It's about ability not disability

I was able to particpitate in an event at work recently, called Diversability.

The subject really interested me and I fought fiercely to protect this time in my calendar.

I was so pleased I went.

It really was an awareness raiser, where a panel talked about their disability and how it affected them at work. One man had a disease that did not allow him to smile. His face muscles did not work due to a rare disorder. He talked about how people thought he was miserable and an idiot.
He clearly was neither.

However despite his inability to smile with his mouth, this man was smiling, with his shoulders, his hands and his eyes.

Another lady talked about having two disabled children and how that impacted her work. Yet she talked about her acquired skill to not pigeon hole people and put them in a box, as she saw that everyone is capable of great things and we should never assume.What a wonderful skill.

My link to alopecia today is that maybe, just maybe, someone with alopecia could of been on that stage. Maybe just maybe it could be me.

What triggered this thought is when one of the panel was asked, "Do you tell people about your disability?" and the answer was "Yes, of course, why hide it?"

Indeed, why hide it?

Why hide it?

Why hide it?