self-image and the way I think others perceive me.
Posted by Lianne at November 2, 2004 01:35 PM