Comments on: Writing About Illness http://www.esteeklar.com/2009/11/13/writing-about-illness/ The Joy of Autism is about our journey with autism and our opinions about how society views it. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:33:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Estee http://www.esteeklar.com/2009/11/13/writing-about-illness/comment-page-1/#comment-6274 Estee Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:22:18 +0000 http://www.esteeklar.com/?p=2139#comment-6274 I particularly like the idea of how common illness is. While yes, it can provide a "spiritual transformation," illness is as much a part of being human as is breathing and dying. Therefore, I picked the quote also because we tend to make heros of those who have been ill only because we fear what is really quite a natural part of being human. And while I do not like to make the connection between illness and disability, although illness can be an adjunct to disability, it its home how common disability is as well. I would also like to stress that a resistance to coining a disability as illness is in direct relation to society's treatment of disabled people as "ill" and therefore unable, and less than. The whole thing should shed some light on how we view being less than perfect something bad. It is not. I particularly like the idea of how common illness is. While yes, it can provide a “spiritual transformation,” illness is as much a part of being human as is breathing and dying. Therefore, I picked the quote also because we tend to make heros of those who have been ill only because we fear what is really quite a natural part of being human. And while I do not like to make the connection between illness and disability, although illness can be an adjunct to disability, it its home how common disability is as well. I would also like to stress that a resistance to coining a disability as illness is in direct relation to society’s treatment of disabled people as “ill” and therefore unable, and less than. The whole thing should shed some light on how we view being less than perfect something bad.

It is not.

]]> By: Helen http://www.esteeklar.com/2009/11/13/writing-about-illness/comment-page-1/#comment-6267 Helen Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:57:24 +0000 http://www.esteeklar.com/?p=2139#comment-6267 I think illness is written under the concept of the fragility of life and therefore becomes more poignant if written philosophically. I think illness is written under the concept of the fragility of life and therefore becomes more poignant if written philosophically.

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