TO THE MOM BLOCKING THE ACCESSIBLE STALL
Written for The Mighty, where we face disability, disease and mental illness together.
Hillary wrote this article for The Mighty after an experience in a public restroom with her daughter, Esmé. An excerpt and link to the full article is included below. Check out all of Hillary's articles on The Mighty.
My 4-Word Response to the Mom Blocking the Accessible Bathroom Stall
October 28, 2015
I often find myself struggling with how I set the boundaries of my expectations of others with respect to my daughter Ez. What are appropriate expectations to have of caregivers? Of her doctors? Of her school district? Of her family members? Of the children she meets? Of the strangers who see her out in the world? What are their obligations to her? How do I walk the line between recognizing and accounting for (and expecting others to recognize and account for) the things that make life a bit harder for Ez and expecting her to be embraced as “just another kid,” as a peer, as a member of society who isn’t actually more important than anyone else?
These are not easy questions. But these questions are ones I grapple with constantly.