#writing disabilities

[godlesshasideas]

Write more characters with physical disabilities. Write more characters with mental disabilities. Write characters with neurodivergence (more than one specific type too). Write characters with mobility aids. Write characters who have good and bad health days. Write characters who are chronically in pain, but don't express it every second. Write characters who were born with a disability. Write characters who developed one. Write characters who have adapted to the world around them because the world won't adapt for them. Write about their strengths and weaknesses due to their disability. Write about accessibility. Write about inaccessibility. Make it realistic.

Don't make the disability magically disappear or be cured (or at least be mindful of how you write that). Don't make it their entire personality but also don't skip over it. Don't use stereotypes (and that's not just with disabilities). Don't make the character actively hate their disability; they're allowed to be upset but most people with disabilities have learned to accept it as part of their life and accept it as part of their identity.

[fictionwriterthingss]

So you want to write a deaf/HoH character

Photo © Durgesh Kumar, all rights reserved

Admittedly, this isn’t something I’ve done myself. I’ve never written a deaf or hard of hearing character, but I’ve had people ask in a Discord server I’m in “hey, does anyone have any resources on how to write a character that is deaf or hard of hearing?” and I took the chance to find some resources for them – ones that turned out to be pretty valuable, and that I want to share here. 

I love when people include disabilities in their writing, whether visible or invisible. To me, it makes the characters feel more alive and adds another layer of depth to who they are as a person, even though they’re… not real. Adding that aspect to characters gives something for a group of readers to relate to, and can help them feel seen where they might not be seen otherwise. 

It can be difficult to write about a disability that you yourself have never experienced, and with the fact that you haven’t experienced said disability is something that can lead to stigmas and stereotypes that aren’t necessarily accurate, especially if you’ve only viewed what outside media has shown you, or what you’ve observed in public settings. Research is so important for topics like this, especially to find resources from people who do experience it on a daily basis, whether it’s something that has developed over time, or something that they were born with.

Without further ado, the resources I’ve discovered.

https://www.tfrohock.com/blog/2016/9/12/writing-deaf-characters - this blog by T. Frohock is very to the point. She begins by saying she doesn’t normally write “how-to’s”, but this one is an exception, and works to provide her own experiences, open about the fact she uses a cochlear implant to hear those around her – or not hear, if she chooses to “turn you off” in her “about” on her blog. She gives a short overview of types of hearing loss, and communication, and also recommends reaching out to an audiologist to learn more about the types of hearing loss. She also gives two links to .org websites if you’re looking for sources. She’s also written two companion pieces to this initial post. The first one is for hearing authors, and the second is about sensitivity readers. I’ve linked both of these in this section, so check them out as well if you’d like a more in-depth look at T. Frohock’s advice.

https://www.sfwa.org/2021/03/23/how-to-write-deaf-or-hard-of-hearing-characters/ - this post by Melanie Ashford on the sfwa website gives a good guide on how to approach deaf/hoh characters. Melanie herself is a hard of hearing author, so her advice is profound and solid, as she is a primary source on how to approach writing these characters. She makes a point in her introduction to say she’s been using hearing aids for 4 years (at the time of posting the article in 2021) and reminds the reader that everyone experiences hearing loss differently, and has different feelings about auditory assistance devices, such as the cochlear implants and how many people in the Deaf community believe them to be controversial and unwanted. She references the social stigma surrounding the Deaf community, and also reminds the reader that deaf characters should be just as well rounded as hearing ones. Though her article isn’t in depth, it’s a great guideline to follow.

https://www.tumblr.com/concerningwolves/168567651639/writing-deaf-characters-speech-is-speech - tumblr user concerningwolves posted this in 2017, and with more than 19,000 likes and nearly 14,000 reblogs, it’s a valuable resource for those who want to write HoH characters. Though a tad aggressive, concerningwolves makes it a point to be, well, to the point and separates their post into two separate posts. I’ve yet to find the second one, and honestly, digging through 7 years of blog posts to find the second one is a little overwhelming, but even this one post is a goldmine of do’s and don’t’s for this particular community.

https://deafaq.tumblr.com/post/190549529559/comprehensive-guide-to-writing-deaf-characters - deafaq on tumblr has a comprehensive guide to writing deaf/HoH characters. This blog in itself is not meant to be for writing help, but they had gotten enough questions about it to make this post back in 2020. Compared to concerningwolves’s tumblr post, this one has less than 2,000 likes but is still full of good and valuable information for the reader.

[artistic-shell]

This feels silly to ask, as I'm not a large blog by any means nor to do put out content lmao

But I was thinking of doing a DCA fanfic (possibly larger but focused on the dca) with a disabled y/n in a form I'm familiar with.

Chronic fatigue, chronic back pain (may specify Scoliosis as it's an interesting topic I don't see explored outside if my own brain since I have it), memory problems

I'm not well versed in writing in 2nd person but I do enjoy doing it from time to time, so if even just one person wanted to see this- I may do it. I may do it anyway lmao but you know, motivation is a hell of a drug

[fandomshatepeoplewdisabilities]

Hi I'm writing a story set in space and I'm wondering if a character needing mobility aids and accomodations in one setting due to being born in a setting with different conditions impacting things like muscle growth, bone density, and even their cardiovascular function is good disabled representation? Someone said something about them 'becoming abled' if they went back to where they were born and now idk anymore? (They're not the only disabled character but they are one of the more focal characters of the story)

So there's this one episode of DS9 where there's a female character that needs low gravity in her quarters to function without mobility aids. Like apparently her planet had much lower grav and her body wasn't made for our gravity. I think even Julian liked her?

Anyways another example would be the expanse series where the belters are like not used to earth and mars gravity. like in space they don't need mobility aids but in order to go to earth and mars they need to literally take supplements and bone density treatments to help them function on planets. tbh I've only watched the first season of the expanse show so I don't know if they translated this aspect very well to the show (I know other aspects weren't translated over at all like the fact that they still use cups and mugs on the Roci instead of bulbs). And I believe that belters were tall and skinny and had big heads? but its been years since I read the books.

you might want to do some research and look for accounts of astronauts who spend a lot of time in space and their bodies undergo changes. like for example their spine straightens out so they're taller and their bones lose density if they've been in space too long.

So basically it has been done before but just remember that consistency is key.

also for those looking for writing help please remember we've got disabled mods over at @fansofcolor as well!

lmk how it goes!

mod ali

[silviawrites]

Writing people with disabilities

Writing people with disabilities may seem easy but it really isn't. People who write characters with disabilities may come off as ableist (hell, maybe they are) when maybe they're just trying to bring some more representation into writing and they're doing it wrong unintentionally. So let's break down tips for writing people with disabilities!

Research and properly understand the disability (disabilities) you want to write

Research is very, very important. I don't care how much you think you know about the disability (whether it's physical or mental), do your research properly. For example, depression (I'm not sure about other countries, but in mine, it's considered a mental disability). People are so sure about depression, saying it's just being sad and lazy when it really isn't. It hurts people with depression a lot and as someone with depression myself, it's extremely hard to deal with. Depression isn't just "being sad and lazy", maybe sometimes, the person isn't sad, they're just constantly angry. Depression is not being able to sleep properly or sleeping too much. It's not eating enough or eating too much. It's feeling hopeless and miserable and constantly not feeling enough. In another post, I'll elaborate more on people's misconceptions when writing depression and other mental illnesses.

So yes guys. Please do your research. Understand the disability/disabilities. When you're writing about disabilities, make sure you do it right. The last thing we need is a piece of literature being completely wrong about disabilities we really need more representation on.

2. Don't depict it as tragic

Please don't make the disability some plot device that helps form some tragic backstory that the character has. That's just shitty. We are not living in a Shakespearean tragedy, so stop it. It is not "tragic" that disabled people are disabled. It's just not cool. Being disabled can suck yes, but when you are calling it a "tragedy", you are being condescending. People with disabilities also lead a life of joy, love and happiness like any other person.

3. Don't infantilize the character(s) with the disability(ies)

Unless you are writing this and depicting this as explicitly wrong in your wip, don't do it (For example, maybe A is disabled, B is infantilizing them and C steps in and tells them to stop it and saying it's not cool. That's fine.) Disabled people are not babies. We know how to take care of ourselves just fine. So don't depict us as not knowing how to do it.

4. Make them more than their disability/disabilities

Them being disabled is an important aspect of them, yes. But key word being "aspect". A person's disability is a part of who they are, not who they are completely. If you make a character with a disability and they have no purpose or personality, then it's tokenism. The character's just there in the name of representation and nothing else. This is... sad honestly. We want disabled characters, yes, but we want good disabled characters. Well-written disabled characters. Well-developed disabled characters. Not a character with the personality of a fucking sheet of paper.

[the-sunflower-witch]

Hey. Hey. Make more young characters with canes. Make them use walkers. Make them use wheelchairs—make them ambulatory wheelchair users (“part time”), make them full-time. Make them put their hearing aids in or take them out. Make them use sign. Make them put on/take off their prosthetic. Have them reach for their crutches. Have your characters stim. Have your characters express vocal/physical tics.

These things also don’t have to be a source of angst or agony for your character. Make these occurrences casual. Make them normal. This is a part of their life. Just something they do.

[lianabrooks]

Hi there! Sorry to bother you, but I saw your speech-therapist addition to the stuttering-in-fanfic post, and I'm just curious- what category there does a mid-vowel stutter fall into? I didn't see it listed, and that's the problem I've always had, just sort of an unintentional hitch in the middle. (I did get speech therapy for it when I was younger, dw)

Hi!

The mid-vowel stutter is not one I’m super familiar with but it is listed as an Atypical Disfluency common in Developmental Stuttering (citation). Which means it’s most commonly seen in people who are developing a language skill (usually children). 

The mid-vowel stutter you’re describing is a Mid-Vowel Insertion, it’s kind of like a mid-word hiccup. The brain stops to go, “Wait - is this the right word? Right. Okay.”

You would see this stutter in someone whose stumbling because their mouth hasn’t caught up with their brain, or who isn’t sure they’re using the right word. 

It can also be an Acquired Stutter, something learned because of constant interruption or punishment, or after neurological trauma. 

With speech therapy this is something that might go away, but you also might see a resurgence of it during a high-stress situation (the brain and mouth are out of synch again) or extreme emotions (liking too tired or excited). 

I haven’t had any training to work with someone with this kind of stutter but I imagine something with a mid-vowel stutter would get the same advice as usually disfluency patients: take a deep breath, calm down, think about what you want to say, ground yourself, and practice reciting something if it’s important (like reciting a poem in class or the lines of a play). 

If you wanted to write a character with this kind of stutter it wouldn’t need to be in every scene. It could be used as an emotional intensifier or as a reflection of language skills (the more comfortable they are with the language the less they stutter). But, as with anything of this nature, ask yourself why you’re writing it in and if you’re being respectful of the community this belongs to. 

I hope that helps!

- Liana 

Final Note: I’m not a licensed speech therapist. My experience comes from 18 years of parenting a child (now adult) with Auditory Processing Disorder, Speech Apraxia, and a stutter. And many, many hours spent in speech therapist’s offices learning how to help my children. 

[an-artist-with-a-writers-pen]

I'm just like *gives a character a mental condition of mine* *gives a character a possible mental condition of mine* *gives a character a prosthetic limb* *gives a character the mental condition of someone I know*