crippled-punk-guy

[crippled-punk-guy]

i'm sure i talked about this before somewhere but i reject the idea that disability is some sort of great equaliser. disability is exactly the opposite: being disabled is a stress test along every fault line of disadvantage a person already experiences.

it's a catalyst for poverty because people who are already poor or working class simply don't have the increased resources needed to manage a disability, and honestly probably couldn't afford to be costing money instead of working to eek out a living. people who wouldn't have enough to survive without even if they were abled (and have fewer expenses) are tremendously different to people who can afford not to work in the first place.

someone who experiences racism is automatically less shielded from racism and ableism both, compared to their abled or white peers. if you already experience dehumanisation, exhibiting signs of disability is used to further fuel that dehumanisation. if you're already at risk of racist violence or attacks, your disability can put you into dangerous situations that you simply don't have the ability to manage or control.

someone living in the global south may already have less access to healthcare, newest medications, vaccines, or healthcare specialists. even if they were abled, compared to an abled peer in the imperial core, they simply are not granted access to the same medical resources, doctors, specialists, surgeons, medical devices, auxiliary medical products etc. if they desperately need those things because they're disabled it's just going to be worse.

this can apply for tons and tons of different situations. i won't write them all out here but any sort of pre-existing marginalisation typically makes disability more disabling and vice versa. like no, we're not all going to become disabled eventually. and tbh even if we all did we wouldn't be working with the same resources and opportunities anyway. so start giving a shit about disabled people just because they're disabled, not because you have some idea that disability is inevitable for everyone ever so we should care because it's gonna affect us too. 🙄

[crippled-punk-guy]

psa to able bodied people: if you see someone with a limp in public, you don’t have to ask them why they’re limping, or “what happened”. you can actually simply just mind your business.

[crippled-punk-guy]

Hey quick statement, don’t refer to wheelchair users as “wheelchairs”. I am not an inanimate object, I am a human being sitting in an inanimate object. That object probably costs more money than most of the items you have ever owned other than a house or a car. You will treat it and me with respect or your foot is getting crushed under my wheel. Have a great day ✨

[crippled-punk-guy]

You don’t have to be grateful for the medical devices you need. You’re allowed to acknowledge that you are privileged for having access to what you need, but you’re allowed to have every negative emotion also.

You are allowed to be mad that you need to use a mobility device. You are allowed to be upset that everyone else can move freely and you require assistance.

You are allowed to be mad about how much time and effort it takes to care for yourself and your medical devices.

You are allowed to be mad at your body for failing and hurting and causing issues.

You do NOT have to constantly be grateful that it isn’t worse. You have no obligation to be happy about something as life changing as disability.

Sure positivity is awesome, but there is such a thing as toxic positivity. Feeling your emotions is important and if those emotions are anger, grief, rage, humiliation, depression or anything else you are not wrong for having that. You are not wrong for how you feel about your own health conditions.

At the end of the day humans are another type of ape, we have animalistic reactions to things sometimes. You can’t expect your modern brain to reason with monkey brain. Monkey brain is upset body doesn’t work. Let monkey brain be upset. Modern brain deserves to be upset too but might not want to let itself.

[crippled-punk-guy]

Being disabled in this world breeds a certain completely justifiable and downright righteous anger

[crippled-punk-guy]

no disabled person should have their parents be their only choice for support/caregivers. it’s not a privilege to be stuck with them and you don’t have to be grateful.

[crippled-punk-guy]

abled women with 17-step skincare routines have absolutely no place trying to “hold disabled people accountable” for our plastic waste. either stop buying ten products a month in disposable plastic full of plastic microbeads or stop fucking wailing and crying and sobbing about insulin pump tubes and injection supplies you fucking monster

[crippled-punk-guy]

ok we all know how fucked up it is to tell a wheelchair user that you can just carry them and their chair up the stairs / a step because of how dangerous that is for the wheelchair user and the risk of damaging the chair.

but i feel like these types of conversations forget that many wheelchair users use power chairs, most of which cannot be carried anywhere due to their weight. like people tend to assume ‘manual wheelchair’ when someone says they’re a wheelchair user?

idk it’s annoying as fuck regardless but i think it’s important that people know that power chair users exist, and that they often have different accessibility needs.

[crippled-punk-guy]

Thank the gods for muscle relaxers

Thank the gods for pain medication

Thank the gods for TENS units

Thank the gods for heating pads

Thank the gods for marijuana/CBD

Thank the gods for nerve block injections

Thank the gods for physical therapy

Thank the gods for pain management

[crippled-punk-guy]

I really wish people understood how shitty being bedbound is.

Like for me, it's laying down barely able to move my legs and physically stuck in bed.

It isn't fun to feel like your trapped

Please stop saying you wish you could stay in bed all day when a disabled person talks about being bedbound

[crippled-punk-guy]

faq: getting arrested in the US as a wheelchair user

i've been having a lot of conversations with wheelchair users new to protesting lately, and many people have questions about what to expect if you're risking arrest. disclaimer that this isn't legal advice, a lot of this will vary based on where you live, and cops rarely bother to follow their own departmental policies.

1. How do cops transport wheelchair users to jail?

Depends on the police department, the type of wheelchair you have, and whether you're ambulatory. The ADA does not specify that we have a right to be transported in a wheelchair van--examples from ADA resources just state that "Officers should use caution not to harm an individual or damage his or her wheelchair."

In practice, this might mean:

Cops lift you out of your wheelchair, handcuff you, and put you in the back of a regular patrol car. They fold up your wheelchair and put it in the back of the car.

Cops have a specific patrol van with a wheelchair lift and transit securement system. You can often find this information listed in police policy if you search for your city's police department and "prisoner transport van wheelchair." Keywords often include Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) or Prisoner Disabled Accessible Van (PDAV).

Cops have a contract with an external company (often local public transit, sometimes a private company) to call for one of their wheelchair accessible vans to use as a transport vehicle.

Cops make you transfer or ambulate into the patrol car and then just leave your wheelchair on the side of the road.

2. Will I be taken to a architecturally accessible jail?

Depends on the police department, but probably not. All that ADA resources specify is that wheelchair users "must have access to the toilet facilities and other amenities," at the jail we're taken to. When I've been arrested, I've been held in an "ADA compliant cell" which featured a very narrow toilet with no grab bars that I know for a fact would have been impossible to transfer to for most of my friends who use power chairs. There seems to be very little enforcement when it comes to architectural access.

Relevant info is that police departments will often have one specific jail that they always transport disabled prisoners to in your city. You can usually find this information in prisoner transport policies that are often posted publicly on police department websites. This can be important information to know, especially in the cases of mass arrests at protests, where wheelchair users might get separated from the rest of our comrades and taken to a completely different holding area.

3. Will cops let me stay in my wheelchair in jail?

Depends on the police department. Some police departments will let you stay in your chair, some might make you take off any removable parts (cushion/footrests/sideguards/etc) and then let you stay in it, some might make you transfer to a basic wheelchair that the jail supplies, some might leave you in a cell without access to any mobility aids. My comrades and I have experienced all of those scenarios while getting arrested.

4. How can I try to protect my rights while being arrested?

Unfortunately, there's not always a ton that can be done in the moment--knowing that we have rights under the ADA doesn't mean that we can get cops to take that seriously.

But if you're familiar with local cop policies and your rights under the ADA, it can sometimes be helpful to verbalize what policies are not being followed in the moment, especially if cops have cameras on. Saying things like "I am not resisting arrest, I am a wheelchair user and cannot walk/disperse/get on the sidewalk/etc," can be helpful for trying to fight charges later on.

Memorize your local legal support hotline/NLG chapter and do not answer any questions or offer any information to cops without a lawyer.

After you're out, your local Protection and Advocacy organization for your state might be able to help you make a formal complaint or sue the police department for disability discrimination.

5. Other things to keep in mind:

Cops are fucking bastards and getting arrested as a wheelchair user can be really scary! It's even scarier when no one in your community knows how to prepare, what to expect, or how to support you afterwards.

It's super important for protest buddies, affinity groups, and local jail support organizations to know this kind of information before a wheelchair user gets arrested. More people being able to recognize PDAVs on sight can help wheelchair users get advanced warning if cops are specifically preparing to target us for arrest at a protest. Knowing which specific jail wheelchair users are taken to before a mass arrest means that lawyers won't have to scramble last minute to track down wheelchair users that get separated in the system.

Even if you're not a wheelchair user and you think that there aren't any wheelchair users protesting with you, PLEASE make sure you know this information, especially if you do "know your rights" trainings or are a legal observer.

feel free to send any other questions in regards to getting arrested with mobility aids my way and I'll do my best to answer!

[crippled-punk-guy]

kinda insane how some people think there's an issue with disability justice that it's all about being angry and mean and more angry when like. if you leave the highly niche disability spaces you go in people will lose their shit if you ask them not to fucking grab your disability aids or get up in your space or to stop saying slurs like. the vast majority of people are not accepting of the fact that disabled people have a full range or emotions nevermind allowing them to express those emotions. like have you not been around ableds lately or??

[crippled-punk-guy]

Tw: ableism, alcohol, violent phrasing

“I support wheelchair users” then you get shocked when we don’t want or don’t need help from you when doing something we are perfectly capable of doing on our own

“I support wheelchair users” then you use our previous statement of not needing or wanting help against us the one time we actually do need or want help

“I support wheelchair users” then you leave your cart in the wheelchair ramp loading area

“I support wheelchair users” but you leave things on the ground or in the middle of the sidewalk making it dangerous or impossible to continue on our way

“I support wheelchair users” then act like we’re ungrateful for being humiliated by the ways the world is made accessible to us, it’s almost always a spectacle and everyone around you turns to watch how you’re going to make this work

“I support wheelchair users” then you claim we’re just looking for attention when in actuality there have been times I haven’t left my house in WEEKS because I know no matter how casually I dress, no matter how socially acceptable I act, everywhere I go people stare at me and having that attention is embarrassing and weird

“I support wheelchair users” but you’re not willing to move your bags out of the wheelchair space on the bus

“I support wheelchair users” but you excuse how expensive our medical devices we require are

“I support wheelchair users” but your first question about my chosen major in college was if I would *actually* be able to do that or not

“I support wheelchair users” but you’re the one blocking our path, staring at us, excusing the way society ignores us half the time and singles us out for humiliation the other half, looking to help people not because you’re worried they need it but because you feel good about yourself when you help us; going to the lengths of embarrassing us just to feel like you tried, complaining about how we’re ungrateful for the bare minimum when everyone else is told they deserve everything and more.

I have gone to events advertised as accessible, the accessible bathroom had several steps up to it. I have gone to events with specific wheelchair seating areas that I could not use because a photographer had their entire set up there and refused to move it. I have gone into a building with a ramp outside that leads to a staircase on the inside. I have waited fifteen minutes for someone else to operate an elevator for me because the general public isn’t allowed to and there was a completely separate remote control that had to be brought over and plugged in, no buttons inside of the lift. After waiting that long for the lift, when I tried to go into the accessible bathroom stall my wheelchair physically did not fit through the stall door let alone have enough room to move around inside.

We are not expecting special treatment, we are expecting the bare bones basic. Access to every area everyone else does, and to not be made a spectacle while we do it. Is that really so much to fucking ask?

And then I feel guilty for not accepting help, because there are people who would gladly take it and I feel guilty for being mean because it stresses me out but if anyone else was in the same position I was in they would be frustrated too. I don’t need five people trying to help me find a place to sit all at the same time, but I also know there are some people who do need that and it’s such an infuriating position to be in. I’m not mad at people wanting to help, I’m mad that I do need help but I don’t want it. And I, as a young man, am allowed to be angry that I need help with basic tasks. But the world makes me feel like I have to accept every single strangers help even when it is actually making things harder.

I guess the point of this post is to try to help people who haven’t been in my position try to understand. I am 21 years old and I should be able to go out into public alone but I can’t most of the time, I should be able to go to bars with my friends but almost all have stairs and I’m too heavy to carry and I don’t expect my friends to carry me either way, that’s not their job.

So it’s either go somewhere with my crutches and risk a fall with every single step but get to be seen as anything other than a charity case, then I get to just be a guy who might’ve broken an ankle or something. Or go out with my wheelchair, and be more physically safe and comfortable but feel like everyone around me is waiting on bated breath for the poor disabled guy to need their assistance.

I will reiterate to further my point, I am a 21 year old man. I am 5’11”, 290lbs, I am fully mentally aware of what is going on around me and I understand the words you say to me. I am in severe pain constantly if I’m sober, literally every body part you can think of hurts in one way or another. Even when I’m not sober I’m still in pain it’s just dulled out like every other sense is when you’re drunk.

I have hopes, dreams and aspirations that I’ve had to let go of, I clutched on through bloodied fingers and broken bones when I knew I was hurting myself but wanted any semblance of normalcy in my life.

I was able bodied as a child and I have had to feel and watch my body deteriorate, I used to be the fastest runner on my soccer team and now I can barely walk across the room.

I was the lead in my high school play, and now people look right through me.

So I am ever, ever so terribly sorry is a disabled person is “mean” to you, I have had a hard fucking life and there are people who have had it even worse than me with less help. Disabled veterans specifically come to mind, how many people are out there who gave their literal limb for this country and they get handed a Medicaid payment that’s just enough to cover the street corner.

Maybe I’m bitter but I have good fucking reason to be.

This is kinda proofread, if any of it doesn’t make sense shoot me an ask and I can correct the wording or whatever. This is written during very heavy emotions and I’m more concerned about how cathartic it is to write this down than how well I’m explaining things.

[crippled-punk-guy]

[crippled-punk-guy]

something to be said about how hard it can be to find the balance between crip joy and/or disabled pride and like. feeling trapped by narratives of inspiration porn and the happy cripple. it feels like expression of pride for our own sake is too easily coopted into pressure to have pride all day every day and like. when among this do we just get to be human people who experience a broad range of feelings about their bodies and circumstances

[crippled-punk-guy]

hello physically disabled person reading this. it is not your fault that your medical supplies are made from a lot of single use plastic and you can continue using them guilt free. your health comes first. thank you for existing.

[crippled-punk-guy]

If you're a disabled young person, you've most likely been hit with the "pfft you think you're in pain now? Just wait til you're my age" bullshit from older people at least once. Everyone talks about how invalidating it is

But I haven't seen anybody mention how it's terrifying, too. Yes, I know health deteriorates with age. I know that old age is a disability unto itself. I know that the healthiest person alive will start getting aches and pains past the age of 40 and may even need mobility aids

I know all this stuff. And it always makes me think "yeah, if I can't walk without joint pain even while using mobility aids AT AGE 21, how painful will life be for me at the age where it gets painful for everyone?"

And it's hard not to feel like I'm doomed, y'know? Where most people get a period of health that they wish they appreciated more when they start to lose it, my starting point was a body that doesn't work properly and it's only gonna get worse from there. It's worse every fucking year.

TLDR stop telling disabled young people that their pain will only get worse to the point of being unimaginable as they age, WE FUCKING KNOW