“why do you talk like that?”
Transcript by request:
“So, one thing that I’ve noticed when I make videos that aren’t explicitly disability-related is that I get a lot of comments that are like “Why is she talking like that? Her voice is so annoying!” and also the weirdest one is people accusing me of faking my voice, which is really bizarre to me because if I were going to fake a voice it would definitely be someone like Halsey or Emma Stone or literally anyone with an ‘attractive voice’.
The reason that I talk like this is because I have cerebral palsy, and I was born with it, blah blah blah. Here we go, don’t send me anon.
The reason why is because I have spasticity and muscle tension as well as reduced lung capacity as a result of my cerebral palsy. So that’s why I speak as if I’m breathing heavily or sometimes I stutter and I have to have a lot of awkward chops in my videos because I need to pause to catch my breath. Like right now.
Growing up I was actually really self-conscious of my voice because I believed that people used it as justification to infantilize me or make fun of me or not take me seriously.
But what it took me way too long to realize is, it’s just a voice. It’s not good or bad. And my voice doesn’t impact the content of my message in any way whatsoever. Also, I’m really smart and I’m fucking hilarious. And believe it or not, I shockingly have a variety of fully formed opinions on things that have nothing to do with disability, that I would actually like to talk about from time to time.
I used to use my voice as an excuse to silence myself. Now I realise that it’s all the more reason to speak.
And to any disabled or neurodivergent kids or teens out there: please, please, please, the worst thing you could do is to convince yourself that your opinion only matters if an able-bodied or able person thinks it’s worth listening to. God knows we’re all going to be turned into coal and deep in the ground before that happens.
I talk like this because it’s my fucking voice. And to all the nasty people out there: maybe you should focus less on making shitty ableist comments and more on fixing the festering void where your soul used to be.”
Holy crap her voice is so adorable and her message actually got me teary this woman right here is amazing!
Fuck I love this. I don’t know what my favorite quote from it is because the entire thing is pure gold.
