happy disability pride month i really wonder often what people think ID/DD looks like
because with autism for instance people will say it's a spectrum but then will only perceive there to be 2 groups of autistic people: former gifted kids and "people who can't use the internet". level 1 and level 3. where's level 2. what are people with level 2 like. you don't know. you don't know what level 1 or level 3 can be like either for that matter. i'm serious you don't know what level 1 can be like
people don't even know what ID is, they think it's like having every single learning disability at the same time. ID people may or may not also have a learning disability, or multiple, but ID isn't like having every single learning disability
people with williams syndrome are known for having good language abilities but are worse in certain areas related to language, i don't understand stuff like that, i also still don't understand what adaptive skills are, but
i just feel like people have this one view of ID/DD, there is only one way someone with ID/DD (including autism) can be, but i honestly don't even know what it is. people don't really talk or know about anything but autism and ADHD, unless they're the people who will argue that people with severer autism "really have something else", but with those people i wonder if they can even name another developmental disability, and tell me also how that developmental disability can present, what issues it causes
did you know down syndrome can cause heart issues and that one of the reasons someone with DS might have trouble speaking is because of muscle weakness or anatomical differences
did you know people with williams syndrome often have a wider mouth
did you know a lot of developmental disabilities cause intellectual disability, learning disabilities, low or high muscle tone (hypotonia and hypertonia), and strabismus (misaligned eyes)
do you know how varied presentations of ID/DD, including autism, can really be
some people are better at reading and writing and worse at math and science and some people are worse at reading and writing but better at math and science
but then like i said there may be exceptions to what you're good at too. i think people understand this about everyone else but not people with ID/DD, both due to lack of information about ID/DD and because disabled people are constantly scrutinized for signs of faking. i don't think people even know though that different things are different at all, like understanding grammar is not the same thing as being able to understand an ADL. those are two different things. i've also run into a lot of people who don't actually know what is and isn't math. like, spatial awareness, which is your subconscious knowledge of your proximity to objects around you, is math. if your spatial awareness is impaired, you may bump into things more often, because you don't know distance, or think a room is bigger or smaller than it really is, because you don't understand size. you may also not recognize when a portion is too big or too small, and may not be able to cook because you don't understand measurements
my bottom line, constantly, especially these days because people are just getting more ableist toward them, is that i just wish leftists cared about ID/DD people
and that people, especially autistic people and people with ADHD, who are developmentally disabled themselves, already knew what ID/DD stands for
and what it can do. what symptoms it can cause. and that those are symptoms and not deliberate misbehavior. and what people do to us. and how often we're abused and neglected and die because of it. and how hard it is to do anything "adult" when you're ID/DD because it's all forms and emails and phone calls and appointments and dates and times, especially when we may not even understand how to navigate a website, or how to go through a specific resource's numbered system, i can't even explain that, do you realize how much red tape is all around you, and what kind of people it's meant to keep out. do you know how many homeless people are ID/DD and how many ID/DD people are homeless. how little resources there are besides group homes (expensive) and assisted living (expensive)
if you're ID/DD and have cognitive issues that prevent you from doing it, you can't even apply for disability on your own
and if you don't have someone else who can reliably and responsibly do it for you, you don't get it
a lot of us do just sit or lie in our own body fluids all day because we don't have a choice, we can't move or stand or walk, can't go to the toilet on our own, can't bathe or brush our teeth or brush our hair on our own, can't change our clothes. we get infections and sores and we get parasitized and infested. people don't take us to a doctor so our disabilities or illnesses get worse or we have complications from them or we get new disabilities or illnesses and we die
plus the bullying from other kids and the abuse from teachers and aids and caregivers and parents
did you know doctors are likely to think an ID/DD person seeking help for what seems to them like a new, unrelated issue, whether it is or not, is just attention-seeking both because ID/DD can actually cause attention-seeking (and bragging, showing off, etc) as a symptom and because ID/DD people are inherently viewed as attention-seeking, especially ID/DD women
i want you to care about people, in general, but i want you to care about ID/DD people, i want you to care about and be kind to and support and listen to people with intellectual disability, and people with developmental disabilities, including autism and ADHD, but also besides autism and ADHD
also you should listen to people with ID about the subject of IQ
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