I was born with my primary disability, and I have several other disabilities that are not as obvious as using a wheelchair, but have had just as significant an impact on my life. Before I talk about how the world needs to change to accommodate me and how tough it's been, let's get one thing out of the way.

I am proud to be a disabled person. I would change nothing about my body's ability to function in what is widely understood as a normal fashion. My disability has come with many obstacles, but it is also a central part of my identity.

Not because of the label placed on me, not even because I've embraced that label (which I certainly have), but because disability is a lens through which I have viewed everything I have ever experienced. It colors how I understand my world and place in it, so to change it would be to change me at a core level.

Because of my attachment to my disability identity and belief that disability is a naturally occurring phenomenon in humanity, I have no issues with the natural obstacles that arise due to it. Fatigue, pain, confusion, and other direct results of my diagnoses are acceptable challenges to me.

Currently, despite meaningful strides of import in the last 75 years, disabled Americans and global citizens are expected to give in to indignity constantly. Having to fight other humans and their ignorance, opinions, policies, and stigmas, however well-intended they may be, is not an obstacle that I will ever accept. My dignity as a human being is not something I will or should ever be expected to compromise on.

The following TED Talks make an excellent primer to some of the issues of ableism in our world, particularly in North America. I hope you think and consider a deeper dive into an essential allyship with 15% of the world, our most significant and ever-evolving minority on Earth.

Judith Heumann: Our fight for disability rights -- and why we're not done yet

"I was learning as my friends were and people I didn't know around the country, that we had to be our own advocates, that we needed to fight back people's view that if you had a disability, you needed to be cured, that equality was not part of the equation."

Sean Gold: The Obstacles of Disabilities

"I remember going to a restaurant with my mother and a couple of friends. We hadn't made it into the building when we were stopped by complete strangers just cheering me on and telling me I look good. Before I knew the concept of inspiration porn, it was flattering. Now it's annoying, because it's saying that people with disabilities aren't expected to be out doing normal social activities."

Alyson Seale: Purposeful Steps Away From Ableism

"Ableism is so much a part of our culture that it seems natural, necessary, morally correct, a justifiable component of our society. Most of us are well-intentioned people that don't want to harm others, but we have inadvertently been taught how to devalue disabled lives."

I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments!