Today Michael and I took a quick little jaunt over to Blaxland Riverside Park and Newington Armory to play a few holes of disc golf. It was actually kind of confusing finding the course at first, and parking was a pain, but we learned a few things for next time for quicker and easier access.
At Newington Armory there is also a random Birds Discovery Centre that is stationed by volunteers, where you can get some info about local birds. We stopped in for a few minutes just to check it out, and I was very happy to see that one of their volunteers was a young man (teenager?) who appeared to have cerebral palsy and was in a wheelchair. He gave us some information about the local eagles, since they have a webcam set up to monitor a nearby sea eagle nest. For those that might not be aware of cerebral palsy, it is primarily a movement disorder and can affect how a person communicates, but it does not hinder intelligence. It made me so happy to see that this centre welcomed this young man to represent them. He was quite knowledgeable about birds, and even picked up on our foreign accents and talked a little bit about the US and bald eagles. When I told him we were from the Washington, DC area originally, he mentioned his interest in the Smithsonian museums, and could hardly believe when I told him they were free to visit. I wish it were more common to see people with special needs in roles like this, where they can spread their knowledge and be seen as an expert at something. Often people underestimate the abilities of those with cerebral palsy, and it's nice to see someone with the disorder who interacts with the public in a way that defies stereotypes. I imagine there are lots of people, particularly young people or people with disabilities, who meet him and then might think, "Well if he can do that, maybe I can do something like that too". We got more out of stopping in that little centre than we had expected to, and we bought one of the little pins they were selling to show our support.
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