I learned the most important lesson of
my life on the first day of the first
grade that lesson wasn’t share your
crayons or don’t hit that lesson was
that I came from Mars I learned this
lesson while being shown around the
classroom I was feeling a piece of
science equipment when a bear in my
class said hey don’t touch that it’s for
smart people it says one of my sharpest
childhood memories because it was the
day I realized that I would never fit in
with other kids let me back up a few
years I was born with a type of cancer
called retinoblastoma which develops on
the retina of the eye I had it in both
eyes my left was removed and I received
cancer treatment when I was a baby and
then the retina of my right eye detached
twice at the age of three I was left
with very little vision the little I had
continued to decrease until I was 13
I’ve been totally blind ever since so
you see what that boy meant wasn’t that
the equipment was for smart people he
meant that it was for people with sight
I’m not going to stand here and tell you
that my childhood was so hard because I
had it pretty good my family members
were healthy happy and supportive I
lived in Canada which had its benefits
my goods were excellent and I was good
at sports I did well in the spelling bee
and I won international Braille literacy
competitions
Braille is a tactile method of reading
and writing for the visually impaired I
even took a ceramics course in junior
high and found that I was not too shabby
when working with my hands the main
thing I really struggled with was making
friends high school was definitely the
worst
I was that kid who hung out with the
teachers at lunch cuz no one my age
wanted to sit with me I wasn’t exactly
brimming with confidence but I didn’t
have any severe self-esteem issues
either and yet I walked out of that
school thinking there was something
wrong with me am i weird
maybe I’m funny-looking God knows my mom
wasn’t going to tell me I was ugly but
all jokes aside I walked out of that
school feeling as though I was nothing
some good news when I graduated from
high school I moved here to Lebanon
that’s not the good news
at least I didn’t think it was anywhere
near good news at the time but then I
started studying at a UB my life
flipped did I magically become the most
popular girl around no way but for the
first time people were willingly talking
to me more importantly I made friends a
UB is to my pleasant surprise
the first place I’ve ever felt like I
belonged so there you go that’s the good
news the question that naturally comes
to my next is does the Martian status
that I acquired in the first grade still
apply if I found happiness at a UB the
answer I’m afraid is yes example about a
year ago a young man came up to me and
said that he would like to pray for
Jesus Christ to heal me all religious
beliefs aside there is one fundamental
issue with this scenario he knew nothing
about my life aside from the fact that
I’m blind based on this fact he assumed
that I must be unhappy he said without
words that my life is not worth living
the way it is full disclosure
normally I keep my emotions to myself
but after he walked away I found a place
to sit down and I cried in a way that I
had not cried since I left my miserable
high school experience behind that
simple gesture that he meant out of
kindness hurt if he had taken the time
to get to know me he would have learned
that I am content with my life and that
I have so much hope for the future most
importantly he would have learned that
my visual impairment a seemingly
impossible challenge to him is simply an
obstacle I know I have the ability to
overcome
the issue was not that he offered to
pray for me but that the only thing he
saw was my disability that so often
happens my disability becomes my entire
identity I am not my visual impairment I
am Reema I am a master’s student I am an
avid reader I am a daughter I am a
sister I am a friend I am I am sir many
things I am not my visual impairment I
have a visual impairment that
distinction can make a world of
difference
so why was that all he saw him the boy
in the first grade and others like them
an answer came to me not too long ago
it’s quite simple really
they were limited to only one
perspective their perspective this is
human nature we can’t really understand
something we’ve never experienced this
whole time I’ve been talking about being
treated like a species from another
planet but all I mean when I say Martian
status is actually exclusion it’s hard
to find a job a group of friends or even
a meaningful relationship if people are
all struck when I do simple things
because they’ll worry they need to
babysit me through anything more
difficult ladies and gentlemen I believe
we can end exclusion of people with
disabilities by focusing on the
following when we feel inspired by
someone with a disability we must ask
ourselves if they would still be
inspiring – the disability if the answer
is no we may be causing that person more
harm than we realize
I’ve faced a great deal of exclusion in
my life on account of my disability and
I’m likely to face more being treated
like a novelty never made much sense to
me though the way I see it I’m just your
average 22 year old with a point to
prove and a bit of an attitude so let’s
start promoting inclusion of people with
disabilities in society you never know
the person you need most might just be
the Martian in the room thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
my life on the first day of the first
grade that lesson wasn’t share your
crayons or don’t hit that lesson was
that I came from Mars I learned this
lesson while being shown around the
classroom I was feeling a piece of
science equipment when a bear in my
class said hey don’t touch that it’s for
smart people it says one of my sharpest
childhood memories because it was the
day I realized that I would never fit in
with other kids let me back up a few
years I was born with a type of cancer
called retinoblastoma which develops on
the retina of the eye I had it in both
eyes my left was removed and I received
cancer treatment when I was a baby and
then the retina of my right eye detached
twice at the age of three I was left
with very little vision the little I had
continued to decrease until I was 13
I’ve been totally blind ever since so
you see what that boy meant wasn’t that
the equipment was for smart people he
meant that it was for people with sight
I’m not going to stand here and tell you
that my childhood was so hard because I
had it pretty good my family members
were healthy happy and supportive I
lived in Canada which had its benefits
my goods were excellent and I was good
at sports I did well in the spelling bee
and I won international Braille literacy
competitions
Braille is a tactile method of reading
and writing for the visually impaired I
even took a ceramics course in junior
high and found that I was not too shabby
when working with my hands the main
thing I really struggled with was making
friends high school was definitely the
worst
I was that kid who hung out with the
teachers at lunch cuz no one my age
wanted to sit with me I wasn’t exactly
brimming with confidence but I didn’t
have any severe self-esteem issues
either and yet I walked out of that
school thinking there was something
wrong with me am i weird
maybe I’m funny-looking God knows my mom
wasn’t going to tell me I was ugly but
all jokes aside I walked out of that
school feeling as though I was nothing
some good news when I graduated from
high school I moved here to Lebanon
that’s not the good news
at least I didn’t think it was anywhere
near good news at the time but then I
started studying at a UB my life
flipped did I magically become the most
popular girl around no way but for the
first time people were willingly talking
to me more importantly I made friends a
UB is to my pleasant surprise
the first place I’ve ever felt like I
belonged so there you go that’s the good
news the question that naturally comes
to my next is does the Martian status
that I acquired in the first grade still
apply if I found happiness at a UB the
answer I’m afraid is yes example about a
year ago a young man came up to me and
said that he would like to pray for
Jesus Christ to heal me all religious
beliefs aside there is one fundamental
issue with this scenario he knew nothing
about my life aside from the fact that
I’m blind based on this fact he assumed
that I must be unhappy he said without
words that my life is not worth living
the way it is full disclosure
normally I keep my emotions to myself
but after he walked away I found a place
to sit down and I cried in a way that I
had not cried since I left my miserable
high school experience behind that
simple gesture that he meant out of
kindness hurt if he had taken the time
to get to know me he would have learned
that I am content with my life and that
I have so much hope for the future most
importantly he would have learned that
my visual impairment a seemingly
impossible challenge to him is simply an
obstacle I know I have the ability to
overcome
the issue was not that he offered to
pray for me but that the only thing he
saw was my disability that so often
happens my disability becomes my entire
identity I am not my visual impairment I
am Reema I am a master’s student I am an
avid reader I am a daughter I am a
sister I am a friend I am I am sir many
things I am not my visual impairment I
have a visual impairment that
distinction can make a world of
difference
so why was that all he saw him the boy
in the first grade and others like them
an answer came to me not too long ago
it’s quite simple really
they were limited to only one
perspective their perspective this is
human nature we can’t really understand
something we’ve never experienced this
whole time I’ve been talking about being
treated like a species from another
planet but all I mean when I say Martian
status is actually exclusion it’s hard
to find a job a group of friends or even
a meaningful relationship if people are
all struck when I do simple things
because they’ll worry they need to
babysit me through anything more
difficult ladies and gentlemen I believe
we can end exclusion of people with
disabilities by focusing on the
following when we feel inspired by
someone with a disability we must ask
ourselves if they would still be
inspiring – the disability if the answer
is no we may be causing that person more
harm than we realize
I’ve faced a great deal of exclusion in
my life on account of my disability and
I’m likely to face more being treated
like a novelty never made much sense to
me though the way I see it I’m just your
average 22 year old with a point to
prove and a bit of an attitude so let’s
start promoting inclusion of people with
disabilities in society you never know
the person you need most might just be
the Martian in the room thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
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