disABILITYaware

Disability, Chronic Illness, and Mental Health

[transsexualfiend]

Cripplepunk, madpunk, and neuropunk aren't just "I'm disabled and also left-leaning". It's a specific realm of activism rooted in dismantling the systems that put disabled, mad, sick, etc folks at a disadvantage in society. This mean not only being against the very systems that harm us but also understanding their colonial origins and continued racist legacies. (Anti-ableism, anti-sanism, anti-psych, etc). This means not only just identifying and finding pride in your disability but also building and constantly evolving your understanding of disability and diversity and learning how you can change your worldview to accurately highlight the struggles of disabled people. (EVEN if it sometimes means you will be uncomfortable or unsure of unlearning some kinds of hate.)

[disabilityaware]

"To be in a disabled body is to navigate complex feelings about the way it interacts with the world; still, to nurture the spirit within is an act of tender care that means everything to both the spirit and its vessel." - Esmé Weijun Wang

[disabilityaware]

This morning, I am grateful to the Doctors that hold space for those with multiple, complex conditions and their families. I know that it is part of their profession and they are trained for this (I hope), but I am grateful either way. Our allopathic modern medical system is so compartmentalized that it often falls upon the patient and those around them to link different areas to figure out what is going on. There is no middle person professional to do this for us, is there? Either way, grateful for the Doctors with a kind and patient bedside manner. It is so important and less common.

In solidarity,

- A

[disabilityaware]

Substance Addictions = disabilities.

TIL (Today I learned) that substance addictions are included in the definition of disabilities (in The Ontario Human Rights Code). I have done these trainings before (this one also covers the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) but refreshers are great for this reason. Something else catches your attention when you redo it at a different stage in your life.

Request the certificate granting version if you're doing it for work or go through it to know your rights: ohrc.on.ca

In solidarity,

- A

[tlirsgender]

Being sensitive to changes in barometric pressure is crazy what do you mean my problem is that the wind changed direction. What do you mean it's the fuckin clouds

[disabilityaware]

So ready to play bingo at Camp Lake Joe this summer! Pictured is a white plastic Bingo card with numbers written with a sharpie on the outside of the indented squares and Braille numbers on the inside of the indented squares. We used red translucent circular chips for this game. CNIB is written in the middle...which stands for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

In solidarity,

- A

[disabilityaware]

Here's a photo of a yellow "CAUTION WET FLOOR" sign standing on the wet floor of a pottery studio. A Member at the pottery studio who is Blind knocked into it because a) no one mentioned to her that this was being put down at x spot and b) it is significant hazard to have objects on the floor, in the way...ironic, I know, given that the purpose of this sign is to keep people safe. Clearly, it does not keep ALL disabled people safe.

This sign became an obstacle. When the Member spoke to Staff at the studio to tell them that it was a hazard, the Staff member listened but didn't do anything about it. Changes were not made. There ARE easy, cheap, accessible alternatives...such as using a textured mat. It has been a long time since I took this photo and still, nothing. Please use tactile warnings!

In solidarity,

- A

[carnage-cathedral]

my partner said something that kinda rocked my world

[trans-axolotl]

ID: A wheelchair symbol edited to have the anarchy A in the middle of the wheel. Text reads: Protesting as a Wheelchair User: Everything You've Always Wanted to Know about Accessibility and Direct Action.

new zine just dropped! this link has the version for print and the version to read online. should be screenreader accessible--let me know if the formatting is fucked up and you can't access the alt text.

feel free to share, print, and distro wherever <3

[insidestory1]

I find it very offensive that the more unwell you are, the more things you have to do to maintain your health. Things like following special diets, going to medical appointments, making big and important decisions about what treatments to use. At the same time, the more unwell you are the less energy you have to do all of these extra things. It seems grossly unfair.

[disabilityaware]

I wanna see feisty disabled people change the world. - Judy Heumann

[disabilityaware]

“Feminism must address the systemic inequalities and injustices that disabled women and gender-diverse folks face, so we have the same rights, opportunities, access and protections that feminism offers those who are non-disabled. It’s crucial that we’re not leaving anybody behind—and unfortunately, the reality is that we currently are and historically have.” - Jenna Barnable, a disability inclusion advocate and educator, on the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s Alright, Now What? podcast

[chronicillnesshumor-deactivated]

Source: thechronicallyhonest on Insta

[positivelyqueer]

A friend once told me that when they are struggling with getting laundry done, she pretends it is her sworn duty to smuggle the young prince out of the castle to safety, disguised in a laundry hamper.

Now, when I am struggling with hygiene, I pretend I am part of a village with an annual festival, and I get one day a year to spend luxuriously at a bathhouse in preparation.

What my friend imparted on me was the skill of turning mundane tasks into fantastical adventures to make them more compelling and bearable.

So next time you need to go on a mental health walk, maybe consider doing reconnaissance for a secret underground organisation.

Next time cooking is too much of a chore, consider you ability to turn space station rations into a feast to the delight of your crewmates.

[disabilityaware]

Let's take the example of body terrorism in the form of ableism. One structural manifestation of ableism is access. If you rented a space for an event and never considered whether that space had ramps, elevators, or disability restrooms, you would individually be upholding the system of ableism by not ensuring that a person with a disability could access your event. No, you didn't build the inaccessible building, but you did rent it, never considering its accessibility for all bodies, thus furthering the erasure of people with physical disabilities and their needs. The architects, investors, and builders who failed to include accessible accommodations for the building project participated in upholding the structural system of ableism by creating a barrier to access for people with disabilities in public life. Each of us is responsible for a sphere of influence. We are lawyers, salesclerks, teachers, loan officers, physicians, customer service representatives, counselors, judges, law enforcement agents - an inexhaustible list of humans whose jobs impact the lives of other humans every single day. As a human in a body sharing this planet with other humans in bodies, I have a responsibility to interrupt body terrorism, as do you. - "The Body is not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love" by Sonya Renee Taylor

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

while me post most about nonverbal nonspeaking because intellectual/developmental disabilities, here something about become nonspeaking after/because medical crisis in 2022 & tracheotomy & muscular dystrophy, by alice wong.

I Lost My Ability to Speak After Surgery — Here’s What the Passy Muir<em>®</em> Valve Means to Me

The Passy Muir® Valve was created by a disabled man to enable people like activist Alice Wong, who have experienced tracheostomies or are ve

overview: “This is a 2-3 minute audio letter to the late David Muir, a disabled man who invented the Passy Muir® Valve, an attachment that enables people with tracheostomies to speak. As a newly nonspeaking person, this letter allows me to share my thoughts on the desire to speak and reflections on silence.”

I paused to consider the phrase “dignity through speech.” There is dignity in silence too. Silence does not mean a person is voiceless, as there are millions of nonspeaking people who use gestures, sign language, writing, technology, and other means to communicate with the world.

I live in a world of silence that is not lesser or devoid of richness. My reality is just different. Silence forces me to be more thoughtful and intentional in considering what I want to say and how I say it when I type into my speech-to-text app, which listeners to this letter are hearing now.

…

The worlds of speech and silence intersect and overlap. Silence isn’t static or limiting. Silence is not an empty void. Silence has a landscape of its own. Silence has its own dimension, a space that enables another way of thinking and being. There is dignity in all forms of communicating.

[disabled-models]

Jillian Mercado, a model with muscular dystrophy, for Herring & Herring Magazine