Filling up the Arena: Thoughts on Accessibility, Visibility, and Taylor Swift
My muscles have had a mind of their own these last couple weeks during my squat workout, so I went online to find some videos of exercises or stretches I could add to my routine, and a few things stood out to me during that search: The language surrounding exercise and disability has shifted from “fixing” a muscle to “improving” a muscle, and that is a huge win. As a kid in Physical Therapy, I often felt like exercises were presented as a way to fix whatever muscle wasn’t working properly, and I get it, exercises are created in order to change muscles. But, when I look at the titles of these newer exercise programs, they use phrases like “improving hip mobility” and “maximizing function.” That change in language emphasizes exercise as a means of maintaining health versus fixing an impairment, which does so much for a person’s sense of bodily autonomy. The increase in accessibility of exercises to empower people with disabilities is a welcome change from when I was younger, b...