10 reminders for disability pride month.
1. there will always be someone more severely affected by their disability than you are, this does not mean you aren't disabled, or that your struggles aren't real. these disabled people are not your enemy.
2. visibly disabled people are not treated better than invisibly disabled people, there are different struggles to both.
3. visibly & severely disabled people are not lucky for being visibly disabled or severely disabled. this belief is ableist.
4. we all need to keep the more severely disabled people in mind, they are the most vulnerable & this is disability justice 101.
5. there will always be severely disabled people in public, you absolutely need to work on your discomforts about the conditions/aids/symptoms/behaviours they might have; drooling, incontinence, "odd" behaviours, visible differences, use of AAC etc. this is a you problem, not a them problem.
6. there will always be symptoms of disabilities that you don't approve of; zero social awareness, cognitive impairments, violent meltdowns, strong smells & loud noises, being nonverbal/semiverbal etc. no one can force you to like it, but you cannot be cruel to them regardless of your opinions, again, this is a you problem & not a them problem.
7. you can still be ableist even if you yourself are disabled, this isn't always internalised, it can also be outright ableism.
8. caregivers of severely disabled people often play an important role in disability spaces, try not to *immediately* discount their experiences, unless they're truly over stepping, are being factually incorrect/uneducated or ableist. (caregivers can come with unique problems in disability spaces, 100%, but they are not inherently bad)
9. severely disabled people will have experiences you do not have, it is not an attack on you when these experiences are talked about.
10. “people wouldn’t say [ableist thing] to a wheelchair user” yes they would and yes they do.
and yes, some of these things that i've mentioned still applies to less severely disabled people, but goes especially for severely disabled people who often experience these things the most. be kind, be compassionate.
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