Beetlejuice: Acceptance Expands Possibilities
If you told me only two years ago, I’d be in a movie theater, wearing my rose-colored FL-41s, listening to Beetlejuice with my eyes closed, I’d have shrugged in self-pity and disbelief. The idea of going to a theater, with its gigantic overwhelming visuals and thumping audio, felt like one of the many things I’d have to let go of. My vestibular disorder, caused by my stroke, has taken a lot from my life, and for a long time, I let that be the only thing I saw.
The chronic pain from my disability made me feel that although I’m not blind, sometimes I wondered if it’d be easier if I was. The excruciating pain in my head from just simply using my eyes was frustrating and driving me into depression. However, I considered how I would navigate life if I was blind and maybe I had something interesting there to build on.
I began to research how blind and low vision people navigate the digital world that my eyes could no longer tolerate. I connected with leaders in the blind community and was directed to an organization called iBug Today, Inc. iBUG is a non-profit organization promoting the individual independence, social integration, and educational development of the blind and visually impaired community through accessible technology training. This organization opened a new world for me that taught me how to rely on listening rather than seeing. I began my relationship with iBug by taking a Voiceover for Mac training course. I was grateful they welcomed me as a low vision candidate and accepted my application, which detailed the vision challenges I face due to a vestibular disorder following my stroke.
But why stop there? I learned that audio description accessibility is available on TV and movies for blind and low-vision individuals. It was something I never paid much attention to or considered before, but as someone with a visual processing disorder that makes watching something move on a screen painful, it sounded like an opportunity worth exploring. So, my niece, Emily, was excited to take me to see “Beetlejuice” at the local movie theater.
Discovering a New Way to Experience Movies
If you’ve never used audio descriptions before, here’s how it works. You wear a headset that narrates what’s happening on screen, describing scenes, facial expressions, and visual details that someone with low or no vision can’t experience. In tandem, you are hearing the dialogue, music, sound effects, and ambient noises that all audience members here. It’s a lot to take in, but having practiced sharpening my listening skills by using Voiceover on my Apple devices, I quickly caught on.
For me, this meant I could enjoy movies without the pain triggered by moving visuals. Instead, I could sit back, listen, and enjoy the experience. And guess what? It was fun! I wasn’t just surviving the experience. I was fully engaged. I laughed at the same moments as my niece, felt the excitement of the story, and walked out of the theater realizing that maybe there are more things I can do than I thought.
Acceptance Isn’t Giving Up. It’s Expanding What’s Possible
For a long time, I thought accepting my disability meant resigning myself to a smaller life. But that’s not what acceptance is at all. Acceptance is what allows new joy to take root. It shifts the focus from what I’ve lost to what’s still available to me if I’m willing to try.
I leaned into the unknown, tried something new, and walked away with an experience I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I learned that being an advocate for my own joy means getting creative, speaking up, and saying yes to new possibilities.
Taking Action, One Step at a Time
There’s no magic moment when everything clicks and acceptance is suddenly easy. It’s a process and takes willingness to step into uncertainty, try things that might fail, and advocate for the tools that make life more accessible. But when we do, we create space for joy in ways we never imagined.
So, if there’s something you miss doing because of your disability, ask yourself if there a way to experience it differently? Maybe it’s using audio descriptions at a movie theater. Maybe it’s finding adaptive technology for writing the book you always wanted to write. Maybe it’s asking for accommodations instead of assuming something is off-limits. Whatever it is, the first step is being willing to try.
The Beetlejuice movie was the proof I needed that acceptance expands the possibilities of life. And acceptance starts with the willingness to get uncomfortable and do the work.
Author: Rachel Abbassi – Recovery Daily Podcast Host, Mental Health Advocate, Communications Specialist
