What if People with Intellectual Disabilities Ran the World

We try very hard to teach people with intellectual disabilities the social skills necessary to navigate life. What if we didn't try so hard to change them but instead took their lead? What would society look like if they taught the rest of us social skills?

We would all hug each other a lot more than we do. There would be hugs in greetings, hugs in goodbyes, hugs throughout the day.

We would be friendlier. We would all talk to each other more. We would strike up more conversations with strangers just to get to know another human being. We would delight in it, as if our only purpose in life was to get to know someone else.

We would take care of each other better. If someone were hurting or needed help, everyone would offer to help the person until they didn't need help anymore.

We would grieve quietly. If someone we loved died, we would not be worried about what others do to grieve but instead would grieve in our own way. And the person who died would never leave our memories but always remain a vital part of our lives as if they were still there.

We would be more honest with each other and no one's feelings would be hurt.

Everybody would get lots of attention from others and no one would be looked down on for needing lots of attention.

Everything big or little in life would be a celebration. We would all be cheered for our accomplishments.

Differences would be accepted and no one would try to change anyone.

We would forgive easily and not hold grudges.

We might gossip about each other but the content would be positive.

Society would be accessible to everyone. It would be built so that everyone could comfortably and easily go anywhere they wanted when they wanted.

We wouldn't judge each other. We would be free to be ourselves and no one would criticize us for it.

There would be no more wars.

There would be no discrimination based on race, gender, disability, or religion. Differences would be the order of the day.

There would be less conformity and more free-thinking.

There would be no stigma attached to having a mental illness or cognitive disability.