I’ve been doing some research since I’ve been spending a lot of time on face book I must admit and that’s why I haven’t been posting. But I have been gaining experience with a certain type of person we as the disabled community should become familiar with. They are called Devotees and some of you are already aware and understand them. For the rest of us I will paraphrase and explain in my own words what Wikipedia AND Webster had to say on the subject.
Devotees. Basically, from what I’ve read, these people are attracted to the disabled. Or in some cases, they want to BE the disabled. I actually knew a young woman who skulked around the forums on the Care Cure Community saying she had an overwhelming premonition that someday she would have a serious SCI and be in a wheelchair. Everyone thought she was creepy and had no problem telling her so. I felt sorry for her but still told her I thought she needed to talk to a psychologist. Wikipedia defines a devotee as In the paraphilia, the attracted ("devotees") are specifically aroused by disabled people, simply because of their disability. The disability may be minor like missing fingers, profound like blindness and (stereotypically) amputation, or quadriplegia. Some devotees desire people with cognitive disabilities)
(To be continued)
I am blind, and do not consider it a profound disability. I have met many people who are curious about blindness, some who are fascinated by it, and I would draw a sharp distinction between someone whose interest and approach are prurient and someone who is intrigued, unsettled, full of questions etc. but whose intent is to learn or find reassurance that it is not the dreadful end of independence so many sighted people assume. I have known three people who had premonitions that they would lose their sight. One was an eleven-year-old girl. None of them deserved to be judged or be lumped with *real* Devotees, and to scorn someone whose curiosity stems from apprehension is wrong. What a bitter, narrow existence it would be to assume that anyone intrigued, disconcerted, or fascinated by disability had base motives. It shocks me that you are so ready to cram a whole range of people into the label Devotee. Certainly they exist, but I would be much lonelier and sadder if I assumed the worst of every sighted person who braved a blind forum (or me, face-to-face) with questions and honest and forthright fears. Your hostility disturbs me.
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