Labels by Nikki Salt

I wrote this a year or so ago but I don’t think I ever published it. I would be very interested in your thoughts.

I watch a father walk his son to school. They make a lovely picture. The small boy, chatting away like a little sparrow, trotting to keep up with his dad’s longer strides. Nodding and smiling in response, the man trusts his dog to guide them along the busy pathway and stop outside the school gates.

“Bye, son.” The man’s hand brushes across the top of the boy’s head, his sightless eyes full of love.

“See you later, Dad.”

I write this attempting to avoid the word ‘blind’ not because it is in anyway shaming or disparaging but because I want to paint a description of the man and his character and not his disability. In fact, why should I even mention ‘sightless eyes?’. I want my readers to know this man is an amazing dad in spite of his visual impairment. But, what I wrestle with is this: why should I even mention it?

By not mentioning it, I feel I am treating the disability as a disease. Something that should not be referred to, something that is shameful. But by mentioning it I am at risk of diminishing the man in some way or, even worse, defining him by the disability.

The truth is, while I recognise the tall, handsome man’s love and interest for his son, I’m in awe of him. It’s his disability that places him even higher in my opinion of him. He’s overcome the challenges of being blind and is living a full and purposeful life.

I shudder even as I write those words because they sound so condescending but I really don’t mean to be. I believe passionately that all people should be treated with respect and equality. Every person is made in the image of God and should be treated as such. Society is slowly coming around to agreeing with this but sadly we still have a way to go.

My daughter is diagnosed with a severe disability but I don’t see her as ‘disabled’. I prefer the word ‘enabled’. I define her by her character and by the things that make her the adorable human being she is; her goofy smile, her delicious giggle, her love for others, her appreciation of music and dance etc. etc. To simply describe her as ‘the girl with additional needs’ is just not adequate, neither is ‘that blind dad’.

So where does that leave us as writers? Should we even think about it? Am I making too much fuss? After some thought, I think, basically, it’s this:

No person should be defined by anything other than who they really are; their soul substance, the stuff that makes them tick, the person God created them to be and, as writers, perhaps we have the responsibility to ensure that everyone is respected in this way.