- DAI Student / URI Alum
- Read Sydney's poem Body Prison about her experiences as a person using a wheelchair, Body Prison Part 2 is linked at the bottom.
Body Prison
By Sydney Reich
All her life she
was wheelchair bound. Her
disability prohibited her
to walk independently, move graciously, and talk efficiently.
Day after day, she
tried to accomplish what was considered the
impossible for her. She
failed repetitively.
Trapped.
Everywhere she
went people would stare at her,
talk to her as if she
was five years old, or
disregard her as if she
did not exist. She
yearned to be included, accepted, and loved,
but she
was not.
Trapped.
She was determined
to change the world’s stigmas on
disabilities. She
purchased numerous devices to expand her
independence. She
attended an university in which she
proved to her doubters that she
could successfully
live without her family,
in addition to earn scholarly grades and
being well acquainted
throughout campus. She
may be locked in a
body prison, but she
is not
trapped.
She believed
people’s perception of
disabilities leave them
no where, but
trapped.