#starting with how people view visual aids. it's unacceptable that people fear for their lives over being seen with a visual aid

[atemu-remus]

It breaks my heart that one of my friends had resisted getting a cane for so long because she was terrified of being treated differently until I got a cane myself to help with my feet. She had the courage to get one herself because she knew at least one other person had that shared solidarity with her if she needed to get one also.

While I'm happy and proud that she did so, it shouldn't have gotten to the point where someone else in the friend group needed to take the plunge for other people to feel comfortable and safe enough to get the same help themselves.

The way people are treated for having physical disabilities is abysmal if we (yes, we, because I am realizing my cane is going to be an as needed basis for the rest of my life and had to make peace with this for the sake of my anxiety) are so terrified of being treated like freaks and monsters, of losing any and all rights and autonomy just by having a visual aid.

I am not someone to be pitied, I don't owe you explanations for why I need my cane or why I don't use it all the time, and I demand the same respect you expect out of me no matter the circumstances. Visual aids do not justify being treated as helpless, incompetent, or seen as a freak. And if you need my health information for you not to judge me, suck my dick.

People that want to oppress me are not entitled to an explanation or sob story just to treat me like a person, even if I know they won't treat me like an equal even with the information anyway.