Posted by Hi, everyone, my name is Marya.
I’m 20 years old, I live in the city of Toronto, and I have a physical disability. Today I’m going to share my story with you of what it’s like growing up with a disability in the city of Toronto, as a Muslim woman, so I hope you’ll listen along and enjoy.
So, growing up with a disability, I wasn’t always as confident and as outspoken as I am today. Now I’ve taken social media by storm to try and combat ableism and educate our population on what it’s like to have a disability. However, growing up, I wasn’t always as outspoken. I was very shy, I was very secluded to myself. And I often felt like my voice wasn’t valuable. I never wanted to voice myself or my opinions, fear of judgment and fear of getting bullied or harassed.
And that’s a common thing that a lot of people with disabilities go through. We fear that we’ll be judged, we feel that we’ll be excluded. And we fear that no one will want to listen to us. And this is something I grew up with from elementary school, up until I graduated high school.
I didn’t accept my disability or start to love myself, until I hit the age of 18. When I hit the age of 18, is when I had my sort of coming of age moment, I realized I’m this is my life, and this is my disability, and absolutely nothing is going to change. This was the hardest pill ever for me to swallow. It really just felt like the world was ending. And all I ever wanted in life was to walk. And the fact that that wasn’t going to happen, really broke my heart.
This ableist mindset that I had in myself was instilled because of the lack of representation and misrepresentation in our media and society today. From the Canadian society, I was excluded because I was too Muslim and I was religious, and they gave me Islamophobic rhetoric from the disability community, I was also facing Islamophobia because they didn’t want to accept me as a Muslim and I faced a lot of backlash for that.
And then from the Muslim community, I faced a lot of ableism, because I wasn’t perfect and pretty like they wanted me to be. So in all three aspects I lost. And I felt like I had nobody. And I wanted to change that narrative, because I never wanted a young girl to go up the way I did. I never wanted a young girl to grow up hating herself, not loving herself, and wishing to be something that she’s not. Because she deserves to feel powerful in her own body, in her own face, and with her own amazing voice.
That’s why I’ve taken it upon myself and I’ve dedicated the rest of my youth and as long as I’m alive, to advocating for people with disabilities. I want to change the way you view and look at me, I want the Muslim community to view me as a strong woman who is capable, who is educated, and who is willing to fight.
I want the Canadian and disability communities to see me as a powerful Muslim woman. I don’t want any more of this oppressed Muslim woman mentality. I want you to know Muslim women are powerful, Muslim women are educated, and we are out here to make success. And you will include me in your society. And that is final, absolutely final.
I want everyone in all acts of all parts of society to view me as a human being with a physical disability, who is Muslim, who is a woman, and deserves a chance on the stage. I deserve to have my voice heard. And I deserve for everyone to know my story because I think my story is very powerful and impactful and I have so much to say and so much for you to listen into.
My goal as an advocate for people with disabilities is to strike inclusion, and to strike conversation. I hope as I grow, and I go forward and you start to learn about me, you recognize my face and my voice and you know my story and you know I’m not giving up.
I want to impact society. I want people to know my name. I want people to know me as a change maker. I want people to know me as a youth advocate for people with disabilities. I want young girls to look at me and want to spark that same change. I don’t want them to be like me; I want them to be themselves, but I want them to implement that same change in their societies and their communities.
I only hope as I go forward, they’ll stay with me on this journey and include me in the conversation. Thank you so much for listening. Bye!
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You go marya!!