MORGAN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — An eastern Kentucky woman is competing for Miss Wheelchair America in Michigan this week.
Deborah Robbins has been in a wheelchair for most of her life; she was diagnosed when she was 15 with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
"Normally, when you have pain and then your brain sends signals, there's pain, then signals back that there's not pain, with this syndrome, that series of signals doesn't work properly," Robbins said.
She got into the pageant world just recently. She won Miss Wheelchair Kentucky earlier this year. Robbins told LEX18 she likes the Miss Wheelchair pageant because of how it's judged.
"We are actually judged instead of on beauty and things like that, we're judged on advocacy and achievement, what we've done despite the fact we've ended up in a wheelchair and how we've advocated to help others," Robbins said.
Her time wearing the Miss Wheelchair Kentucky sash has taken her all over the state. Her advocacy mission is to improve access and normalize wheelchair usage.
"There's so many people that automatically assume that if you're in a wheelchair, that you have a mental disability or if you're disabled and you can't do anything," Robbins said. "I think it's important people recognize that just because you're in a wheelchair doesn't mean that we're helpless."
Robbins, who has her master's degree in educational technology from Morehead State University, likened it to not knowing a skill.
"The word disability technically means you don't have the skill set to do a task, and while those of us in wheelchairs may not be able to walk, there's lots of other things that we can do," Robbins said. " We don't go around calling people disabled because they can't paint or crochet or knit."
Robbins is competing in Grand Rapids, Michigan, through Saturday, August 23. The winner will be crowned that evening.
