"People Like Us!"

December 3rd

International Day for

People With Disabilities

We are people like us.

Spinning on wheels,

Searching for deals.

We like a night out,

Watching the football.

Sometimes the TV calls.

We are people like us.

We’re mothers and fathers,

Your sons and daughters.

The sisters who become best friends.

We’re your uncles, your aunts,

Even your grandmothers.

We are people like us.

We’re the poets and artists,

Craftsmen and cabinet makers.

The apprentice chefs,

Your IT specialists.

Even the law makers.

We are people like us.

We tap on our keys,

Surfing the net.

Use voice activation

On our modified boards.

Even read books in Braille.

We are people like us.

We laugh and cry

Through life’s highs and lows.

We celebrate birth,

And watch those we love die.

We journey with the joy and the sorrow.

We are people like us.

We play soccer and footy,

Take on the basketball courts.

We wheel through marathons,

And race the 100 metres too.

Even become elite athletes.

We are people like us.

We sing and we dance,

And watch our children play.

We cook cakes for the school fete,

As we tuck our kids in at night.

We pray that they’ll be alright.

We are people like us.

We attend schools and TAFE,

Some of us study for life.

We ride trains to arrive at work,

We pay our bills, even the rent,

Often spending too much on food.

We are people like us.

But too many of us live in homes,

Where others residents are about eighty. 

We take our pain killers and medicine,

Watch TV instead of going out dating.

Craving real coffee from Coffee Club.

We are people like us.

Some of us choose to be trapped,

Others fight the boxes that box us in.

Houses and housemates we may not like,

Doing the same thing despite true passions.

Not living, rather, just existing.

We are people like us.

We are people like us.

Brothers and sisters,

Journeying through life.

Laughing with you,

Carrying your sorrow too.

We are people just like you.

You make us different,

Stand us apart.

Create little boxes to fit us in.

Insist on hiding us away.

Pretend we don’t belong, when

We are people just like you.

Debbie Chilton © Copyright 2014

What does it mean . . .

to be

"People Like Us?"

To Celebrate International

Day For People With Disability

ArtISability is providing

FREE!

Disability Awareness Training

Presented by our own

Debbie Chilton (BA)

Debbie is an Artist, Author and Local Poet

and founder of ArtISability.

Who should attend this training

People who support people with disabilities

Friends and colleagues of people with disabilities

People wishing to engage the services of people with disabilities

People who want to understand the artwork 

of people with disabilities

People working in the arts industry

Training Session on

Saturday 29th September 2014

9:30 to 11 am

Barry Jones Auditorium

Ipswich City Library

South Street, Ipswich

RSVP (07) 3281 3218