this short guide brought to you by an actual disabled person.
1. DO YOUR RESEARCH
This one should be obvious, right? Don’t write without researching what you are writing about. Disability is a complicated and complex issue and you shouldn’t operate on assumptions.
But here’s the thing: reading Wikipedia doesn’t count as research. Go beyond that.
2. DO NOT DEPEND ON MEDICAL JOURNALS AND SYMPTOM LISTS
While it’s a good idea to consult medical literature, remember that - especially when it comes to invisible disabilities and neurodivergence - doctors can only tell you what the disease looks like, not what it feels like. While you should most certainly know how the disability in question presents, you should not rely on the word of medical practitioners alone.
3. LISTEN TO ACTUAL DISABLED PEOPLE
To write authentically, with an understanding of what you’re writing, you will need to talk to and listen to disabled people. You will not be able to gain an understanding of what it feels like to be disabled, to have a particular condition, without talking to people who have it. Do not ignore this step or you risk writing a shallow (and often inaccurate) stereotype.
Of course, when approaching someone for information, remember to be respectful and not voyeuristic. Be prepared to be told to get lost - not everyone likes to be a source of information for the abled.
4. DO NOT WRITE STEREOTYPES
There are many condition-specific stereotypes and I can’t really cover them all in a short guide. However, there are two broad stereotypes that are applied to the vast majority of disabled people and you should work to avoid both:
The Saintly Inspiration
Do not write disabled people who suffer without a single complaint, who Strive Hard to Overcome their Limitations and Succeed. Disabled people do not exist to inspire you. Disabled people do not “fail” if they do not reach abled standards of “success”.
Certainly, there are struggles when one is disabled. Do not frame them as overcoming the disability: often, the real obstacle is not the disability but the lack of accommodation, understanding and support.
The Bitter Cripple[1]
Do not write disabled people who are portrayed as unrelentingly negative, bitter and cynical and are cast in a bad light because of this. Disability is tough and some develop coping methods that may seem harsh to abled people, but it is what must be done to survive.
5. DO NOT EMPLOY MIRACULOUS CURES
Disability shapes and moulds a person in many ways. Miraculous cures erase a part of a disabled character for a cheap happy end. It is an insulting and belittling tactic that tells disabled readers that they, too, need to be fixed, instead of being accepted and supported as they are.
[1] If you’re not physically disabled, you shouldn’t use “cripple”. Characters may self-describe as such, depending on their attitude to their disability, but outside of fiction, the able-bodied should not use this term.
6. Use disabilityinkidlit and its Wordpress counterpart, http://disabilityinkidlit.wordpress.com as resources. These sister blogs (particularly the reviews at at the Wordpress version) are a way to learn more detail about the kind of tropes and stereotypes that often annoy many disabled readers the most.
7. Consider joining the Disabookability Facebook group. It’s not all people with disabilities, and it’s not all people who necessarily share the same disabilities as the characters they are reading. But following along with this ongoing conversation about disability in books, film, TV, plays, etc. could give you more of an idea the kinds of things readers are hoping for when they read a book featuring a disabled character.
