On a recent PBS show, former Congressman Tony Coelho was a panelist interviewed about his own disability: epilepsy, and the fact that he authored the original ADA passed seventeen years ago.

His description of his epilepsy as a "condition of the human nature" no different than other variations such as deafness caught my attention immediately. Also what caught my attention was that the panel moderator cut him off whenever he tried to explain why it shouldn't be treated as a medical condition.

He described being denied opportunities because of the epilepsy. He was denied training for the priesthood because Catholic canon law at the time forbade epileptics, among other groups, from being ordained. He was not allowed to enlist for service in the Vietnam War. He was deprived of his driver's license and his medical insurance once word got out that he had epilepsy, thought to be from a traffic accident when he was 15.

"Seizures are just something that happens." Tony said. "It is part of my life and doesn't bother me most of the time." But he had a bone to pick with the doctors who wanted to medicate him and get rid of the seizures. "The drugs sedated me, gave me bothersome side effects, and disrupted my life." He went on to remark that people were afraid of the possibility of his having seizures and could not understand why he was opposed to the drugs. "Life goes on. We all have to accept our shortcomings." The moderator immediately went to another panelist.

What makes it difficult for us as a community, defined by our non-hearing lifestyle, is the same thing that makes it difficult for Tony Coelho. Everybody else, starting with the medical profession, expects us to go and get "fixed" no matter what the cost. Tony is telling us that we have the right to define for ourselves what is normalcy and what we are capable of accomplishing. The ADA act is just the opening for us to do just that, to be allowed to be accepted as we are and to define our own capabilities rather than allow others to define them for us.