How to: Write a disabled character.
(written by a real life disabled person)
I’ve been RPing for a few years now in various fandoms, and there’s one thing that seems to just continually happen in the RP community that I’ve never seen addressed.
Ableism!
Not in the “lol disabled people succ” way, but in the “I’m going to make my character mute! But I’m going to stress that everyone around them can easily read their lips even though lip-reading is a complicated skill you have to learn but let’s just omit that because I don’t want to actually RP a mute character.” way. That way. That very very common way.
If you want to make an OC that’s disabled, that’s fantastic. But you have to realize something: If you do not have that disability yourself, you are going to have to do some research on it, and by the Nine you are actually going to have to try. This is non-negotiable if you want to seem at all credible in your RP. I don’t care if you think you know that blind people can’t see (which is somewhat false; there are varying levels of legal blindness and not all blind people experience a complete lack of vision aka; just black), you should check up on it to make damn sure, because disability is almost never as black and white as it seems.
And beyond your own research into whichever disability your OC is going to have, you also need to keep some things in mind.
Most disabilities cause some sort of hindrance to a person’s life, and a lot of the time it’s a big part of their life. Even with modern accessibility (which isn’t available in many fantasy/RPG/medieval settings), the vast majority of disabled people still experience daily hassles they have to deal with because of their disability.
It takes a toll on people. Ever hear of a spoonie? It’s a term used by people with varying levels of chronic pain, fatigue, and disabilities that cause them. Some disabilities might have symptoms that aren’t widely-known (phantom pains for amputees is a great example) and need to be researched in order to be properly implemented. If your character suffers from chronic pain in their leg, walking long distances is going to be painful and difficult, and may not even be possible.
It’s EXPENSIVE. Medication, accessibility, mobility aids, and other methods of support cost money. Not all disabled people are covered either (and even to get covered is a whole hassle in itself), and have to pay out of pocket. In Canada, even on the disability benefits program pretty much nothing is 100% covered and you end up paying out of pocket even for essential services.
Sometimes you can’t work. Disability exists on a HUGE spectrum. Two people can have the same condition and experience it vastly different. Person A can have a relatively good time with it, minimal pain and annoyance, where person B has a difficult time performing even household tasks because of the pain, loss of mobility, or other symptoms. A lot of disabled people have trouble working, and being consistent with their jobs (For example; sometimes I can’t go to work because my joints hurt too much for me to be able to walk. This costs me money and strains my relationship with my employer). It’s very nice and dandy to assume all employers are great people who want to go the distance for their prospective disabled employees, but that’s just not the norm.
Sometimes you can work! Accessibility exists in the workplace and can be done, but for a lot of disabled people it HAS to be done. And not all employers (especially if we’re living in a medieval-like era) are willing to provide them. Sometimes it takes a fight. Sometimes it takes a lot of searching. It’s really hard for a lot of obviously disabled people to find work.
Independence isn’t guaranteed. If your disability is a physical one, it can limit your mobility. A blind person will have an incredibly difficult time navigating somewhere they’ve never been. Someone with joint issues is going to have a lot of trouble walking places and might need a ride of some sort. Even going out to get groceries can be almost impossible for some people to do without help.
Independence is possible though! And a lot of the time it takes accessibility aids, or other extra things done in order to provide adequate independence for yourself.
This is a DROP IN THE BUCKET. Seriously, please believe me when I say that disability is something that directly and heavily impacts your life, but also exists on such a broad spectrum that there is no definitive “how to” guide to writing a disabled character. You have to just use common sense, and research out all the information you need to know in order to write it. I have no way of speaking for every disabled person in the world because I don’t know about every disability in the world. Neither does anyone.
If you’re choosing to RP a disabled character because it makes them seem interesting, or because it makes them unique, stop yourself and ask these questions:
Are you going to consistently portray them as they are? Or are you going to omit symptoms when it’s convenient for you to? Are these symptoms mere accessories to their character and only show up when it’s dramatic/funny/sad/etc?
Are you willing to actually research the disability your OC has in order to properly RP it? Are you willing to go beyond the very brief & simple description that google gives you?
Are you going to great lengths to implement things that erase most or all symptoms of said disability? Is that actually viable in the verse you’re writing in or are you jumping through hoops to avoid inconvenience?
Again, there is no definitive one-size-fits-all guide to writing disabled characters, but seriously. Let me just tell you, as a disabled woman who’s been in a lot of disabled circles for her entire life, we know when you’re doing it for attention. We know when you have no idea what you’re doing. It’s annoying, transparent, and shreds your credibility. PLEASE take the time to research whatever disability you’ve chosen, and put the effort into portraying it well. There’s no point in putting such a huge life-impacting thing into your OC’s profile without actually thinking about it.
