Transcriber: Bayan Zeino Reviewer: Rhonda Jacobs
A couple of years ago, a young girl looked at me.
Puzzled, she asked her mother, “Mama! Mama! What’s wrong with his eyes?”
“Shh! (Arabic) That’s taboo! (English) Never ask such questions,”
her mother answered almost immediately.
Ashamed, the young girl soon became inhibited
and almost uncomfortable in my presence.
Now, if you’re wondering what’s wrong with my eyes.
Well, I was born with a birth defect that causes me to have blurred vision
and my eyes to gaze upwards.
So no worries; all of you today look absolutely stunning and wrinkle-free.
(Laughter)
Well, my presence at school was yet a similar story.
As I was to be enrolled, the principal at school showed great skepticism,
but it wasn’t just her.
It was also the teachers, students, and also the parents.
Understandably, they did not know how to approach me,
so, like the young girl I mentioned earlier,
felt uncomfortable in my presence, hence showed great skepticism.
Handicapped, disabled,
(Arabic) cross-eyed, blind, disabled.
These words they used to describe me,
never really caring to see beyond the person within me.
When I was bullied in the playground at school,
the supervisors chose to shun me away in the corridors
under the [guise] that this was to protect me,
rather than to inform the others of my humanness
in spite of my visual impairment.
Yes, this is it: my humanness.
Now, I wish for all of you in the audience here
who have difficulty in mathematics to raise your hands, please,
even though I can’t see them.
(Laughter)
Well, what about those of you
who have difficulty in doing other things besides mathematics?
I can see here a great show of hands.
Does any of you consider themselves disabled or perhaps a complete failure
as a whole person for having difficulty in mathematics?
I doubt it.
Then how is it that given my difficulty in seeing,
I’ll be eventually labeled as "disabled," "handicapped,"
(Arabic) "handicapped," (English) among other words?
Well, much like you have difficulty in mathematics or other things,
I have difficulty in seeing.
All of us here have special differences,
and all of us managed to find a way to work around them.
In case of mathematics, you would get a tutor
or possibly do some extra practice exercises.
In my case, I had to interpret the world
and walk around in a much different way than anyone else,
but that does not change my essence.
That doesn’t change anyone’s essence.
After years of torment,
years in which I thought I was the problem,
years of sheer suffering,
I had this realization that it may not be me who is the problem,
but it could be that way society looks at individuals.
If society focuses on what an individual visibly lacks
or is not capable to do, then society is likely to marginalize
and exclude that individual,
much like with what happened to me when I was shunned in the corridors.
Hence, dare I say society would disable the individual.
However, if society were to look at what the individual potentially can do
and is capable of doing, regardless of any difficulty,
be it in mathematics or, in my case, seeing,
then society is likely to offer further opportunities to improve
these individuals’ chances of succeeding in life.
In mathematics, that would be, as I mentioned earlier, tutoring
or additional practice exercises.
In my case, it would be more resources
such as public transportation or other kinds of recommendations.
In my case, my mother, my family, my instructors here at LAU,
and my girlfriend, Niña, are among the many who have supported me.
However, not everyone with special differences has this luxury.
“Why?” you may ask me.
Well, because, “(Arabic) That’s taboo! (English) Never ask such questions!”
much like the mother told the young girl, as I mentioned earlier.
So I tell you: please ask, for we are all equal,
no matter what our special differences are.
Thank you!
(Applause)