#Developmental Disabilities

[fallenstarcat]

sometimes i feel like people forget autism is a disability. and that’s not a bad thing! i’m all for disability acceptance, im proud of my disabilities. but i feel like we forget autism can hurt.

it hurts that i have to put more time and energy into socializing than others.

it hurts when i need to move so bad, usually cause im overwhelmed by either my surroundings or emotions, that i thrash and hurt myself.

it hurts that i cant be in places that are too loud or too bright, which on bad days can be as simple as a small, quiet noise or dim lights.

it hurts that i struggle to tell when im hungry, thirsty, tired, etc. so i can’t properly take care of myself. it doesn’t help my insomnia and i get very nauseas and get UTIs.

i 100% believe in autism acceptance. i don’t want a cure. but i also want us the acknowledge that it can hurt. it doesn’t mean my entire life will hurt, but some parts will. and i want a community where we can see both sides, see the hurt, and celebrate it anyway.

[low-empathy-advocacy]

don't say "empathy" when you mean "helping others."

don't say "empathy" when you mean "moral values."

don't say "empathy" when you mean "taking people's problems into account."

don't say "empathy" when you mean "stand up for people who can't stand up for themselves."

don't say "empathy" when you mean "sense of justice."

don't say "empathy" when you mean "doing right things."

[chronicbitchsyndrome]

every time anyone talks about liberation for the intellectually disabled in any real material way (i.e. creating plain-language educational resources accessible to adults reading on a first-grade level, detangling literacy from basic requirements to participate in society, destigmatizing inability to benefit from pedagogy, criticizing the construct of financial literacy as a necessary skill, etc etc etc), some chud comes along calling it "anti-intellectualism" and blabbing about how you're a morally inferior person if you only read middle-grade novels for fun, i'm so tired and we are never making it out

[osokasstuff]

sometimes when i try to describe my relationships with being visibly autistic, i think "visibly developmentally disabled" explains it better. where i live, autism awareness is really low, so people who see me don't think about me in correct medical words and diagnoses, etc. they probably don't know what autism is, how it presents, maybe don't even know the word autism. but they do know clearly that something is wrong with me. that something is wrong with my mind (sorry for the wording. they put it like that and i don't know how to express the specifics of this treatment better).

some people seem to think that visible autism means "everyone know your exact diagnosis and understand what it means and think about you in proper medical terms," something like this. i think this idea leads people to say things like "autism is invisible disability" (presuming always and for everyone) or "well everyone's autism is visible if you know where to look."

visible disability is not about everyone knowing the specific diagnosis by look. visible disability is about people knowing that you are disabled by look.

another example: i'm a mobility aid user (cane/crutches/wheelchair depend on situation), and i'm visibly physically disabled because of it. people don't know my exact diagnosis by look, but they know i'm disabled in a physical way.

similar for visible autism: people may not know exact name of condition, but they know that i'm disabled in a developmental way. and act accordingly.

[a-totally-reasonable-username]

I hope everyone had a great disability pride month!

Special shout out to the disabled people who:

are dying because of their disabilities

are living their best life despite and with their disabilities

hate their disabilities

don't want anything to change besides other people being ableist

are visibly disabled

disabilities are invisible

are are chronically ill

were born this way and never knew anything else

became disabled suddenly

became gradually disabled

have neurological disabilities

have developmental disabilities

have more than one disability

have no official diagnosis

have experienced ableism

need mobility aids

need medication

need caretakers

need medical devices

whose disability is considered "gross" or "unsightly"

whose life expectancy is shorter because of their disability

whose quality of life isn't high

To all the disabled people reading this, if you are proud to be disabled or not, i am proud of you. Being disabled isn't always fun and you deserve to hear it, even if just from a stranger on the internet

I am proud of you

[vm-sys]

shout out to clumsy people.

shout out to people with coordination issues.

shout out to people with dyspraxia.

shout out to people with apraxia.

shout out to people with muscle weakness.

shout out to people with paresis.

shout out to people with paralysis.

shout out to people with arthritis n/or joint deformities.

shout out to people with chronic pain whose pain makes it hard to control their movements.

shout out to people with chronic fatigue whose fatigue makes them hard to control their movements.

shout out to people with balance issues.

shout out to people with other conditions that make hard to control body n/or movements.

shout out to people who are undiagnosed n struggling with control movements.

it's not your fault. it's not your carelessness. you deserve support n accommodations. you shouldn't be judged or mocked. you deserve respect. your struggles deserve respect.

[zebulontheplanet]

I hate when people say that autism doesn’t have a look. Yes, I understand that many low support needs/high masking/level 1s constantly get fakeclaimed because people say they don’t ��look” autistic. However, they(low support needs/high masking individuals) usually follow this up by saying “autism doesn’t have a look. Stop saying that”

I want people to understand that to a lot of higher support needs people, we DO look autistic. We do stim publicly. We do grunt, laugh, make noises/vocal stim loudly. We do carry AAC devices. We do look autistic. People can point us out. People can know just from looking at us for a few seconds. That’s the issue I have.

Many of us look developmentally disabled. We look different. It’s frustrating to see time and time again that autism doesn’t have a look when I get singled out in public just for simply existing. It’s just exhausting.

Please in the future rephrase your posts. We are on the internet. We are reading your posts. We’re on tumblr. We’re on Reddit. We’re on Facebook and more. And even if we aren’t, you’re still disregarding those of us who are visibly autistic.

[zombblehh]

I was born with the passion but not the body.

[chronicallycouchbound]

Read the full post here

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[ID: pink and pink outlined text on a dark background reads: “intelligence doesn’t equal morality. Caring for others can happen at any IQ level.” The side text reads “@ chronicallycouchbound” In the upper right hand corner is a simple diamond star shape graphic. End ID.]

[sesamecrackers]

media and people need learn more about ableist language especially toward cognitive and intellectual disabilities. this whole new tiktok trend especially with audio "is it... stupid? or is it... slow.." like. no. can make your points about people being ignorant, uneducated, bigoted ect without ableism. BOTH words yes BOTH stupid especially no matter how much word been normalised is ableist ESPECIALLY when referring towards people and "slow" in this context also ableism. all of you need think take step back and actually acknowledge because whatever doing here isnt so progressive amazing empowering being right whatever thing, you're using ableist terminology. all these words, stupid, slow, moron — all ableism.

[bunny-loves-stars]

I remember last year, because I had no support and no actual 24/7 care, I didn’t have showers for weeks at a time, didn’t change my clothes for weeks, never brushed my teeth, i could only eat what I could cook which was toast and cereal, I had go through sensory overloads with out headphones, fidget toys etc because “ I didn’t need them.” I couldn’t even leave my room because of transitions , no one to verbally prompt me, no one to physically help me, because my old caregiver believed I had level one autism and convinced everyone else that I had “mild autism” and it’s not true, I am in the middle of level 2 and 3, that’s one way how neglect can happen to autistics, high support needs autistics are high support needs even without support

[osokasstuff]

i wish people knew about dyslexia that it isn't only about reading and writing.

dyslexia may mess with spatial thinking. may mess with differentiating left and right directions, may mess with using analog clocks, may mess with clockwise and counterclockwise, may mess with imagining 3d objects, may mess with visual imagination as a whole.

dyslexia may mess with following multi-step instructions.

dyslexia may mess with perception of speech.

dyslexia may mess with expressing your thoughts through words. may make it more difficult to find words, to put them together, etc.

dyslexia may mess with coordination.

dyslexia may shape your thinking and understanding stuff a lot. dyslexia is a neurodivergence. remember "neurodivergence affects your brain -> affects your whole life"? this works for dyslexia too.

dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disability. it has to do with development of the brain. it's not some "te hee ha ha they can't write without typos/can read at all" joke punchline.

dyslexia has a lot of symptoms in different areas, dyslexia varies in severity, dyslexia varies in presentation. dyslexia has a lot of personal effects, and it isn't simple.

even "mess with reading/writing" part is way deeper than it's portrayed.

i wish dyslexia be seen as actual neurodevelopmental disability and as actual neurodivergence. not as an afterthought or joke punchline.

[aleck-le-mec]

“Dr.who has gone woke”

Season 7 episode 13 this is the emperor of a thousand galaxies, a man with dwarfism.

This woman saved the doctor’s life single handily from being drowned, she is blind.

This boy drew a map completely from memory to help the Doctor, he’s dyslexic.

This woman becomes the leader of her ship when the captain died, she helps the doctor understand what the ghost are saying by lip reading, she’s deaf.

Hell the first doctor even used a cane!

Disability has always had its place in Dr.who so has queerness and anything else you’d like to define as “woke”.

[vm-sys]

laws should be written by simple language.

scientific books should be written by simple language.

studies should be written by simple language.

rules & regulations should be written by simple language.

every information, especially important one, should be written by simple language.

it's basic accessibility. people with intellectual disability, people with developmental disabilities, people with learning disabilities, people with language processing issues/language impairment, people with brain fog/low concentration, and people with other conditions that make comprehension difficult should have access to every information, especially important one.

i'm autistic and have some language processing issues. so i feel very isolated when i can't read studies, articles, books, and other info. i'm really interested in it, but can't process language. so i have to rely on others' interpretations instead of original text.

i wanna have access to first-hand information. i wanna have the opportunity to form my own opinion, not rely on others' explanations.

btw, "simple language" doesn't mean "avoid complicated ideas & nuances", it means "explain complicated ideas & nuances using mostly simple words and short sentences".

[lifewithchronicpain]

For a decade, disability advocates led a concerted effort to stomp out use of the word “retard.” Now they’re concerned that the language appears to be making a comeback.

Online, in popular culture and in politics, use of what’s known as the “r-word” has rebounded after largely receding from the conversation, advocates say.

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that former President Donald Trump called Vice President Kamala Harris “retarded” during a meeting with donors. The term has also gained traction on social media. And, on a recent episode of the FX show “English Teacher,” two teachers decided that their students “are not into being woke anymore,” noting that things have “circled back around” such that “they’re saying the r-word again.” (Read more at link)

I’ve been noticing this too and I hope it stops.

[zebulontheplanet]

Just your reminder that mental age isn’t real and hurts people with ID and developmental disabilities. Please stop saying it’s real.