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Jon Gingerich /

Why Some Americans Want to Be Disabled

On the rise of luxury identities.
A wheelchair casts a shadow on a light beige background, shown in an isometric perspective view.
Illustration via Getty Images.

When I started going blind, I considered it a death sentence. I was terrified of losing my eyesight, for reasons that I think are understandable. I was embarrassed about being disabled and resented the inconvenience of it, the way this thing had entered my life like an uninvited guest.

There’s something inherently final about disability, but no one tells you how remarkably anticlimactic it is.

 

Jon Gingerich is a New York-based writer, creative writing instructor, ghostwriter, and former magazine editor. He’s the author of the novel The Appetite Factory (Turner Publishing Company).

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