Josephine sat in the back of the classroom, listening to the teacher who said she should not have been in the class; when you’re disabled, that’s all they see. People don’t think you should have a voice or shouldn’t be anywhere but in a room with just four walls. Josephine knew that’s what people wanted from her, but she wouldn’t be silent by anyone! 

Josephine had this mystifying way about her, and people didn’t know how to act around her. Having a disabled child, among other non-disabled children, was something new. It was also new to have a disabled child in a public school and a non-special classroom, but someone to be the first, and Josephine had that honor. Josephine should be honored to be the first child with a disability in a public school, but all she knew was loneliness and not being wanted in the classroom, lunchroom, and playground. 

The most challenging part of Josephine’s school life wasn’t other children. She knew it was part of growing up to be picked on, and she had to give it right back to her peers. Still, the disrespect of the teachers and other educators who did not believe what she was capable of, among others without disabilities–that’s where the challenges began for Josephine. 

Josephine knew she would have challenges from her disability and would navigate through life with them, but having to overcome people’s ignorance about her and her disability was a struggle; she wasn’t prepared for life. With every new school year came another opportunity to teach those educators who didn’t want her in their classroom. Josephine always felt like the teacher, never the student.

For a few years, at the beginning of the school year, Josephine and her physical therapist would go into her Home Room and talk about her disability. Talking to her classmates made Josephine feel very nervous because she wasn’t sure how the other students would react. After doing a few years in a row, it became easier for Josephine to have friends. After Josephine talked to her classmates, it became easier for her peers to be friends because they knew that Josephine was a little slower than her peers, used a walker, and wore leg braces. But she was just like them.

This was just one way that Josephine used the power of her voice. Josephine knew that there was a reason that she was born with her disability, and it was to have a powerful voice for the disability community. It was very challenging and nerve wracking, because Josephine knew she was not only educating her peers, but also educating the teachers. She wasn’t just speaking for herself, but for all the other students with disabilities before and after her.

Josephine also realized that this was going to be a lifelong job to educate others about her disabilities. While others were able to just exist, she would have to make a place for herself everywhere she went. The more ignorant people were, the more it fueled Josephine’s fire to make sure that she had a voice in the world.

The most powerful thing Josephine could use was her voice. If she knew how to use her voice in the right way, she could go anywhere and do anything. If she didn’t use her own voice, her disability would speak for her, and people wouldn’t see her for who she was. Josephine learned that it was about speaking up for herself, not just demanding what she wanted. Using her voice in the wrong way would make people see her disability and not the person she was. It wasn’t just about what she needed, but who she was: a person like everyone else.

Josephine is an advocate for the disability community. Still, the most important thing she can inspire people with disabilities to do is speak up for themselves and to do so in a way that people will listen to. People will only see the disability unless you show them that you are a person who has needs, and not just the needs.