Alcohol Abuse

People who have some sort of physical or mental disability often try very hard to show that it does not stop them from having fun. This is fine, if in fact they are really having fun. Alcohol is often used as a vehicle to take people to this state of gaiety. This is fine too, if that is all they are really using the alcohol for.

I am a level T2 paraplegic as the result of an automobile accident 17 years ago. After this accident, and for the next 10 years, I tried to show the world that I could have lots of fun. It was not until I had lost me, myself, the dreamer, the fighter, the person whom I had at one time loved, that I came to the realization that alcohol had taken over.

It was just so easy to drink. It was easier having conversations when drinking, as it is a sit-down sport and I have an edge over everybody in this respect. People come down to my level. When at a table, a wheelchair is much less noticeable. And talking about living with a disability is a lengthy bar topic.

I was recently at an event for people with disabilities where alcohol was flowing like the St. Lawrence Seaway. It was really a sad sight. I feel that people with disabilities could show their able-bodied counterparts that one can have fun without alcohol, that one should not escape one’s problems with alcohol, that one is strong enough inside to be able to face these issues and solve them. After all, is that not what we are supposed to have done in overcoming our disabilities?

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is not a very physically accessible organization, but they have a pamphlet showing accessible meetings in Toronto. Perhaps if more people with disabilities used AA, more meetings would be made accessible. AA is a wonderful organization through which I have once again found myself. I have re-learned how to fight, how to dream and how to love.
-- Toronto, Ontario

(Send your tips, tricks or coping methods to: FYI, Canadian Abilities Foundation, Access Place, College Park, 444 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M5B 2H4, or fax us at: (416) 977-5098.)

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