By Nelly Petrosyan

20-year-old Artak Davtyan says that it will take more than marking December 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, to make him feel like an accepted and full member of Armenian society.

“When they tell us we’re a full member of society, that doesn’t happen just due to December 3. When I enter the metro, and face problems, I don’t feel like it. I’ll feel like a full member of society when people no longer avoid us,” says Artak, who suffered brain damage at birth.

Artak received physical rehabilitative treatment at the State Child Rehabilitation Center in Yerevan until the age of fourteen. Seeing the same faces, he got tired of the treatment and wanted to cancel further sessions.

Artak lives with his mother and uncle’s family. The young man has undergone three operations.

When Artak’s mother decided to send him to school, his grandparents protested, arguing that it was too soon, and that the boy still needed to be treated.

“My mom took me to school. It was P.S.150, the Fridtjof Nansen School. It was completely inaccessible when I enrolled. By the time I graduated, they had installed ramps. Going to school and getting treated conflicted. It’s like getting treated hindered me from living.”

Artak finds Yerevan, at least the downtown area, sufficiently refitted for those with mobility issues.

He frequently finds using public transportation a major challenge.

“In the refitted buses, the lifts turn to ice in the winter. Using those old Soviet-era vans is out of the question. Many of the marshrutka drivers don’t want anything to do with the disabled.”

Artak says he can’t recall facing that much discrimination in school due to his disability.

“I easily adapt to all situations. I recall that when I was young my teacher would use the word debil [refuse] when referring to the disabled. My answer was that we never saw ourselves as such.”

Artak now attends the State Engineering University of Armenia.

“I’m freshman. I just got admitted. I had wanted to get a job before this, to gain some financial independence. I never got a job, so I decided to go to school.”

Artak says that people on the street sometimes hand him money, thinking he needs it.

“I do all I can to be a full member of society, but the government and the society fail to help me,” Artak complains.

He also doesn’t like it when bus drivers refuse his fare payment, out of some sort of distorted sense of pity.

Artak now works as a delivery person, and says it’s a great way of meeting new people.

“My credibility is rising. Perhaps people think it’s commendable that a disabled person is working, especially as a delivery person. During job interviews, employers usually say they’ll get back to me. You get the feeling that the employer is paying attention to you, but is focused on your walker.”

Artak also volunteers at the Armenian Camp NGO, and took swimming lessons at the Handicap Sport Association of Armenia. 

“I started to swim in 2005, as a cure.” [He laughs when using the term “cure”, describing it as ridiculous- NP] “I realized that swimming is just a sport. When people ask me ‘Does swimming help?’, I respond, for what?”

He confesses that water is a good environment for him to discard negative emotions. Artak’s favorite pastimes are swimming, psychology, attending seminars, country excursions and listening to audiobooks. “My auditory memory is much more developed than the visual,” he says.

Artak also has no fear about exploring the sexual side of life. “I do not like sentences that contain   the words ‘cannot’. Sex is one of the senses that must be nurtured and brought to the fore. Having a disability cannot prevent one from sex.”

He describes having a disability as just another individual classification, and says that young people are more accepting of the disabled than their elders.

The upcoming holidays, and the way they’re celebrated, irritate him. “All that eating and drinking affects me. Every New Year’s, the same catholicos, the same rituals. I just wish we could celebrate New Year’s differently.”

Artak is still smiling when I say goodbye.

He hasn’t tired, He says his energy level is inexhaustible. But, he still experiences bouts of sadness.