The adventures of a girl on wheels... Rocking out🎶/Sit-skating & other adaptive sports🛹/Cosplay🧟♀️/Charcot-Marie Tooth (CMT)🧜🏻♀️/ Never slowing down. 💚
Gus or his dad probably won’t see the ableist comments circling the internet. But you know who will?
Fellow disabled people.
Parents of kids with disabilities.
Decent human beings.
They call our needs “special” to make them sound unreasonable and extravagant.
They call our needs “special” so they can find an excuse not to accommodate for them.
Things you should never be ashamed of: your cosplay, your body, your fandoms.
Thing you should absolutely be ashamed of: attending a convention during a pandemic.
Opposers to wheelchair-accessible dungeons in D&D: “Dungeons aren’t supposed to have ramps! This isn’t realistic at all!”
Also opposers to wheelchair-accessible dungeons in D&D: “My character is an undead wizard warlord who can literally cast magic and FLY.”
Do not use the holiday season as an excuse to get sloppy about pandemic safety.
I don’t know about you, but I would rather lay low for one year than have my poor decisions be the reason that it is someone else’s final holiday.
Non-disabled person: “The world does not need to adapt to “cater” to disabled people.”
Translation: “The world currently “caters” to ME, and I don’t care if anyone else has their needs met.”
Disabled people belong at the beach.
Disabled people belong at the gym.
Disabled people belong at the concert.
Disabled people belong in historical places.
In ALL the places. Disabled people belong. 🩷
When discussing the impact of an epidemic, a message of, “Take extra precaution around those more susceptible to illness, as this may be very dangerous for them,” is a whole lot better than, “Don’t worry! It’s ONLY the elderly and those with other illnesses who may die!”
Wearing a mask is not a “loss of freedom.”
However, being forced to stay inside for over 8 months straight because some people refuse to care about others certainly is.
Offering remote work is accessibility.
Having the ability to complete a degree online is accessibility.
Having ways for disabled people to achieve their goals, as opposed to being held back by arbitrary requirements, is accessibility.
Please stop calling us “brave” for simply existing in public spaces.
It implies we don’t belong there in the first place.
Signed,
Disabled people everywhere
🩵♿️🩵
Things disabled people shouldn’t have to feel grateful for:
-being able to use the bathroom in public
-being treated with dignity and respect
-having equal access and rights
-their mobility equipment
-an outing without an awkward encounter
The truth is that anyone can become disabled at ANY time.
Please consider this when you’re shoving us into corners, denying us the same access, talking down to us, & not bothering to provide accommodations.
Because, in the blink of an eye, this could become YOUR reality too.
Disabled people are business owners.
Disabled people are spouses.
Disabled people are teachers.
Disabled people are parents.
Disabled people are people.
A video of a disabled person forcing themselves to walk across a stage at graduation or uncomfortably stand out of their wheelchair for a few seconds to dance at a wedding is not inspirational.
It tells disabled people that we are only worthy if we can accomplish such “feats.”
I often think about how able-bodied individuals think we are putting ourselves down when we refer to ourselves as “disabled.”
And I think that alone says quite enough about how society views those with disabilities.
If a child asks for the wheelchair-user Barbie, and you’re on the fence about getting it…get them the wheelchair-user Barbie! 🩷👩🦽🩷
You’re not taking it away from a child with a disability. You’re creating demand for such representation so that companies continue making them.
The “accessible entrance” of a public place should be the MAIN entrance.
Not the sketchy side door.
Not the back of the building behind the stinky dumpsters.
Disabled people are human beings, not inconvenient pieces of furniture.
Please stop trying to hide us.
The pandemic showed us just how many jobs could have been made easily accessible/work-from-home at any time.
The fact that accommodations disabled people had been requesting for years became immediately available as soon as able-bodied people needed them will always amaze me.
Choosing to use a mobility aid or assistive device is not “giving up.”
Making such a choice is saying, “This device will help make things easier, make moving less painful or tiring, and allow me to live my life to the fullest.“
To me, that sounds like pushing forward. 💚
Disabled people speaking up or requesting access are often referred to as angry or bitter by able-bodied individuals, when no such negative emotions are conveyed.
It’s almost like these non-disabled people are projecting how THEY would feel when faced with the same issues…
People with visible disabilities at a medical appointment: “Gotta make sure I’m dressed up and presentable so I’m taken seriously.”
People with invisible disabilities at a medical appointment: “Gotta make sure I’m not too dressed up and healthy-looking so I’m taken seriously.”
Disabled people are not an inconvenience.
Inaccessibility is.
Disabled people are not a liability.
Inaccessibility is.
Disabled people are not a burden.
Inaccessibility is.
I really wish more able-bodied folks had taken away a greater understanding (due to the inconveniences they have had to face during the pandemic) of things those with disabilities face on a regular basis, rather than pushing us further to the side.
Before ragging on pre-cut fruits and vegetables at the grocery store, please consider that these are huge, positive game-changers for people with disabilities and dexterity issues.
👩🦼✨🍏🥑🫐🌶🥦✨
Barbie History: the wheelchair using Barbie dolls were originally discontinued because their wheelchairs did not fit into the Dream House via the front door.
So, instead of making modifications to the building, they discontinued the doll.
Many wheelchair users can move their legs.
Many wheelchair users are able to walk.
Many wheelchair users use their chair for most of their mobility needs but also have other ways of getting around.
ALL wheelchair users are valid.
🩷👩🦽🩷
Society tends to forget that:
✨Disabled people are friends.
✨Disabled people are family members.
✨Disabled people are spouses.
✨Disabled people are parents.
✨Disabled people are teachers.
✨Disabled people are coworkers.
✨Disabled people are leaders.
Please note: “5 people and a wheelchair“ is never the appropriate way to address the 6 PEOPLE in a dinner party waiting to be seated.
Unless the empty wheelchair itself is a sentient being, which I have yet to see. 😶
As a disabled person, my needs are not “special.”
I don’t need to ride a chariot painted by talking unicorns or to be fed ice cream by Bigfoot.
I need a ramp. For the same “need” of getting inside the building everyone else has.
✨🦄✨