Making oneself a cripple for a day - that's how the students of Argosy University are trying to promote awareness of disabilities. The end goal is to force the administration make the campus more disabled-persons-friendly. Participating volunteers will be wearing an eye patch, others will have earplugs, and then there will be some using crutches or wheelchairs. In other words, a bit of a cosplay with a moral - lots of fun for everybody, by the sound of it.
The organizers of the campaign do admit that "There are also students with many different types of invisible disabilities that won’t be represented in this campaign." Those conditions are chronic fatigue syndrome, learning disabilities, migraine or tension headaches, seasonal affective disorder, etc.
The problem seems to be rooted in the fact that "invisible disabilities" are not so easily simulated. I thought I'd help a bit by describing how one could imitate a migraine headache.
First, start binge drinking. About three days should do it to guarantee a nice hangover.
Upon dragging yourself out of bed on the morning of the campaign, equip yourself with the following items:
- Eyeglasses with broken lenses
- Kaleidoscope
- Syrup of ipecac or other emetic
You will need an assistant who will carry some more items, such as:
- Hummer, icepick or a crowbar
- Flashlight
- Drum kit
- Several vials of strong-smelling substances, such as powdered sulfur, ammonia, cat fecals, etc
While nursing that hangover, walk around the campus wearing the broken glasses and looking through kaleidoscope at periodic intervals to approximate migraine aura. Take the emetic to induce vomiting and nausea every couple of hours.
Have your assistant snick up on you from time to time and either hit you on the side of the head with one of the tools mentioned above, flash some light in your eyes, hit the drums when you are trying to concentrate on something or sprinkle the smelly stuff in your immediate vicinity.
When you think that you had enough, you can try and approximate the "relief" from the migraine headache. Take as much painkillers as you can without throwing them up; take whatever "recreational" substances you can get your hands on (surely you can find some, it's a college campus, after all) until you cannot stomach them anymore. Rinse and repeat.
Doing this for a day should give you a remote idea of what a migraine headache feels like. Multiply your experience by the factor of 10 and you'll know what those "silently" disabled friends of yours go through.
And it doesn't even require wearing an eye-patch.
Just kidding, you can still wear it if you want. Here, have a kitten:
link: What if...
6 comments:
that's too funny.
I thought it was too; then someone pointed out how disturbing it is... Thus the kitten :P
oh well. sometimes people take things waaaaay too seriously.
Kittens Always appreciated! But what's so disturbing? that we actually have to live like we are being hit by hummers while swallowing emetics and sniffing cat feces? Or that anyone should have to try and picture that? It really is like that!
Disturbing?? Of course it's disturbing! I would say my life is more than a little "disturbed" by Migraines.
Kitten is definitely appreciated. As is this post! Thanks, Rain. :)
Be well,
MJ
Well ladies, there are some conditions to which I can't personally relate to or appreciate how "disturbing" they are to people who have them. Looking at it from the other side, I can definitely see the "disturbing" factor here.
On the other hand, I do think it's a really good idea to let the "normals" know what it feels like in terms they can relate to. A "word picture" should do the trick most of the time.
As opposed to somewhat more drastic measures to shut them the heck up or stop wearing that cologne or flashing all those bright lights. Good thing I am old and wise as well as weak and out of shape now. It used to be a little different back in the day :P .
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