#NOT ACTUAL DISABLED PPL

[everythingwasnormalhere]

Ok so, I just remembered how people in the comments of a tiktok video were being assholes, and I want to rant now :3

The video showed two wheelchair users at a train(?), who had just arrived to their stop to find nobody was there with a ramp so they could leave the train. One of them blocked the door so it wouldn't close, and this lasted for 15 minutes. The train was stopped for said 15 minutes. There was a button by the door, that said that it'd contact the driver when pressed. It didn't. People offered to go find the driver, and they came back with the news that there were no people in the platform to put the ramp. In the end, passengers had to go out, and place the ramp themselves, before the train could carry on. The wheelchair users had warned they were coming, and asked to have the ramp put there so they could get down. The platform turned out to have workers, they all just ran away because they'd never encountered the situation in which they needed to do this simple task.

Because of the workers' negligence, the train was forced to stop for 15 minutes.

Everyone's comments?

"Why did they block the doors and stop the train? So selfish" Selfish were workers who refused to do their job.

"What if someone had needed to get to their stop urgently? They shouldn't have stopped the train" It wasn't the disabled people's fault, it was the workers who were negligent.

"Why didn't they just wheel themselves down those steps?" They shouldn't have to risk their (expensive) chairs just because people didn't do what they were paid to do.

"If I had been in that train I would've been pissed, how dare you stop it" And you probably wouldn't have even thought about fixing the problem yourself, would you?

"Entitled assholes" Ok I'll leave you stranded in a train with everyone who could help you get down outright refusing to. Let's see who's an entitled asshole now.

If someone fights for accessibility, as much as it might be a bother for you, you do not have the right to be mad at them. If someone fights for accessibility, it is exclusively the fault of a world catered exclusively for able-bodied people.

So next time you think, "hey the consequences of these disabled people fighting for their rights bother me", instead of blaming them for this, help them solve the issue. This way, next time they will not have to fight at all.

Able bodied people, go out and fight for a fucking accessible world if you're not an asshole.

[ Able-bodied people are encouraged to reblog this post, but try not to derail ]

[schizoaffectively]

You are well within your right to be angry about the help you didn't get and should have gotten.

You are well within your right to be angry about having your needs neglected.

You are well within your right to be angry.

[cryptcatz]

i have GOT to get over my obsessive worry about being a burden on others oh my god. it is okay to inconvenience people! people in your life who really care about you won’t mind being inconvenienced!! it’s literally just the human experience!!! communicate your needs for the love of god it’ll be FINE!!!!!

[deathdetermineslife]

I love you non-sharing selfshippers! your f/os loves YOU and only YOU!!!!! no matter what anyone says, they'll always love and care for you. keep doing you!!!

I love you iffy-sharing selfshippers! your f/os value you so much!! your f/os love you so much!

I love you sharing selfshippers! your f/os love you! your f/o appreciates you!

I love you selfshippers who aren't sure what your sharing status is! that's okay! your f/os love you regardless!

I love you poc selfshippers! your f/os think you're so amazing and wonderful! your f/os love you so very much?

I love you fem selfshippers! your f/os think you're so beautiful! they're lucky to have someone like you in their life!

I love you masc selfshippers! your f/os think you're so handsome! they're grateful that you're with them!

I love you nonbinary selfshippers! your f/os love you no matter how you present or what pronouns you use! they think you're so valid!

I love you queer selfshippers! your f/os will always respect whatever label you go by! even if you change labels a few times!

I love you trans selfshippers! your f/os will always support your identity! they hope you know they love you so much!

I love you disabled selfshippers! your f/o hopes you know your disability is not a burden to them and they love you so much!

I love you mentally ill selfshippers! your f/o will always do whatever they can to help you! no matter what it is, they want to support you!

I love you selfshippers! please know that you deserve the world, no matter what hatred is spewed your way. your f/os love YOU. they love you. no matter what people try to say to you. with all the meanness going around in this community the last few months towards poc and women and folks with mental illness and disability and people who are nonsharing most recently, I want to remind you all how much you're valued here. I hate seeing anyone be sad or upset because they feel like they don't have a place here. you do have a place. your f/os love and appreciate you and you're so valued here in this community, even if people say otherwise. at the very least, me, and whoever reblogs this appreciates you.

no unkindness will be tolerated underneath this post! in fact, I implore you to maybe even tag your friends or mutuals to show them you care! spread the love and positivity. go say something nice in someones ask box (not mine, preferably a stranger or a mutuals who might need some kind words!)

if you ever need a pick me up, feel free to come back and look at this post for as long as you want. you're loved, you're valid, you're appreciated, and you matter. YOU have a place here. don't let ANYONE who treats you meanly make you feel otherwise.

I LOVE YOU SELFSHIPPERS!! I love you I love you I love you. /p TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES AND REMEMBER YOUR F/OS LOVE YOU TOO !!!! :DDD go do something nice today! even if it's something little for yourselves !!! :D

[theboredenby]

Any form of R*de Th* Cycl*ne is harmful. I like the show, the characters are charming, the music is nice and the story is there. But I cannot ignore RTC's blatant ableism in previous and current runs. In the original song for Ocean "Play to Win" the C slur is used. In 2016, What the World Needs contains ableist imagery, and most versions of the US Tour throw the disability off. People like Kholby Wardell who speak to characters they have never once played, minimising obviously problematic content because "it was a different time." RTC first premiered at the Atomic Vaudeville in 2008. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were around. In 2011 (only 13 years ago) the tour of Canada began. It is now 2024. There is a script that replaces genuine character plot for cheap "humour" to mask the ableism that is underneath. Yes, 13 years is a long time, but YOU WERE STILL ABLEIST??? And you are STILL ABLEIST IN 2024!! SO LIKE YOU CANT SAY LIKE IT WAS A DIFF TIME BECAUSE, THE ACTION WAS STILL BIGOTED. FUCK RTC.

Stop Defending Ableists Challenge (Level: Impossible)

So the other day I made a post listing all the ableist things Jacob Richmond has included in Legoland and Ride the Cyclone.

And the response was abysmal - the amount of "well actually..." kind of responses I got was disgusting and I took down the post because I find it counterproductive to argue with teenagers on the internet. However, I stand by the belief that if you think you are old enough to post publicly on the internet, you are old enough to be held accountable for what you post.

But I think what I had to say was quite important, so I am going to reword it here.

TW here for the discussion of ableism and ableist slurs (they are all censored)

There is ZERO (0) justification for the use of THREE (3) ableist slurs across both works. I don't fucking care if it was the 2000's. The ADA predates both shows and disability activism had existed for decades before that (as yannick very kindly reminded me). So no, it was not ok for Richmond to use those slurs in his works, regardless of the time period. Because there is nothing "correct" (politically, or otherwise) about ableism.

And before you say "Oh, but it was the character who said it, not the writer..."

CHARACTERS ARE NOT SENTIENT BEINGS! They are not created in a vacuum. Their thoughts and actions are often a reflection of the author's own beliefs and morals.

It was not Ocean who decided to use the word cr*pple. It was Jacob Richmond who decided to use it. Same with the r word and sp*z in Legoland. It wasn't Penny and Ezra who decided to use those words, it was Jacob Richmond. Because each character's actions are dictated by the decisions that the author makes for that character. And in this case, the author decided to be an ableist asshole.

Yes, characters can be assholes. They can be complex and nuanced beings. But there are better ways to portray such experiences than being violently ableist (i.e.: without using slurs). And why does the ableist character get complexity and nuance, but the disabled character is simply the sad, disabled kid, with not much else in his personality until he magically becomes abled bodied. Like we deserve nuance and complexity as well, people!

In a 2022 interview with Curtain Call Bway (here), when asked who his favourite character to write was, Richmond responds with the following:

Ocean is definitely my favorite character to write because it’s based on certain people I’ve met and certain aspects of myself too.

Like he literally admits it himself, that his decisions when writing an ableist character were based off aspects of his own personality.

The reality is, disability has never been more than a comedic plot point to Richmond. He has never cared about portraying a realistic disabled experience. He has never cared about disabled people.

And the cherry on top is that his response to yannick-robin being hate-crimed was to rewrite Ricky so that he could be played by an abled and therefore production teams wouldn't have to give a shit about ensuring their spaces are safe and accessible for disabled performers. If he actually cared about disabled people and properly representing our experiences, he would have worked with a disability consultant and fixed the issues within the show. Instead, he doubles down and causes even more harm.

To add insult to injury, he then licensed that script to Sarah Rasmussen and her team of ableist cronies for the DC production. Because him choosing to continue working with Rasmussen and her team just shows that he shares the same ableist values as the McCarter/Arena team.

So by saying that "its the character, not the author", you are defending Richmond and his violent ableism. You are attempting to justify the harm he has done and CONTINUES TO DO to disabled people. YOU. ARE. A. PART. OF. THE. PROBLEM.

Ride the Cyclone and Legoland (in ALL its forms and versions) contains so much ableist violence. This violence has traumatised REAL PEOPLE, but yannick, myself, and other people speaking out are the ones ruining the vibe by calling it out? Be fucking for real people.

Now if only my university papers were this thorough...

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

am deserve support!! deserve have ALL support need met!! deserve have safety prioritized! deserve dignity of risk but also deserve freely choose when to use dignity of risk, not be put in risk put in harm be forced in it n use that one or few lucky instances where came out okay as evidence against us. deserve have support needs other people see as “unimportant” “suck it up” met! deserve comfort, deserve autonomy, deserve choice - choice of when stay in comfort zone!! when so many part of life of world force us out of comfort zone constantly!! deserve listened to. deserve have our assessment of self valued, “this not safe. cannot safely do this. cannot do this.” deserve dignity, deserve respect. deserve be human - be ugly human, be imperfect human, be moody human, be messy human, be emotional human, be human with wants n whims. deserve not need be grateful for mere alive, for mere have fundamental support needs met, for not be abused or neglected. deserve not be abused or neglected. deserve be out in world. deserve be seen. deserve be seen as full self.

[boarloved-art]

ig ooomfie said i should draw xuanli and i kinda went crazy abt them whoopsydoodle

[chaoticangelbaby]

Today I was at physical therapy and I had the thought that every chronically ill person has “am I really that sick? Or is it just all in my mind?” And after a grueling session of physical therapy I came home in so much pain that I cried ✨ lol so I am in fact very ill and not just making this all up.

I’m seeing everyone’s notes and I’m glad that I’m not alone with feeling this way but I’m sorry that we all have to experience this ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 you guys are all so strong and I love you. We got this ❤️‍🩹

[c1trvswurld]

Hey yall, those swap aus where jimmy is the one who gets disabled ans treated as if its a punishment he deserves is not the serve yall think it is, thanks!

[certifiedsexed]

Hi! Quick question

Sorry if this is invasive or weird, but sometimes I see you say that you can't reblog posts because the image isn't described and you can't see it. Do you use a screen reader?

I'm not sure how screen readers work or what kinds of them there are, but I've heard that sometimes they can have trouble reading certain things.

Are there anythings things that would be a problem for yours to read, like italics or colored text? Or does it understand those?

I just want to make sure I don't send asks that you won't be able to read!

Hello!

I don't find this weird or invasive at all, I think it's quite kind. I don't use a screenreader because my computer's kind of on the verge of dying and can barely handle me using it as is.

So, I make do without one, which generally means avoiding posts without descriptions because I often can't make out things or the effort I'd have to put into making them out would take awhile and put me in extreme pain.

Despite this, I occasionally try to figure out undescribed posts. Things that make that especially difficult or impossible are colored text, small text, lots of text, detailed images and super vibrant colors. (All of which are amazingly frequent on Tumblr. T_T)

(Actually, shout out to @mythicalcoolkid because he describes posts for me sometimes and I appreciate it so, so much.)

This doesn't mean that if you send me an ask containing any of those that I won't try to answer it, it just means it may take me forever.

But if you describe any images like that (or just any images in general), it guarantees I can at least read your message.

Thank you so much btw, this is a very considerate ask and I appreciate it. <33

[mayadoesfandomstuff]

I think it's actually so cool for a game dev team to add an easy mode for a VA who was not confident that she could ever play a game she leads in which also inadvertently also adds to the game being much better considering it feels like the game devs were also being more disability-friendly and considering the game's plot it makes sense that they should be or try to be disability-friendly.

[gaydexvocaloid]

very rough doodle of my ninezero design arrhhhjjjhgggg

[trans-axolotl]

one thing that has been frustrating lately is that outside of the disability specific organizing spaces i'm in, i've noticed that so many people assume that because i'm a wheelchair user, i don't have relevant experience/skills for high risk and escalated protests. what's particularly frustrating lately is that some of these organizing spaces i'm in, i actually have more relevant experience than a lot of my comrades--i started going to antifascist protests when i was 13 and have been involved in a lot of protest movements over the past 9 years. and have learned a lot of shit from a lot of mentors. some of my comrades just got involved this year, which is great and i have a lot of respect for them. and at the same time i genuinely do have a lot of relevant knowledge about tactics, practical experience, etc etc. i'm always learning + continue to grow my skills and don't want to get complacent ever but like. some people were talking about how they wanted to learn how to do eye flushes for tear gas and i was like "okay yeah we can practice that, i can teach everyone if we stay a little later tonight" and someone said "thanks for offering but we should probably learn from someone who's had experience doing this on the ground." which was so fucking patronizing because i literally do have that skill set...i have been tear gassed many many times, have done eye flushes for people many many times, literally have a LOT OF practice doing that in a high stress and chaotic environment when the cops are brutalizing you. and no one else in this group had this experience! ignoring my experience made no sense and actively endangered the group! it made me want to scream like. how fucking ableist to assume that and also to insist that disabled people aren't involved in high risk protests even though we have already been out here involved for years and years! i'm going to scream

[overwhelmedfrog]

hey fellow disabled queers who cannot safely participate in public events due to access issues like lack of covid precautions or lack of wheelchair access, etc etc, what are we doing to connect with queer community and culture? because I’m not going to lie, as a high risk chronically ill person who was 18 when the pandemic hit, and has therefore never been able to go to a gay bar or pride, I never feel more isolated and alienated from other gay people than during pride month (when we’re in an inevitable summer covid surge and the majority of the lgbt community continues to ignore any level of covid precautions). and it hurts to think about the fact that not only do I not know if I’ll ever get to have those experiences, but my own community broadly does not care to protect people like me or include us in queer spaces

[robertseanleonardthinker]

i see actually neurodivergent trending so i just wanna say shoutout to my fellow learning disability ppl bc disorders other than adhd and autism r often left out when talking abt neurodivergency on the internet. we r all so awesome and cool and hot and smart regardless of our learning disabilities and i am kissing u all on the forehead so gently

[aro-culture-is]

aro (allopl) culture is (from the anon who gives lots of flowers to their friends) also cooking (mostly baked goods) for your friends as a way to show them you love them! "Oh but giving someone x y z type of baked goods is romantic" "oh but putting that amount of effort on meals for someone has to be romantic (3+ hours)" WRONG!!!! 🔪🔪🔪🔪 my friends are getting nice food because they're great and no one can stop me *evil laugh*

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