21stc3nturyd1gitalb0y

[21stc3nturyd1gitalb0y]

how did you choose what breed to get as a service dog and how did you go about choosing the dog you specifically did?

this post is gonna be long as hell bc i wanted to be thorough, but the short answer is, it took a lot of research!

weighing the pros and cons of different breeds, the standard poodle just seemed most suited to my needs and lifestyle. they’re popular psychiatric service dogs, and have soft, hypoallergenic fur that doesn’t shed. ideal for me due to my sensory issues, and the breed characteristics were also consistent with what i was looking for in a service dog. size was also a big factor- i need a breed that weighed enough to provide significant pressure but not so much as to be physically uncomfortable for me.

so, i worked with an expert to pick an ethical breeder, and settled on a litter of black poodle puppies born to two standards. one of his parents was also a psychiatric service dog, meaning his genetics were more likely to produce successful service dogs. every puppy from his litter was evaluated at seven weeks to find them the best potential homes. i also considered whether i wanted a male or female, but ended up deciding i had no preference. river just happened to be the puppy with the most fitting temperament for service work. he was intelligent, social, had the necessary drive, and picked up new skills easily.

it’s a long process but i have no regrets and im glad my research lead me to him!!

[21stc3nturyd1gitalb0y]

tentatively dipping my toes into the essa community as an autistic adult… i actually discovered this fandom by accident, from videos of essa creators explaining the differences between essa’s and service dogs. being a service dog handler, the videos caught my eye and i sort of fell down the rabbit hole. the whole thing seemed really sweet and reminded me of my own childhood.

i was inspired by the videos i saw and decided to make my own and model him after my irl service dog. i cut and styled his fur, made him weighted and diyed all of his gear myself.

i guess i still have some internalized ableism about things that are perceived as immature, but i’ve been struggling a lot recently and have been seeking more of youthful coping mechanisms. in a way this felt very healing to my younger self

[21stc3nturyd1gitalb0y]

you’re in his dms? okay, well, im on top of him. we’re not fucking he just likes the pressure

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dm for address if you’re in the nc area :>

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he makes my migraine days so much better <3

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more graphics and dividers for my band

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posters/graphics for my band! (coming soon)

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(wanted to make a separate post to respond to this so as not to derail my original post)

it’s not exclusionary for physically disabled people to want their own spaces, nor is ableist to acknowledge that the experiences of physically disabled people are different from those of able bodied neurodivergent people.

the cripplepunk movement was made by and for physically disabled people. it’s not exclusive of people with mental disabilities, but it centers the voices of physically disabled people because that is who the subculture was made for.

i know many people may not be familiar with the origins of cripplepunk, but it’s particularly insidious to claim that the founder discriminated against mentally disabled people when they themselves struggled with an eating disorder and ptsd, both of which contributed to their suicide. i don’t appreciate mischaracterizing someone who is no longer here to defend themselves.

as someone who is both physically and mentally disabled, they are not the same. that doesn’t mean that either is invalid. it just means that experiences differ, and it is not wrong for physically disabled people to want their own community without having their message derailed by able bodied people.

madpunks/neuropunks were inspired by the cripplepunk movement, created their own space for mentally disabled and neurodivergent people. so to claim that there is no cripplepunk equivalent for mentally disabled people is simply incorrect.

you’re seeing hierarchies where there are none. simply recognizing that we don’t experience the world the same doesn’t invalidate the struggles of either group.

[21stc3nturyd1gitalb0y]

Is your service dog self-trained, professionally-trained or a mix of both?

he is both! he’s typically considered owner trained, since i didn’t get him from a program. i raised him as a puppy and did his training myself. but i also worked with a professional trainer for much of the process, so i wasn’t completely on my own and had an expert to advise me.

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What are some of the tasks does your service dog is trained to do?

he’s mainly an autism assistance dog, migraine alert and psychiatric service animal!

deep pressure therapy is definitely our most used task and is the primary reason i got him, it’s for sure his most effective task at mitigating my disabilities. mainly used for my autism and anxiety but he also does it for migraines as well (it can’t prevent my migraines, but it does help me regulate my emotions and stay calm during a migraine attack)

im not very good at recognizing my own needs, so he can alert me to when im feeling too overstimulated, anxious or need to take a break from a social situation. he also knows behavioral interruptions, obviously won’t go into too much detail there cause it’s a bit personal, but he essentially prevents me from doing excessive pain stimming behaviors or unsafe compulsions

he can reliably alert me to oncoming migraines, usually anywhere from 15 minutes to one hour before the onset. even if i have no symptoms yet, it’s pretty obvious when he’s alerting to a migraine, because he’ll paw or nudge me over and over and doesn’t stop when i allow him to task, he just keeps alerting on repeat

so yeah, those are the main tasks he knows right now! there are other, smaller things he does as well but i don’t really count those as tasks. sorry this is long i just love infodumping about my sd

(+bonus picture of my boy)

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graphic/logo for my band! uploading here so i can add it to our website

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it shouldn’t be taboo to admit that there are disabled people who are more or less disabled than you.

i consider myself mid support needs. i am in pain every day of my life, all the time, and am significantly impaired by that. i can’t work full time. i require significant support to get through the day. i need my service dog to function properly. i can’t live alone, at least not right now. i can’t effectively mask my autism.

but i still have privilege over other disabled people. i can walk. i don’t have to worry about wheelchair accessibility when i travel. i have no visible deformities or intellectual disabilities. i am verbal.

some people are more disabled and others are less disabled. it’s okay. it doesn’t mean that you’re not valid or that you don’t deserve help. it just means you do not have the exact same needs as someone else.

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so i’ve been wanting to talk about the transabled community for a while now, and why it feels so insidious to me as a physically disabled person.

if you’re unaware of what it is, it’s a group of people online who identify with disorders or disabilities they do not have. if you’re like me, your first reaction is probably disgust, which is absolutely a valid response. but i am going to try and give a nuanced take and see if i can actually get through to people.

i myself am not a wheelchair user, but i sometimes have dreams where i am. my guess is that this is some subconscious manifestation of my desire to be believed about my disabilities. never have i woken up and decided to start identifying as a wheelchair user. why? because i can recognize that using disability aids and being visibly disabled is not a privilege, and it doesn’t make you more likely to be believed. it only opens you up to face discrimination, invalidation and prejudice from others.

disabled people do not get to choose whether or not we are disabled, or in what ways, so the idea of non disabled people being able to choose the same is insulting. they can shed the act whenever they want, but we will never have the same option.

i don’t doubt that the people in this community have reasons for identifying the way they do, whether it’s a need for attention, feeling insecure about the validity of their own problems, or lack of support from the people around them. that doesn’t make it right to romanticize the experiences of disabled people, who experience many hardships due to circumstances beyond our control.

feelings are not always rational. the important part is recognizing that and challenging the misconceptions you may have in your brain that cause you to see disability as desirable. if you don’t unpack them, you will only end up hurting real disabled people.

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sharing!!

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Hi! I just acquired a (very very temporary) second hand wheelchair for cheap while I work on getting a better one. It is a pretty heavy standard/hospital chair. I was wondering if you have any tips for how to modify it to work better for me. I'm already planning on switching the for rests for some sort of fabric hanging under me and replacing the tires if I can but any other tips would be super helpful!

i am not a wheelchair user myself, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but here are some tips based on what i know from my friends that are also wheelchair users/have experience with hospital chairs :)

if possible, unscrewing the armrests and removing them really helps, from what i’m told. it’s more challenging to push yourself in a hospital chair because your center of gravity is different, so the extra arm space helps a lot, especially if you want to try wheelies. it also just makes it more comfortable when you’re using a heavier chair. you can also use padded gloves for better grip and to protect your hands when pushing yourself. also, hospital chairs have like zero padding, so get yourself some nice cushions as well

good luck! i hope this was able to be of some help

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people assume that being physically disabled makes you more empathetic to the pain of others, but that’s not always the case.

for me, it feels unfair when others are in pain and don’t feel the need to hide that fact, because i have internalized the idea that i’m not allowed to talk about my own. it annoys me that, while most are typically understanding if a non disabled person doesn’t operate at their full capacity due to sickness or injury, disabled people are expected to function normally as if that isn’t our every day. as much as i want to feel solidarity towards a suffering person, it feels impossible not to be envious when their illness or ailment is temporary, but i will never, ever get a break from mine.

for obvious reasons i would never say any of directly to someone, because my pain doesn’t make theirs any less valid or real. still, i can’t help but feel that my disability has made me bitter and unkind, because i can’t help but compare my own experiences with theirs.

this is the reality of disability- it does not create perfect people. many of us are broken and struggle to connect with others because of our conditions, and that does not mean we are evil people

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i think a lot of people talking about rfk’s statements are missing the mark. it’s not just that his comments are ignorant and generalize autistic people, many of whom are capable of living what are deemed productive lives. it’s also the insinuation that people with higher support needs are less deserving of existence and should be eradicated

it’s eugenicist rhetoric repackaged, and it says a lot about how our society views disabled people that his first concern is ability to work and pay taxes. and it’s equally telling how quickly some people with lower support needs rush to separate themselves from visibly autistic people and disabled people who can’t mask.

if your activism around the autism spectrum does not extend to the most marginalized in our community (high support needs autistics, nonspeaking/nonverbal autistics, autistics of color) it is not complete.