Hi everyone! Many of you with arthritis will know that May is Arthritis Awareness Month in the USA! Arthritis can be thought of as an umbrella term which encompasses a range of arthritis-related conditions. In honour of the month, the American College of Rheumatology has put together some great resources on their site, which can be used to educate others about arthritis, as well as learn more about our own conditions ourselves.
Also, World Autoimmune Arthritis Day will be held on May 20th! To commemorate the day, a virtual event will be held from May 19th to May 21st at the official website. Make sure you check it out!
I recently discovered a very creative and funny campaign by Scope, which aims to “End the awkward” when it comes to interacting with persons with various abilities (click here to view it all). I absolutely love these ads – they break down the awkwardness and give tips on how to handle a range of situations. What I love about these ads is the fact that they show/teach the public that a person who is differently-abled is just like anyone else, and should be treated as such.
With arthritis, many of us have to deal with stares, isolation, pre-judgment and insensitive comments from persons who may not fully understand how to respectfully treat someone with a medical condition. The word “disease” is a scary word to many healthy persons, and often causes many persons to act awkwardly. This is why the campaign by Scope is so great – because overall it teaches us that we must be respectful and accepting of whatever “difference” someone may have.
And while campaigns like these are amazing in the grand scale, there is still a lot we can do on an individual basis to make our lives easier in this respect. If someone is being mean to you, or making uninformed assumptions about you, then take control of the situation and stand up for yourself. You don’t need to get overly worked up about it, but speak up for yourself. Let people know that young people, teens and little babies get arthritis. Arthritis is part of our lives and we should never have to feel bad about that. Even with arthritis we are trying hard and I respect and admire every single one of you so much.
Happy arthritis month guys!
❤ Ms. Rainbow
RArainbow 