Hi, my name is Cairz1971!

Cairz1971

Hi there!  Fibro warrior with AF and Arthritis.  Occasional (but more and more) power chair user trying to come to terms with being "disabled"

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community 
It is hard to come to terms with any disability and we can all empathise with you here 

It is very much like a grieving process and will take time to adjust 

I had my leg amputated 6 years ago and a full time wheelchair user you will learn to do things differently 

Best wishes always people around to chat on here 

Alex_Alumni

Hello @Cairz1971 and welcome to the community Thanks for taking the time to introduce yourself.

The language around disability and how we choose to define ourselves is always an interesting discussion to have! As janer1967 has mentioned it can take time to adjust to our impairments or chronic conditions, and the impact they have on us. 

How are you finding things lately?

I know that some within the disability community find calling themselves disabled is empowering, as it reflects the social model of disability- that society is the thing disabling us, not our impairments. Whereas others might find the term to be negative, traumatic or reductive.

There is no right or wrong way to define ourselves, and I hope you find that the Scope forum is supportive and respectful of that. It's a friendly place to spend time, so feel free to have a look around. 

You can head to the coffee lounge to get to know other members, chat and play games. Or visit our categories page to get an overview of topics for discussion. 

Let us know if you need a hand with anything, and enjoy exploring.

Alex