#disability activism

[neuroticboyfriend]

IM GOING TO CRY THEY MIGHT INCREASE THE SSI ASSETS LIMIT TO $10,000.

it's a bipartisan bill too! and for anyone unaware, people on SSI (which is different from SSDI), can only have $2,000 in assets (unless they have an ABLE account, which comes with its own rules). this assets limit has been in place for FORTY YEARS and is a giant part of why being on SSI keeps people incredibly impoverished.

i've also heard they might remove the marriage penalty but i don't have the spoons to read or explain it so someone else please add on!

this is huge! please spread the word and do what you can to help ensure this happens!

[nondivisable]

disabled people are allowed to have hobbies that clash with our disabilities by the way

I'm allowed to like journaling even if my hand tremors make it so I can't do something as "pretty" as an abled bodied person

I'm allowed to like crocheting even if it's bad for my joints and it takes me double the time it would take someone else to finish a project

and yes I'm trying to switch to knitting which is lighter on the hands, but even that - even fucking using my phone - makes my finger hurts

I'm allowed to complain about it, just like you - specially if you're abled - are not allowed to tell me off about it

it's so hard for us to find joy, you're not allowed to police the small things that help

[crippledpunks]

cane users don't have to use their cane for every single step in order to be valid in their need for a cane. cane users can suddenly stop using their cane while moving around and not invalidate their need for it next time they use it. some cane users may only use their canes during flare ups. some only need their cane every few steps for short bursts. everyone's needs are different.

every cane user deserves respect.

[chaos-in-one]

Friendly (or unfriendly if you're against this) reminder that this blog is supportive of ALL disorders. This blog does not think ANY disorder inherently makes someone a bad person, and is against any disorder being demonized. This blog wholeheartedly believes that a bad person having a disorder, yes, even if things that are also symptoms of their disorder are part of what caused harm, does not make the disorder a "bad" or "evil" disorder or excuse ableism and demonization directed towards the disorder.

Yes this includes personality disorders

Including npd and aspd

Yes this includes all psychotic disorders & disorders that cause psychotic symptoms

Yes this includes paraphilic disorders. All of them.

Yes this includes disorders that cause, or are even characterized by, attention seeking

Yes this includes disorders that directly have lying as a common symptom

Yes this includes dissociative disorders

Yes this includes any disorder with "gross" symptoms

Yes this includes physical disorders too

Yes this includes disorders that can cause loss of control of any kind- control of speech, control of body movement, etc.

Yes tis includes disorders that make someone "look scary"

This goes for literally any fucking disorder. There are not exceptions.

[martabak-man]

https://www.hoosieraction.org/scotus

[panicismydefaultstate]

Just in case anyone else needed to hear this today-

Your health is not your fault. You didn’t do anything to “deserve” this. And you are right, it isn’t fair. You are allowed to feel upset, hurt, angry and jealous that your health, body or mind disables you.

It’s not fair, and that sucks. You are allowed to scream about that as much as you need to.

[heart-buzz]

something i think a lot of able-bodied people (or really, ANYONE who doesn't use an electric mobility device) fail to realize is that while having a power chair can certainly open up your ability to go places, many places are not power chair/scooter friendly. even curbs aren't power chair friendly, (frankly im ignoring the width of sidewalks for this post... 😒) the first time i left my home with my chair, i had an emotional breakdown upon coming home, because my own driveway isn't power chair friendly. the curb has a two inch rise, which simply can't be rolled over. we'd already had to buy an expensive ramp to get OUT of the house, and i had to get out of my chair (ow) so that my fiance could lift the chair over the curb. if he wasn't there with me, i would've been out of luck. not only would i have had to leave my $5000 chair outside on the street, i would've had to walk myself back inside, which is one of the main contributions of my back pain. btw, insurance doesn't cover anything towards non-permanent chair ramps. as a disabled person, you are expected to cover those expenses yourself, and they are not cheap.

i also realized that not every road has an ADA-compliant curb to roll onto. do you know what that means? that means i have to drive my chair in the street, with actual cars. do you know the top speed of my chair? it's 5.1 miles per hour. im not sure if it's illegal to pass someone in a mobility scooter, but no one wanted to drive around me when this happened so i held up the traffic on a somewhat busy road. it was embarrassing and somewhat frightening.

i guess all im saying is, please think about power chair and scooter users when you think about wheelchair accessibility. please consider what our heavier, battery-operated chairs can and can't do when it comes to curbs and ramps.

[hell0mega]

a lot of people reblogged that spoons poll from me with tags along the lines of "i have adhd but I'm not disabled" and i want everyone to know that adhd is in fact legally recognized as a disability in the usa. you have a disability/are disabled if you have adhd. or autism. or ocd. or depression. or anxiety. etc

these are all disorders. they disrupt our lives and make it harder to navigate the neurotypically-built society we live in just like physically disabled people existing in our able bodied-built society. they are disabling to your every day life and therefore are disabilities.

i say this because disability activism is for all disabilities no matter how invisible or "easily dealt with" because it's not a contest to see how disabled one can be. you're not disbarred from calling yourself disabled because "it could be worse" or "i deal with it well enough" or are "low needs" that doesnt make you NOT disabled!!!

don't sell yourself short and think your disability isnt "bad enough" to call it what it is. you deserve the help, recognition, and protection just like anyone else!

[batwynn]

In 2019 I made a complaint to an office that handles complaints about accessibility about a ramp and door at a local post office that was not accessible at all for people who use wheelchairs or walkers. I am not a walker or wheelchair user, but I noticed that there was a large gap in the ramp that wheels could get trapped in, the ramp itself was short, and provided no space for someone to turn to enter, and the door had no button AND could not even open completely to let someone through.

It’s hard to see from the Google Maps, but it was BAD. And it pissed me off. So I made a report. I got passed around from office to office for a few months, then nothing. 2020 comes around and the pandemic is hitting a high. I’ve moved towns and I’m dealing with a kind of shitty living situation that’s driven the ramp out of mind. I got a call one day from a man in one of the many offices the complaint was forwarded to. He is adamant that this ramp and door will be fixed. I mean, he assures me with passion that this will be fixed. At the time, I was really impressed and happy to hear something like that because I didn’t think anyone would still care while so much bad stuff was going on in the world.

And then I get mistreated and harassed by people based on my disabilities and gender. I become homeless because of it. I made an official complaint about discrimination, and the offenders lie through their teeth. The office handling my complaint says it didn’t happen, and closes the case. So I don’t exactly believe in these protections and offices that promise you’ll be helped so much anymore. I checked Google Maps one last time to see no changes sometime in 2021. It’s been a bitter, shitty feeling to hold on to for years now.

And then I checked my email just now.

Ideally, they’d have added a door with an automatic opener, but they actually fixed everything else! They fixed it!

They fucking fixed it!

So, make those complaints. If a business or building is breaking the law by being inaccessible, fuck them up. Get your friend to report it, too. Maybe it will take four years, but maybe not. Maybe someone will genuinely care and actually fix it.

[neuroticboyfriend]

the genocide of palestine is a mass disabling event. if you said this about COVID, you need to be saying it now, too. you cannot only care when there are dead. you must care about the living - the suffering and the disabled, too.

this is one of the most grave examples of what disabled activists mean when we say that our suffering does not mean we do not deserve to live. giving voice to suffering and uplifting those speaking on it does not mean disabled people should not exist.

from the river to the sea, palestine will be free. and so will all her disabled people. they will live - even the dead will live on in the survivors. we must do everything in our power for there to be as many survivors as possible.

[nondivisable]

IM SO MAD AT THE SHAME SOCIETY PLACES ON DYNAMIC DISABILITIES

yes, I was walking unaided yesterday; yes, I am using forearm crutches today

yes, I was using forearm crutches but left them behind to go to the bathroom yesterday; yes, I need to use them even to walk two steps today

yes, I went up the stairs unaided yesterday; yes, I needed my crutches to go up to the stairs today; yes, tomorrow I might need to scooch upstairs on my ass because I won't be able to walk them

yes, I walked unaided to the car to get my crutches out of the car in the morning; yes, I will use them to go on a walk in the afternoon

DISABILITY CAN BE DYNAMIC, MOST PEOPLE ARENT ON A FIXED POINT OF SUPPORT NEEDS AND MOBILITY, WE'LL HAVE GOOD AND BAD DAYS AND I DONT NEED TO EXPLAIN MYSELF TO YOU

[sacredsapling]

Hey all! As someone who's been mute and a disability activist (including raising awareness about mutism), a few clarifications:

Mute can be an acceptable term, when used as a descriptor or identity-term, unless someone says they prefer another term for themselves personally.

Mute can refer to being unable to make any sound, being nonspeaking or nonverbal by choice, trauma-related silence, or experience periods of inability or limited ability to communicate.

Mutism is often a good "umbrella" term, since nonspeaking means "able to make sound but unable to say words" and nonverbal can mean "unable to make any sounds."

Mute can fall anywhere on that spectrum, and it also can be a descriptor used for changing states of being able to speak, vocalize, or not.

Basically, if someone doesn't like the term, don't use it for them. If someone uses it, it's fine, and it's fine as a general descriptor because it's not inherently offensive (and asserting such can ostracize a whole group of disabled people, same as being like "it's not disabled, it's differently abled." Mutism, just like disability, is not a "bad word").

Just be attentive to slang and offensive uses/word combinations and make sure those exact sorts of phrases aren't used to describe someone who is mute/nonverbal/nonspeaking.

[ultdeimoskinnie]

it’s disability pride month!

here’s a friendly reminder that disabled people do not owe you anything at all!

disabled people don’t owe you proof of their diagnosis.

disabled people don’t even owe you a diagnosis.

disabled people don’t owe you “submission” or “passive behaviour”.

disabled people don’t owe you a specific appearance.

disabled people don’t owe you specific stereotypical behavioural traits.

disabled people don’t owe you an explanation of their disability.

disabled people don’t owe you a certain gender identity or orientation.

disabled people don’t owe you speech or eye contact.

disabled people don’t owe you full reliance on mobility aids, medication, other medical devices (but if you fully rely on yours that’s obviously 100% okay too!)

disabled people don’t owe you anything at all. so don’t go looking for it if you don’t need it.

that’s all. to all my disabled siblings, i love you so much /p! may you stay safe this month <3

[gentleward]

Hey! Just because you:

- have more expensive mobility aids

- are listened to by your doctors and have formal diagnoses

- think you have a “bigger” or “worse” diagnosis than someone else

- have insurance that covers things for you

- go inpatient often

- have a care team

- are on disability income

etc

None of that makes your disability “more important” than anybody else’s. That’s called ableism and you are not immune to it!

[library-graffiti]

The US Census Bureau wants to change who counts as disabled. According to their own estimate, it'll cut the number of adults the Census counts as disabled by 40%. The link above will give you the language to comment on this grave mistake they are about to make.

The last day to comment is December 19. Please comment!

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

I know the Disability Day of Mourning traditionally commemorates disabled people murdered by their parents and/or caregivers, but I wanted to take a moment to also commemorate the disabled lives lost during the genocides taking place in Palestine, the DRC, Sudan, and across the globe (including in the US). There are many ways for a system to perpetuate ableist violence and we must struggle as a community against all of them.

May the disabled souls taken from us rest in peace, every single one, and may the members of the disabled community currently fighting for their lives and the lives of their loved ones receive the support and safety they deserve.

If you have a bit to spare, please consider donating to Crips for eSims for Gaza and supporting their vital work.