After being elected to Valencia’s regional assembly, Galcerán says she wants to be seen as a person, not for her disability

After being elected to Valencia’s regional assembly, Galcerán says she wants to be seen as a person, not for her disability

For decades she battled to ensure that people with intellectual disabilities were part of the conversation. The extent of the progress she had made, however, was laid bare recently when Mar Galcerán became Spain’s first parliamentarian with Down’s syndrome.

“It’s unprecedented,” the 45-year-old told the Guardian. “Society is starting to see that people with Down’s syndrome have a lot to contribute. But it’s a very long road.”

Her feat has been decades in the making. When Galcerán was 18 years old, she joined the conservative People’s party (PP) after being attracted to what she described as its embrace of tradition.

Slowly she worked her way up the party apparatus. Her commitment paid off last May when she was added as the 20th name on the list of candidates the PP was fielding in Valencia’s regional elections.

  • TranscendentalEmpireEnglish
    91·
    6 months ago

    And maybe you should learn to listen to disabled people about ableism

    I don’t think you get to define ableism for all disabled people…

    never mind actual guidelines on how to work with disabled people in general, and people with Down’s Syndrome specifically,

    Those are all guides for educators… I work in medicine, this isn’t applicable to your argument or this discussion?

    Hell, these jobs attract people who think they’re better than us, and know better than us about us). And yet, to an outsider in an ableist society, you seem more qualified to speak on disability than disabled people are, and you confirm their ableist bias which makes them comfortable and even less willing to listen to us, so well done on actively contributing to ableism cycle…

    I think you may be inappropriately projecting your own feelings about your condition, whatever it may be, to this particular argument. Just because you are disabled, doesn’t mean that you represent everyone with a disability. I have a disability, which is one of the reasons I went into my field. However, that doesnt mean I truly understand what it’s like for people with other disabilities. I can just provide context based on my own perspective and what I have learned in school and from my patients.

    but mostly I feel bad for your clients

    Get over yourself, you’re not the only disabled person on the Internet. Some of us just don’t make it the centerpiece of their entire personality.