disability microaggressions
I'm bored, so here's a list of all the disability microaggressions I could think of. yes, even disabled people can do these.
(1) using slurs you can't reclaim (ex: able-bodied people using the c-slur)
(2) toxic positivity/expecting a disabled person to get better just by "thinking positive"
(3) inter-condition ableism (aka aspie supremacy aka LSN people acting superior to HSN people)
(4) the sick olympics/always having to one-up people's suffering
(5) assuming all disabled people/all people with a condition are the same (ex: "my friend has this condition and can do this, why can't you?")
(6) having a savior complex/acting like you're worthy of praise and admiration just because you hold the door open or don't abuse your disabled kid
(7) thinking disabled lives are entirely miserable and not worth living/saying you'd rather die than be disabled
(8) thinking disabled people should never have kids
(9) thinking disabled people don't deserve nice things/more than the bare minimum to survive
(10) giving unsolicited advice, especially if it's basic asf
(11) using limited resources designed for disabled people for the sake of convenience (ex: using a handicapped parking spot when you don't need it)
(12) treating disability like a moral failure (ex: "if you just prayed more, God would cure you" or "you must have done something to deserve this")
(13) thinking disabled people are lazy and leeching off benefits/social security
(14) lying about accessibility/making disabled people expend extra effort to access something (ex: "we're accessible, you just have to go up a ramp in the back and have someone carry you up the stairs")
(15) claiming you "don't see disability"
(16) skirting around the term "disabled" (ex: "special needs," "differently-abled," "handicapped")
(17) forgetting disabled people exist and not including them when attempting to make spaces more diverse
(18) expecting disability to have a "look" (ex: "you don't look disabled!" or "my cousin's got your condition and you look nothing like him")
(19) making the same unfunny, repetitive jokes, then acting like you've said something completely off-the-walls (ex: "you got a license for your wheelchair?" "you should really learn to stand up for yourself [to a person in a wheelchair]," and so on)
(20) using disabled people as inspiration porn
(21) treating people who have visible differences as sideshow acts
(22) making false equivalences/empathizing when you really don't understand (ex: "I understand your ME/CFS, I'm also tired a lot")
(23) diluting the meanings of different conditions/misusing terms (ex: "I'm so OCD")
(24) thinking disabled people are just not trying hard enough
(25) expecting chronic illness to just "get better"
(26) "can I pray for you?"
(27) assuming people with disabilities are faking with no evidence other than conjecture/your false understanding of how a disorder works
(28) speaking over disabled people/speaking to caregivers and not directly to the person with the disability
(29) "everyone's a little [insert condition here]"
(30) pushing someone's wheelchair or moving their mobility aids without their express consent
(31) asking "what's wrong with you?" or expecting disabled people to give you their entire medical histories and life stories on a whim
