Feel Judgment

I recently finished a painting which I am calling Feel Judgment. It is about the way people can be judged - especially people using wheelchairs. I know. I use a wheelchair and have felt these judgments. It is when people don't look you in the eyes. Or talk to the "tall" people around you and ignore you. Or when they raise their voices and talk in simple ways, as one might to a three-year-old. My hearing is fine. My brain works. This painting is uncomfortable. Most people are polite enough to not say most of the words, although I just heard "confined to a wheelchair" yesterday from an intelligent person. I think people don't even question the words they use, especially if they have heard them all of their lives.

When I use a wheelchair, I feel the judgment from "grownups." (I feel just curiosity from children and that does not get in the way.) All I want to be is accepted as me. Not "less than" or "pitiful" or "courageous."