[azalea-blooming]

you should care about kids because they’re people, btw. not because they’re “future adults” but because they are people right now and they deserve to be treated like people.

[autisticadvocacy]

Did you know that disabled people and allies pulled off the longest occupation of a federal building in US history? Today is the anniversary of the start of the 504 sit-in, a historic protest that helped win disability protections!

[asexual-amanita]

Cognitively disabled people deserve gender access to affirming care.

Psychiatrically disabled people deserve access to gender affirming care.

Physically disabled people deserve access to gender affirming care.

Being disabled doesn't erase the possibility of being trans, having dysphoria and/or wanting to pursue a medical transition.

[briarpatch-kids]

So do intellectually disabled people! I know multiple transgender people who are also intellectually disabled and they have a very difficult time accessing social and medical transition unless there are supportive caregivers!

[stella-and-the-pinks]

if you're disabled and/or chronically ill, i cannot stress enough how much you deserve friendship.

if your conditions make it hard for you to follow through with plans, you deserve friendship anyways.

if you use equipment like mobility aids, aac, ventilators and oxygen, feeding tubes, insulin pumps, etc, you deserve friendship anyways.

if your conditions make you have to cancel last minute a lot, you deserve friendship anyways. if your conditions make you have to leave early a lot, you deserve friendship anyways.

if you're housebound/bedbound, you deserve friendship anyways.

if you need caregiver support to hang out with friends, you deserve friendship anyways AND you deserve the caregiver support you need to enjoy time with them.

if you have a service dog, you deserve friendship anyways.

if your conditions cause "scary" medical episodes like seizures, fainting, meltdowns and shutdowns, etc, you deserve friendship anyways.

if you're disabled and/or chronically ill, i cannot stress enough how much you deserve friendship.

[sevaria]

every trans kid is a blessing

stickers and prints here

[woolblossom-archive]

[disabilityaidpositivity]

Certified disability aid positivity post!

[ID: A colorful illustration with the words "I love disability aids" in bold, rainbow-gradient text surrounded by various assistive items. These include a crutch, headphones, hearing aid, wrist brace, ice pack, disposable face mask, and a pill bottle. The background features colorful sparkles and dots. /end ID]

[milkandvoid]

[blue-eyed-blair]

[lifeafterpsychiatry]

If you lost your teenage years to mental illness and/or trauma, I just want you to know that you did not "miss out on the best years of your life" and that it isn't actually too late for you to have fun, explore yourself and grow into the person you want to be. There's still plenty of time for all of that. I promise.

[traumasurvivors]

Others having it "worse" doesn't do anything to make your pain disappear. Your pain is real and you are allowed to feel it and acknowledge it.

[aurapalettes]

& you know what it actually IS lifechanging to smile at strangers & say please & thank you & goodmorning & compliment someones outfit & help someone in need & be more accepting of loving other people just because they are other people!!!

[creature-wizard]

Folks have got to understand that they probably aren't messed up by some Secret Big Trauma that they just can't remember; but rather by a million tiny microtraumas that they do mostly remember but don't even register as traumatic because nobody actually understood that these things would cause trauma, much less stack on each other over the years.

[xpxssxm]

Whether you're carrying one big rock or a big ol' bucket of sand, it's going to weigh on you just as much.

[ramshacklefey]

This is why psychologists have started taking more of an interest in CPTSD in the last 10-15 years. What most people know as PTSD is a response to a single, intensely traumatic event (or even a series of events). However, CPTSD (chronic post-traumatic stress disorder) is caused by living for years in a situation where your nervous system cannot catch a break. Even if nothing huge ever happened to you, you always had to be on guard for a thousand little things that could and did happen.

After years and years of this, your nervous system gets "stuck" in an activated threat response. It never really lets you rest, and if this started when you were a kid, you may not develop a lot of neural pathways that you should have, because your brain was too focused on keeping you safe to bother with little things like "genuine human connection" and "interpersonal attachment."

[naamahdarling]

No lie, Complex PTSD/CPTSD is HUGE.

If you are disabled, if you are queer, if you are chronically ill, if you are the survivor of a toxic but not abusive relationship, if you grew up or lived under the threat of harm but no "actual" harm (or "very little" harm) was done, you may have CPTSD that isn't getting caught because CPTSD looks different from PTSD.

[thenookienostradamus]

At the risk of falling into a trivialization trap, a lot of things you may not perceive as traumatic actually are. I was embarrassed for a long time in both group and individual therapy to say anything in my childhood was traumatic, because I was sitting with people who had suffered horrible physical or sexual abuse. But here are some things that are, in fact, traumatic and - when they occur over a long period - can set you on a course of maladaptive coping for decades if not addressed:

Being told or shown that your emotions are not valid, that you have no safe place to express them

Parents or caregivers oversharing graphic trauma from their past with you

Threats of physical violence, even if not carried out

Being told or shown that affection or approval is contingent on competency or academic success

Prejudice from inside OR outside the family (homophobia, racism, body shame)

Mocking or dismissal of things that are meaningful to you

If you constantly feel unworthy, afraid, ashamed, or even flat and emotionless, it's worth exploring why. And, because you've been so consistently undermined and minimized, you may feel like a fraud for being upset or functioning poorly. You're not a fraud; it's years of conditioning telling you "I should be able to handle this" or "lots of people are worse off than I am so I shouldn't complain." Your conditioned brain is lying to you; you won't be able to open yourself to the joy of trusting relationships with others OR do meaningful things to help those who are worse off until you do the work to melt the block of ice surrounding you. All my love to you, friends.

[lunahorizon]

Pete Walker is a therapist that's been on the cutting edge of this for many years, and he has a website here with plenty of free resources. (Just straight PDFs of parts of his books!)

Also, his books are not that expensive, well-written, and truly helped me process a lot of my trauma. I did a ton of it alone because I couldn't find a therapist for years, and those books (complex ptsd: from surviving to thriving & the tao of fully feeling) really changed the trajectory of my life.

He talks about grieving, about changing our internal dialogue to one that's positive instead of negative, talks about SEVERAL trauma typologies, and more.

As someone who has been diagnosed with the big trauma PTSD but most of their problems were coming from the little stuff that was CONSTANT and made me run on 2000% all day every day, this guy is a lifesaver. I'm so different from how I was before, especially with the help of some in-person therapy. Finding the right person makes all the difference, truly.

You can pick up his books on the website, but if you're looking for resources on this and you have the space and support to be able to do some of your own work (please don't do it completely alone unless you must) check out the sidebar over at pete-walker.com. He made this incredible resource that not everyone knows about and I try to share it where this comes up.

Thank you for informing people about this.

[creature-wizard]

Reblogging for the additional info and resources, and to emphasize that the C does indeed stand for "complex," not "chronic." (Understandable that people would get mixed up, though.)

[seven-winged-liar]

the whole 'nobody would miss me if i were gone' line of reasoning is so completely and mindblowingly false, it's almost laughable if you take a couple steps back. there's a lady at work who has been there for maybe two or three weeks and has only talked to me a handful of times, ask where the necklace i usually wear went. another person asked where i was cause i wasn't scheduled for about a week. i regularly think of friends who have deactivated their accounts or who i've lost contact with and what id tell them. i still think about people i haven't talked to for years even though i didn't know them well. people still think about you even if you're a passing specter on the street. and that's not even holding a candle to how much the people who are personally involved in your life care. people do notice and care. all the time. it might be hard to see it or remember it but people do care. ily.

[disabirbity]

Btw being plural, psychotic, having a personality disorder, autism, or any other disability or condition shouldn't mean someone else gets to dictate that you can't transition until your "disorder is sorted out" or "in case it's just the disorder". You choose your own path, you deserve that much. Your disabilities should not put your transition on hold because ableist transphobes just want an excuse.

[hell-on-sticks]

I think maybe not enough people in disability spaces think about what it's like to need the assistance of a carer.

It's a different experience for different levels of need. Some of us might need only low support, or support with specific tasks. Others need higher support, and there are many disabled people who need assistance with most or all daily tasks.

Dependence is a scary thought for some people, but for many it's a part of everyday life. Some level of dependence is common for disabled people, and needing carers or support workers is not as uncommon as people think.

Disability conversations often don't discuss carers, or don't allow people to bring their carers into the conversation. Some people may need assistance from carers or support workers to be in a physical place for community. Some might need help using online spaces like tumblr. Some might need help communicating. Carers are a part of life for many and talking about carers is important.

Carers can be positive, supportive and good relationships. But can also be stifling or even abusive. Care is complicated, and people should be able to talk about it.

I can only talk about my experience of lower level care. I invite people with formal support workers and full time care to share.

[briarpatch-kids]

One thing I wished more people grasped is that wheelchair use is a full spectrum rather than just ambulatory/nonambulatory (and some non wheelchair users can't even get that right!)

Some people need a wheelchair for isolated outings like Disney or the mall.

Some people need one to leave the house

Some people need one for a couple months at a time on and off but can get by without it most of the time

Some people can take a couple steps but that's it

Some people have to stay in their wheelchair and can't move to a couch or regular chair.

Some people need extra equipment like slings or transfer boards to get in and out of their wheelchair.

Some only need their wheelchair on bad days.

All of the situations I just described are based on real people I know (and me!) and I would bet money that all of us have dealt with bullshit from people who don't understand that it's a spectrum.

[flowercrowncrip]

13: Is there an aspect of disability or disability rights you don't find a lot of support or discussion on but you'd like to?

I will take any excuse to talk about accessible toilets!

I wish that we talked more about access to toilets, especially changing places toilets/ high dependency units. If you can’t use a toilet it’s a massive barrier to accessing public life, and not everyone is able to use “standard” accessible toilets.

This is something the UK is slightly better at than many other countries, although it’s still not great. In the UK it’s pretty easy to hire a mobile van with a toilet that includes an adult size changing table, ceiling hoist, plenty of space for a large wheelchair and two carers as well as a toilet with room on each side for a carer to support with balance.

If there’s an place or event you go to like Pride or a convention it’s always worth letting the people running it know that charities like Revolootion exist that can easily provide one of these vans. It’s such an easy way to make places and events more accessible to severely disabled people.