rants and complaining :]

Main: shadow-rhelm | Avatar by sazsor picrew

[fledglingfujoshi]

on the topic of ableism towards low vision people in disabled spaces:

needing glasses does not mean you’re blind or visually impaired. in fact, if your vision is completely corrected by glasses you are explicitly excluded from the definition.

i am visually impaired and i wear glasses. my glasses help my vision but they don’t fix things like my lack of depth perception, nystagmus, and low night vision. if you have 20/20 vision with you glasses on that is by definition not a visual impairment. you may be nearsighted or farsighted, so say that, don’t appropriate terms for disabilities you don’t have even if you feel like it fits. there is a reason that needing glasses is not counted as blindness if it perfectly corrects your vision.

[differentlylimbed]

happy disability pride month to people who have never questioned if they're really disabled. happy disability pride month to people who never wonder if it's all in their head. happy disability pride month to people who can't be invisibly disabled even if they don't use a visible aid. happy disability pride month to people who don't question if they belong to the community. happy disability pride month to everyone who carries the trauma of spending their whole life as their parent's "disabled child". happy disability pride month to people with no interest in validating others. happy disability pride month to people who wish they could identify out of being disabled. happy disability pride month to people who don't even have the option of questioning whether they might really be able bodied

[mountaincripple]

happy disability pride month to people who have to fight to be seen past the word ‘disabled’. happy disability pride month to people who don’t go out of their way to make anyone else more comfortable with their visibly disabled body. happy disability pride month to people who are tired of educating everyone around them all the time, even other disabled people. happy disability pride month to people who never get seen as abled, but have gotten mistaken for being on drugs because of the way they move and/or speak. happy disability pride month to people who don’t want their identity to revolve around being disabled, but can’t change how literally everyone else sees them. happy disability pride month to visibly disabled people who talk about sex and pleasure. happy disability pride month to all visibly and obviously disabled people, we are so strong and resilient <3

[differentlylimbed]

i love this addition!!!! thank u and happy disability pride month to you <3

[smoov-criminal]

pedestrians don't seem to realize how exhausting using a wheelchair is, both manual and powered. i had to wheel around a hospital today with several ramps i had to go up and down multiple times, and even with my smoov i ended up with shoulder and chest pain and deep exhaustion.

people look at wheelchair users and think "well you're sitting down all the time that doesn't take effort" no actually it does. pushing a manual chair takes a lot of fucking effort, especially without a power assist. repetitive stress injuries are a huge problem manual chair users encounter all the time. going up hills and ramps is so deeply fatiguing.

this doesn't just apply to manual chair users btw. power chair usage can also be really exhausting, especially for people with complex seating needs. going over bumps and cracks can trigger many symptoms such as spasticity, pressure sores are common, even just sitting upright can be exhausting for many people.

basically don't assume using a wheelchair takes 0 effort, it really really does. getting to "sit down all the time" doesn't mean it's easy.

[flowercrowncrip]

A quick guide for trans people who are using/ forced to use the disabled toilet due to transphobic bullshit in the UK when you wouldn’t otherwise need to do so. From a transgender wheelchair user who has given this topic a lot of thought.

Remember you are a guest in this space. I don’t know a single person who would rather you shit yourself or get assaulted than use the disabled toilet, but please remember that these toilets are built and designed for disabled people after a huge amount of campaigning and activism.

Don’t touch or move things you don’t need to. If you’re not familiar with how things work or why they are where they are just leave it be. The position of a bin might not mean anything to you but it could be really important to a wheelchair user who needs to change their tampon. Don’t touch things like grab rails either – while they’re fairly tough and you’re unlikely to cause any damage it’s not impossible and if you don’t touch it, you can’t break it.

Related, but important enough to have its own point: please don’t touch the red cord. Do not tie it up, do not wrap it around anything, don’t tuck it behind a bin. Don’t touch it (The only exception to this is to untie a cord that’s been tied up) If the cord doesn’t fall freely to the floor it could prevent a disabled person calling for help in an emergency. If you’re worried about accidentally pulling it there’s almost always at least one reset button in there with you. Press that and it cancels the alarm.

If possible allow other people waiting to go first. A lot of disabilities, both visible and less apparent, can cause problems with incontinence, urgency or pain that make it difficult for someone to wait to use the toilet. If there’s someone else in the queue and you are able to do so, offering to let them go first might really help them out.

If you want to get a radar key, get it from disability rights UK or give a small donation to a disability charity (again only if you’re able to). I’ve seen a couple of trans orgs giving away free radar keys and it’s unclear how they are being sourced. Knockoffs are common but only “real” RADAR keys are from Disability Rights UK and any profits help fund their charity work. Bear in mind that most disabled people also have to pay for these keys which are about £5. (Disability Rights UK say their keys are to be sold to disabled people or organisations only, this is a legal thing they have to say about VAT relief. There is no real way of following up how disabled someone who buys a radar key is because you don’t need to claim any benefits to be eligible for VAT relief and keys are a low value item that isn’t worth anyone looking into when things like adapted cars exist. Be gay, do crime, support disabled people having rights.)

Know the difference between a standard accessible toilet and a changing places toilet. Don’t use a changing places toilet if there is any other safe option. These have a different symbol and are bigger and fitted with extra equipment for severely disabled people and our carers. That equipment is more sensitive than anything you’ll find in a standard accessible toilet so if you do find yourself in one touch nothing. Especially don’t move the hoist (lifting equipment) as it can cause it to run out of power and make the whole space functionally useless if it’s not in the right space on the track. (To be fair this is an unlikely scenario as there aren’t that many of these toilets, but just in case)

Don’t suggest renaming accessible toilets. They’re primarily there for disabled people who can’t use an alternative, and disabled people will be looking for an accessible toilet. For most spaces you can look for an accessible toilet and have a good chance of finding a gender neutral space, but that doesn’t work the other way around. Calling it an “inclusive toilet” or “gender neutral toilet” tells me absolutely nothing about whether my wheelchair will fit.

[beesshadow]

We just got our new WAV and its so much better for my mum. It has a drive in lock, so once my wheelchair drives into it it straightens out and clamps me down. No more back pain from tie-downs woooo

[beesshadow]

I wanted to share the videos but there's too many faces to blur. I had such a great time though and I hope i get to go again soon!!

[beesshadow]

I had to wear so much sunscreen for this! It was such a hot day.

[beesshadow]

I wanted to share the videos but there's too many faces to blur. I had such a great time though and I hope i get to go again soon!!

[briarpatch-kids]

I think Bodypoint brand positioning aids should be legally considered restraints. Gotta be Harry fuckin Houdini to escape.

[briarpatch-kids]

"Here, disabled person who can't sit up on their own, take this comfy padded seat belt! If you want to undo it, stick your fingers in that hole and apply more force than you can lift!"

[Image ID: two side by side photos of positioning belt latches. The press on the buckle is tiny and in an indent, making them harder to press.]

[beesshadow]

Had a great time. I'm very sleepy now but I might post pictures later

[beesshadow]

I'm going skiing for the first time ever today!! I'm so excited :D

[dyspunktional-leviathan]

It is not wheelchair accessible unless it is accessible to non-ambulatory users in the biggest non-foldable powerchairs that cannot be lifted a single wheel a millimeter off the ground.

(Feel free to add on if there are other things wrt wheelchair-accessibility I am unaware of)

[flowercrowncrip]

I don’t know if it’s just me being sensitive, but I feel like wheelchairs and other disability equipment shouldn’t be common centres of small talk. Like, I would massively prefer that people don’t mention my chair unless I bring it up/ it’s urgently relevant.

Even “complements” about my chair feel a bit weird. Unless it’s about something I’ve very clearly chosen for aesthetics (like “I like the stickers on your chair” is okay for me) just don’t mention it please. Even if it’s to say it looks cool and futuristic, it’s just another reminder that people see my wheelchair and disability (things I don’t get a choice in) before they see me and that sucks.

This also extends to other wheelchair users, especially if they don’t use the same kind of CRT powerchair/ otherwise use a wheelchair that isn’t a small manual chair.

[bebsi-cola]

autism cataclysm: chill ask games to answer invasive questions to

[note: this is not an extensive representation of all of autism. have fun but remember to copy the whole question out when sending asks for everyone. short term memory is a fuck]

1. If you have a diagnosis of autism would you choose to get that undiagnosed, if you have no diagnosis would you choose to get a diagnosis? Would you like to change when you got a diagnosis? Do you want a diagnosis off-record?

2. Are you able to maintain a routine by yourself or do you need someone or something to impose a routine upon you in order to follow it?

3. Which part of autism do you wish was better understood and more well known about the general populace?

4. Have you ever been in any in-person autism support groups? What were they like?

5. Have you taken part in any autism research as a participant? What was it like?

6. Which aspect of being autistic is most frustrating for you?

7. Do you experience The Rage? How is it for you?

8. Imagine a society that is geared towards catering to the needs of autistic people. What sort of reforms would you implement if you got to be in charge?

9. Do you collect anything? If you could collect an unlimited amount of anything, what would it be?

10. Money is a lie. True or false?

11. When people say "autism stereotypes" what do you think they mean by that? Does it describe you or anyone you know?

12. This will determine if you're in the clubTM. Did people joke about you becoming a serial killer/mass shooter just for being slightly different on account of being autistic?

13. Do you have autistic family members? Could you take them in unarmed combat?

14. What co-morbidities of autism do you have? How are they treating you? You deserve 500 in money.

15. Is there a topic or activity that just lives rent free in your head? Like it comes up and everything else fades away.

16. Autism on autism violence. Describe a bad interaction you had with another autistic person.

17. Autism plus autism alliance. Describe any good interactions you have had with another autistic person.

18. You get to direct the new upcoming research in autism studies. What are you researching and why? Feel free to lay out your whole methodology and write a literature review but I only accept APA, APSA, or ASA citation style. You can use Chigaco author-date but anything else is pushing it.

19. Do you observe occasions such as autism awareness month or similar? Why, or why not.

20. Imagine I am a 19 year old psychology student. You've just told me you're autistic/have autism, and I ask you what that is and what it's like? How are you going to explain.

21. Who is the best autism icon? It must be someone from death note. If you haven't read death note people go read it first and come back to me.

22. Autism is getting a slogan! What is it? You get to decide.

23. What does being autistic mean to you? It's an open ended question so write a lot.

24. How are you with mouth sounds? Do you make them? Repeat them? Are mouth sounds simply out of your reach?

25. I would like a funny or strange interaction with a healthcare professional that happened because you are autistic or they learned you have autism.

26. How do people understand autism in the country you live in, are from, or parents are from? How does it differ to what you experience online on this website? Do they call autism something else? etc.

27. How has your relationship with food been affected by autism? Any co-morbidities or other background information can be included as is relevant.

28. Where have you learnt the most about autism from? What things about autism did you learn that really made an impact on you? Are there any information sources on autism or autistic people that you recommend?

29. What support do you desperately need? Are you getting it?

30. Hahahahahahaha there's no thirty. Read them and weep. Or something.

[incognitopolls]

How much of the time do you wear prescription glasses or contacts?

All the time, they only come off if they'd be in the way for certain things

Most of the time, but sometimes I just don't wear them

Whenever I go somewhere, but not when I'm at home

Whenever I'm at home, but not when I go somewhere

Only at school/work/another specific span of time

Only to see particular things (e.g. to read a sign, then I take them off again)

Sometimes, based on some other criteria

Never, but I probably should wear them

Never, I have vision problems that can't be corrected with prescription lenses

Never, my vision is 20/20 or better

Voting ended onMay 23

We ask your questions anonymously so you don’t have to! Submissions are open on the 1st and 15th of the month.

[beesshadow]

My arm hurts already.

[beesshadow]

I teared up a few times but managed to not cry. Learning where things are will be a lot of work but im willing to try. I wasn't actually expecting to Get It today, just another lesson with the program but they brought me my own device loaded with the accents and program and the mount so I already have it on my wheelchair!!!!! I don't have to have my tray on all the time now so no more blisters AND its mounted high enough im not looking down all the time. I don't know if touch is the best option for me but hes never brought up another option and neither has my slp so im not sure how this will go.

Honestly im just glad that I got it at all. Its been 3 years. It almost sounds like me.

[beesshadow]

I JUST GOT MY UNITY ACCENT AND MOUNT!!!!! it has welsh accents and even though its all gog its the closest I've sounded to me in years