When
@EllieSimmonds1
said “I have dwarfism” on
@bbcstrictly
my daughter screamed excitedly “I have dwarfism too!!!” and I swear if you tell me again that representation doesn’t matter I-
5. In summary: Children in Need is doing our government’s job for them, in a temporary way, for select people only, at the expense of the privacy and dignity of those people, and we’re controlling the purse strings.
Disabled children deserve so much more.
As Children in Need’s appeal programme, the BBC annual fundraising event for “disadvantaged” kids (the majority of whom are sick/disabled), airs tomorrow, I want you to remember these five things:
2. The way the charity tugs at our heartstrings is dehumanising to those they’re fighting the corner of. It reduces them to sad mascots of helplessness when the reality is that disabled kids are incredibly resourceful and resilient. The problem isn’t the children.
4. Once the charity ‘pot’ dries up, so do the projects it is assigned to. Where are the kids left then? What about after they turn 18? Long-term & permanent solutions need to be sought to improve support and services and the only way to do this is if they’re state-funded.
3. The programme relies heavily on the temporary feel good factor people experience when they donate arbitrary, one-off sums of money, but the issues disabled kids face are systemic and would only ever be temporarily improved by cash injections.
As Children in Need’s appeal show, the BBC annual fundraising event for “disadvantaged” kids, the majority of whom are Sick/Disabled, airs this week, I want you to remember these five things:
5. In summary: Children in Need is doing our government’s job for them, in a temporary way, for select people only, at the expense of the privacy and dignity of those people, and we’re controlling the purse strings.
Disabled children deserve so much more.
3 weeks ago, the trussell trust sent me an exclusive on a report they’d put together which highlights that the number of disabled people using food banks is at an all time high in this country. I tried to get the story published but none of my contacts were interested >>>
Whenever ableism happens to one of my kids, the solution presented is always for us to educate their peers about dwarfism. If we answer questions people have it might stop the curiosity, the staring, the 'unfortunate incidents', people say. (1/5)
2. The way the charity tugs at our heartstrings is dehumanising to those they’re fighting the corner of. It reduces them to sad mascots of helplessness when the reality is that Disabled kids are incredibly resourceful and resilient. The problem isn’t the children.
Here's the thing. We shouldn't have to explain how or why our bodies are the way they are for them to be treated with respect, dignity and privacy. We shouldn't have to plead to be asked consent. (2/5)
4. Once the charity ‘pot’ dries up, so do the projects it is assigned to. Where are the kids left then? What about after they turn 18? Long-term & permanent solutions need to be sought to improve support and services and the only way to do this is if they’re state-funded.
3. The charity relies heavily on the temporary feel good factor people experience when they donate arbitrary, one-off sums of money, but issues are systemic and would only ever be temporarily improved by cash injections.
Whilst it is vital to push for Disabled representation (we make up around a fifth of the population after all), on the rare occasion it does happen, those of us that get the gig tend to be among the most privileged and palatable in our community.
If anyone wants to understand us, get to know us in our full humanity. Offer a playdate, invite disabled peers to your kid's party, heck let's go get ice cream together. Ask if we have any access needs (ask everyone that). (4/5)
Something I tell my kids often is that we have dwarfism, and it is a part of everything, but it does not define us. So how would it look if I did a presentation on dwarfism to their classmates, all for the hope of them "understanding" us? (3/5)
What we are seeing play out online is emblematic of a society that cares more about finding and exposing faults within our own communities (& who gets to look like the hero in the process) than joining forces to rally against the real enemy - Tories, capitalism, ableism.
This programme is written by two non-disabled parents who want to tell the story of their disabled kid for profit. The kid cast as the disabled character isn’t disabled either. 🤮
I’m in The Guardian this morning talking about the inaccessibility of sexual healthcare, why we need it & how the barriers in our way only reinforce societal stigma around disabled people not having or being deserving of partnered sex.
@guardian
In fact, none of my pitches around the issues working class and poor disabled people face in this country have ever been picked up (I’m aware there are a couple of disabled journalists who cover this stuff)
And of course we can be unhappy about more than one thing at a time but I’d love to urge people to please look inward & really think about the last time you made this much fuss about food bank use, medical ableism, benefit sanctions, inaccessible housing.
The counter-argument for Children In Need is always "well there's nothing else so I'm still donating" - I'm not telling you not to donate, I'm saying let's not endorse the way CIN parades disabled kids around, and maybe - just maybe! - let's note vote in a party that hates us.
If you have dwarfism, know someone who does, or simply give a shit, here are six things to remember as Ellie Simmonds: A World Without Dwarfism? airs on BBCOne tonight:
This Disability Pride Month I would like disabled journalists to be given first refusal on stories about disabled people.
I’m a bit fed up of seeing non disabled journalists barely scratch the surface of stories we know so intimately well.
Uplifting privileged Disabled people does very little for those in our community who are never passed the mic. Working from the top down will always mean that those at the bottom get little to nothing.
I cannot stress this enough. If you’re running an event or opening a new space, please ask EVERYONE attending whether they have any access needs, not just those you think might be Disabled. (1/5)
Anyway I checked today to see how many publications had written about this Rosie Jones documentary story >> (video of me scrolling a long list of stories)
One day a disabled person needing evacuation literally won’t live to tweet this story. Is that what the hospitality industry is waiting for to take action? Absolutely abhorrent behaviour from
@premierinn
THERE WAS A FIRE ALARM AT MY
@premierinn
at 0115. Yes, the Premier Inn that had already locked me out.
Buckle up, because I’m going to be working out who to discuss this with, if anyone knows any good lawyers. 🧵>
We have to remember that under capitalism, brands and organisations are navigating appeasing their Disabled audience and allies without rejecting their loyal ableist consumers that don’t want us around.
Vegans are not oppressed, animals are. Calling meat a trigger is a gross misuse of that word and it undermines the severity of actual triggers to those affected by them. (7/10)
Whether we’re white, slim, pretty, straight; maybe we’re educated, relatively wealthy, have a respected job and know how to communicate in a way that makes companies see pound signs. Perhaps our disability itself is more palatable than others are.
@DrFrancesRyan
This headline is so off the mark. I went full time WFH at the beginning of the pandemic and it has given me so much more freedom, joy and energy.
@AutSciPerson
2/2 I reach the dr’s office 3 minutes late and they say I have to go to another office across the road. There’s traffic as I cross. By the time I get there I’m 7 minutes late. They say I’ve missed my appt and they’ll call me sometime with another one 😐
"There is a feeling of “why has it not happened before?”: I spoke to actor Ed Larkin on becoming the first wheelchair user to lead a West End musical, for
@Independent
[sorry, it's paywalled, but I'll throw highlights up on my instagram]
For
@guardian
I wrote about the history of dwarves in fantasy, how the casting and portrayal of fantasy dwarves impacts the lived experience of people who have dwarfism offscreen to this day, and how I think we need to embrace change in the genre.
Dear internet. Please do your thing ✨
Dear Peter Dinklage,
If you’re out there, I would love to interview you.
Love, me (woman who has dwarfism & is a journalist)
For
@GlamourMagUK
, I’m looking to speak to people who are male or non-binary, who have a cervix, and are willing to share their experiences accessing cervical screenings in the UK. Can be anon.
#journorequest
Being proud to be disabled is radical in the face of ableism, inaccessibility, impossible beauty standards & eugenics but also ... we don't have to be proud all the time in order to be a Good Disabled Person. We can be sad and angry and frustrated sometimes too.
Hello! I'm looking for an outlet to take an interview profile of actor Peter Dinklage for his new starring role in She Came To Me. I'm a journo with dwarfism and write about disability and pop culture.
Violence isn’t just exhibited in rude language and harsh actions, it’s also wrapped in sweetness and ‘I’m just looking out for you and the rest of the world!’.
Self-victimisation and/or guilt-tripping to manipulate someone into doing what you want is a form of violence. (10/10)
“If many disabled people can’t even enter galleries, how can we be considered to display our works in them?”
I reviewed a beautifully moving exhibition by members of the brain injury charity Headway East, currently installed at The Barbican.
1 in 4 children in the UK leave school unable to swim. That's why we've launched Swim United, an initiative to help all kids in the UK find joy in the water. Let's get more families swimming.
Find out more:
#SpeedoSwimUnited
My first book contribution is here! 💥 We’ve Got This is an empowering an honest deep dive into disabled parenthood, as told by a collection of awesome disabled parents. Out now!
There was no disabled toilet, the reception desk was so high up the receptionist couldn't see me over it, the examination table was too high for me to climb onto, the stirrups couldn't comfortably accommodate my legs, the blood pressure cuff didn't work on my wonky arms
Icon of the Seas is 5 times bigger and heavier than the Titanic 🛳️
It carries 7,600 passengers at max capacity, has 20 decks, 40 bars, 7 swimming pools, and 6 water slides
Setting sail January 2024
4. The medical model places an individual’s disability/ies as the root of all our problems, when actually, day-to-day it tends to be societal barriers and government underfunding that make things harder for us.
Furthermore, this idea coming from someone who is (it appears) less marginalised than myself and weaponising it as “I’m going to unfollow you if you don’t change” is an abuse of their societal power over me. (9/10)
This coming from the government department that's planning to snoop through disabled people's bank accounts "to check for fraud". Absolute lip service.
It’s
#PurpleTuesday
! 🟣
Did you know 75% of disabled customers have left a business without making a purchase due to poor access or customer service?
Learn about the Purple Pound and why improving the disabled customer experience matters:
White people with dwarfism, we really have to drop the whole “the m word is our equivalent to the n word”; 1) they cannot be compared, 2) imagine how othering it is for Black people with dwarfism to hear. The m word is harmful, it’s a slur, we hate it. That’s all we need to say.
Thinking about how my daughter came home sad today because another nondisabled kid in her class said she wasn’t allowed to run outside with the rest of them.
My daughter is 4.
Teach your kids about disability, please.
Children In Need does do good work (after taking a sizeable cut of donations to pay staff), but if we had a government that supported disabled kids we wouldn't need it and that's surely the end goal.
6. As the drug has to be administered to kids before they turn two, it will be heavily marketed towards average height parents that are worried about their kids’ future. Your child will be loved and accepted by those who matter - I promise.
This is by far the best memoir I have EVER read.
@Jenni_Fagan
writes about growing up in care in Scotland so viscerally. I was in tears by page 3. I’m in Gambia at the moment and will leave this advance copy in a book swap on the beach. Let’s see where it goes
@penguinrandom
We deserve to be represented in our full humanity. Actors who have dwarfism deserve to have roles that depict successful, well-rounded, respected, independent, fierce characters. This shouldn't need to be said. But here we are again, 'debating' with anyone who will listen.
Here’s the thing, engaging in this manner with a stranger on any platform screams a level of entitlement that I have only ever seen white people exhibit. As a white person, I am ashamed to admit I have also done this before, in other contexts. (6/10)
Do you know how awesome it is to leave your partner’s house only to go straight to a date with someone else, & have your partner crossing their fingers that it goes well??
Invite the Black and Brown kids in the class to your child’s party. Invite the Disabled kids - yes, even if they’re nonverbal. Invite kids from religious households (and damn well check what they can eat and then provide it). Invite the plus size kids.
Just invite them.
White Disabled people acting like Beyoncé’s lyric is having a direct impact on the quality of our lives right now is WEIRD, especially those whose disability is not one that people would associate with that slur.
At some point, I will reveal exactly which beauty brands and PR agencies have consistently snubbed me even though I have IG engagement levels to rival many people with 2-3x my following. (1/7)
Hello! For a potential feature, I am looking to profile young disabled talent (under 30yrs) who will star in something this year - stage or screen. Please suggest names in the comments and please RT.
1. Firstly, hey fellow dwarves! This tv programme’s title is purposefully salacious to draw non-disabled viewers in. Regardless of it, and of any of the opinions aired, please remember people love us and the world needs us, just as we are. Our existence isn’t a debate.