Disability Visibility : First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century

by Alice Wong

When we were in the institution, we didn’t have a voice. We were thought to be incompetent, so no one took the time to teach us things. But people can accomplish great things with support. Having an intellectual disability doesn’t limit what you can contribute. Being put in institutions limits what people can do and guarantees that people will be dependent for the rest of their lives. Anyone can become disabled at any time. We are people just like everyone else. The time needs to be over for people to be sent to institutions because there aren’t options in the community or because people think it’s cheaper or more protected. It wastes people’s lives and, in the long run, keeps them from contributing. There’s no such thing as a good institution.