Writing about disabilities is so rewarding! It’s not hard either! You just have to do some research, be careful, and use multiple different sources.
Sometimes, when I almost forget that I wrote a chapter about a character with POTS, I get a comment like: “POTS! Th-They! They have the POTS! Me! :) That’s me! Sobbing crying screaming writhing on the floor 🥹 This means so much to me!!! Thank you, author! You are the best! I’m gonna read this over and over and cry every time OMG this is the best thing ever! Thank you ❤️”
It’s so rewarding and feels so good! But honestly, it’s a little sad when I think about why this representation is so important and shocking for people; because it rarely happens at all. Disabled people are so forgotten that representation of them is near nonexistent! All the responsibility of making good representation is left to the disabled people themselves! They should be able to see media that includes them without having to make it themselves! It should be normal for disabled characters to be in media!!!
It reminds me of why I started writing in the first place. I started writing to make work that included me—because it wouldn’t have existed otherwise. Because if I didn’t write about disabled characters, then me and many other disabled people would never find work that talked about their disabled experiences. I needed to make it because no non-disabled person would.
Someone once commented that I was brave for writing about disabled characters. I wish this wasn’t brave, just like writing about queer characters. This shouldn’t be rare, this shouldn’t stand out for including disabled characters. Including disabled characters in media should be normal.