about disability- discussions, and a few rants

okay so just gonna prefix this by saying that ive heard a lot of BS about disability and what living with a disability is like and just….. stupid stuff so this is me ranting and trying to educate people on the truth about life with a disability and just disability information in general. so this is gonna be loooooong so just yeah (you can add things or as me questions if you want)

1. people can have invisible disabilities.- this means that people have disabilities that you wont be able to recognise by looking at them, these disabilities may be mental or even physical, there are many strange things bodies do that are not visible to others

2. The disability community is the only minority you can suddenly become a part of- think about it, people are born black or LGBT+ or with red hair or left handed or whatever and if you arent BORN that way you cant suddenly become that. BUT anyone can suddenly become disabled! You could have a stroke in your sleep and wake up paralysed. You could get in a car crash and get a brain injury or spinal injury or blind or suddenly have mobility issues. Its a serious thing to consider when you are considering the treatment of those with disabilities.

3. ME BEFORE YOU WAS AN AWFUL MOVIE!!- I have so many problems with this. first off, YOU CAN BE HAPPY AND HAVE A DISABILITY! YOU CAN HAVE A FULFILLING LIFE AND HAVE A DISABILITY! YOU CAN FIND LOVE WHILE HAVING A DISABILITY! This movie argues that death is a more favorable outcome than living a good fulfilling life with a disability and that is complete BS. Lots of people lead happy fulfilling lives and have a disability. Google Joni Eareckson Tada or Nick Vujicic I mean come on, Einstein had Autism for pete's sake!!

4. Autism $peaks is a hate organization towards Autistics.- first off, 80% of their money that gets donated goes towards marketing but that isnt so bad when you consider the kind of stuff they do to autistic people like me. Think conversion therapy level BS. they openly try to find a "cure"for autism, something which is a core part of who people with autism are and effects how they think and act and is an integral part of their person, its like trying to find a cure for shyness or for trying to cure someone's 'weird laugh'. its just awful. they dont have any autistic people on their staff and actively keep them off their staff because they know they would go ballistic and they still claim thaT they can accurately represent the voice of Autistic people.

5. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY STILL HAVE VALUE THIS IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE- Every. Single. person. has. value. ALL. OF THEM. Ive met people who were nonverbal and used wheelchairs that couldnt care for themselves that others would consider to have no value and would look down on. Those people were some of the people that have changed my life the most. Ive met a boy who was a quadriplegic and couldnt speak who spoke volumes through just a look and a smile! He was so joyful and happy and just loved others and you could tell but people would just see the wheelchair and see that he cant talk and tried to convince his caretakers to let him die. I cant believe such a thing could be considered acceptable. He was an amazing kid. I know a person who was nonverbal that used an ipad to tell jokes and they are the funniest kid. like, I dont get how people dont see it. The world saw them as disabled but they saw themselves as differently abled.

6. not disabled but differently abled- I have Autism. I am living a happy life and am currently in college. I am SO BAD at connecting with people and starting conversations. like i seriously have social anxiety, but If I find another person with a disability, say I see a kid with Downs Syndrome on the street, I am more than able to approach them and have a conversation with them. I am able to connect with people with autism on a different level than my typical peers are because i UNDERSTAND THEM. what ive found with people with Autism is that when we wont connect with you its because we cant get out of our own world and into yours, what we need it to have someone come and meet us where we are at and accept us for where we are at and love us as we are. Isnt that what everyone needs????

7. People with disabilities are the least reached- they are the least reach of the least reached and that isnt okay when they are tho ones that quite possibly need help the most.

8. Assume ability before assuming disability- you dont baby-talk to your grandparents because they seem old so dont yell or baby talk to a person in a wheelchair who in all likeliness can understand what you're saying and speak for themselves. Physical abilities dont control mental abilities.

9. dont use disabilities as a slur- autism doesnt mean stupid just like gay doesn't mean stupid

10. SERIOUSLY, AUTISTIC DOESN'T MEAN STUPID

Absolutely! This was riveting! Awareness needs to be spread… You don't know how many shitlords I've had to punch over this stuff…

Im glad you appreciated my ranting.
ive had to look people in the face after them making a joke about Autism that was honestly rather offensive and tell them that im Autistic a few too many times. Even though it is rather entertaining to watch them struggle to save themselves and its hilarious to see their face as they realise what theyve done it still has happened wayyyy to often.

Oh. Yeah? That's gotta suck… I dunno why you don't just punch them? It seems to work for me…

Im 4'7" shuri, im not strong and definitely not intimidating. I use my words since its what im the best at, and since I almost never get truly mad at someone people who know me kinds freak when I get all pissed at people. I can be a tiny ball of rage sometimes.
and yeah, it sucks to have to be the person that points out that sort of thing but I then get to educate them and they usually dont make those jokes again, well not around me at least.

And? Just because you're smsll doesn't mean you can't be physically powerful…

But, on a different note… I'm glad you actually have the patience to deal with people like that… You've got more tolerance thsn I do, and I certainly commend you for that, dear…

yeah, I could be strong…. If i was able to do the things required to become strong. Instead I have fibromyalgia and the only exercise I can do without being in too much pain is walking. Not even running or doing stairs or anything, just walking. I could maybe do weights but it would take a really long time for me to be able to work up any muscle mass because its so difficult for me to exercise because im always in so much pain afterwards.

That sucks… I'm sorry about that you poor thing…

well its what pushes me to get better at writing, maybe one day ill be able to write a book on disability and stuff. or maybe ill just write a fantasy story and make one of the main characters Autistic and have a scene where they actually talk about it and have them make appropriate jokes about it and it will be COOL! or maybe ill turn my life story into a book, I mean it certainly has been filled with enough drama to fill a novel lol

or maybe ill write ALL THREE!!!

but yeah, pain sucks, but for me it's as much a part of my life as my Autism or ADHD or my love of stories and writing so maybe there's something there

I can relate… I've spent an unnerving amount of my life in pain, honestly, just pulling all the shit that I usually do…

And I agree… I'm considered very cool where I live… So it counts when I say calling things "Autistic" as an insult isn't really cool and is a good way to get into some deep shit… People need to make more appropriate jokes…

And I agree… I'm considered very cool where I live… So it counts when I say calling things "Autistic" as an insult isn't really cool and is a good way to get into some deep shit… People need to make more appropriate jokes…

YES I 100% AGREE people sometimes feel like the only way to be funny is to joke about things that really shouldnt be joked about and like its infurriating sometimes. im glad its not just me who feels that way.

I mean, comedy exists to make light of dark situations… But it doesn't exist to be offensive… And people who spin it around to make it that way are bullshit…

yeah, comedy is about making things happier and lighter and I understand that, but there's a way to do it so as to not make it offensive and overly crass and a lot of people dont understand how to do that
basically yeah, I 100% agree with you

my brother has cerebral palsy so I'm really grateful for this thread

I've put it on hold at the library

My cousin has cerebral palsy as well.
There's a book called Petey that's about a man with cerebral palsy in the 1920s and it follows his life story. I really liked it but I haven't read it for a while so I don't remember what the representation was like.

I havent heard of that one, I should put that on my Christmas list. i happen to have mild CP on top of everything else so that sounds really cool! Ive read Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper, its a first person pov of a girl with CP and it was really good!

@jynnie Im sadly a bit too young to be any of those hobbits, I'm my own adventurous Hobbit self. Im probably more like Pippin than anyone else but I like to think im most like Samwise the Brave. He was a great and loyal friend to Frodo and we all know Frodo never wouldve gotten anywhere without Sam. He is my favorite.

im really glad other people are able to understand and appreciate where I was coming from when I wrote the og post. weve been talking about disability somewhat in my Psychology class and it can get rather frustrating because there are so many people that dont view people with disabilities like I do. I feel sometimes like I have to teach my professor who works in the department of diversity at my school about a correct, accepting, and (since we go to a christian school) an accurate Christian view of disability. its hard sometimes because people in authority dont see me as having enough wisdom or understanding or maturity on the subject to be able to have any important say in these things even though ive told them that I have disabilities.
what im trying to say iss that im grateful to have a platform like this where I can share things like this with others and have my view be heard and understood and viewed as equally important as those of older people and typical adults who dont have a clue what living with Disability is like because they've had no exposure.

tl;dr Thank you for listening and appreciating what i have to say :)

Im using Disability and how having a disability effects wellness related to the way others percieve the disability and the way that those who are disabled see the disability so im just gonna use everything I ranted about here lol im gonna die I have so much to do and that final is due this friday and I have a 10 page essay due friday that Idk how to write so im just
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

My cousin has cerebral palsy as well.
There's a book called Petey that's about a man with cerebral palsy in the 1920s and it follows his life story. I really liked it but I haven't read it for a while so I don't remember what the representation was like.

I havent heard of that one, I should put that on my Christmas list. i happen to have mild CP on top of everything else so that sounds really cool! Ive read Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper, its a first person pov of a girl with CP and it was really good!

@jynnie Im sadly a bit too young to be any of those hobbits, I'm my own adventurous Hobbit self. Im probably more like Pippin than anyone else but I like to think im most like Samwise the Brave. He was a great and loyal friend to Frodo and we all know Frodo never wouldve gotten anywhere without Sam. He is my favorite.

Oooh, I loved OOMM!

me too!

My brother has a disablity, it’s called cerebral palsy, it’s a pretty uncommon disease thing that can actually kill you. My brother has it but he’s not dead, instead he thinks adnormally.

my brother is 7 but has the brain of a 2 year old (with a kindergarten to second grade education)

I need to rant about a thing
To understand, you should look closely at this ableist comment my writing professor made the other day that pissed me off,
"not everyone is made for college but everyone can do college"

this may come to a surprise to some able bodied people with no exposure to disability but there are some people who can't get through college and a lot of them have disabilities, mental or physical, or are experiencing other life circumstances that are going to prevent them from succeeding in college
AND I COULD'VE BEEN ONE OF THEM if I hadn't grown as much as a person this last summer I KNOW that I wouldn't be able to be in college like I am right now. I wouldn't have been able to get through this last semester. I wouldn't have friends or be doing as well in my classes and like, there are a lot of people that are autistic like me and that CAN'T get through college, no matter how hard they try and how much they study and how good they are in school because they just cant thrive socially and don't know how to advocate for themselves and talk to their professors.
And it scares me that i'm being fed this mentality of the certainty of my success if I can only push myself hard enough because if I push myself too hard i'm going to burnout and I wont be able to succeed because of that and its just so detrimental to students with disabilities that he would say something like that and of course he doesn't know what he's saying or think what he's saying could be doing any harm but he just doesn't know and it was so hard for me to just sit there and not say anything because it was the end of class and I wanted to leave and just ;ashsk;gjbk;adjbgklfhdbhgisbihgisuhdigbfpiu

Wow… That's…

I…don't know how to respond to that.

yeah
i was pissed
it just is so frustrating to me that some people can br so ignorant but then again ive grown up with and around disability my whole life so that perspective comes naturally to me and just I want to say stuff and raise awareness and understanding but its hard to have a good conversation surrounding that when im pissed off so what do I do? I rant about it on the internet…… i hAvE sUcH GoOd StReSs MaNaGeMenT sKilLs

Well I know you can succeed… If a professor can't realize that then maybe he should just light his degree on fire…