#young and disabled

[stillfuckingtired]

One reason I still struggle so much with saying no to things, for the sake of my disability, is because there’s still so much uncertainty.

You ask me to go do something, and I say no, I can’t do that right now. But I still hesitate. I still feel so bad, and so guilty, because the truth is, I don’t know for sure I can’t do it. You’ve asked me what seems to be a simple question, but I’m here having an intense internal debate and battle with myself.

Because the real answer is that I just don’t know. Maybe I can do this thing. Maybe I’ll feel fine afterwards, or at least mostly okay. It sounds fun, and I’d like to, and maybe it would be worth it. But also maybe it would make me feel terrible. Maybe it will affect me in such a way that I can’t do this other thing I really need to do tomorrow. Maybe it wouldn’t be worth it at all.

But there’s no way for me to know for sure.

[justabunny]

disabled people don't owe you their medical history :)

[cripplemetal]

no, @ me, you're not faking

no, @ me, you're not an attention seeker

no, @ me, you're not healthy and able-bodied

no, @ me, you're not lying to everyone

no, @ me, you're not using your cane to draw attention

[ihavea-natural-curiosity]

million dollar question: am i actually getting sick, did i just not get enough sleep last night, or am i starting to go into a flare up?

[tuptastic]

" Young disabled people are all faking it, there's nothing wrong with them, they just want the attention! "

Me, literally sobbing in union Station because I was so angry about having a mobility aid and not being able to do the same activities as my friends because of it and shaking because I kept getting stared at:

young disabled ppl are valid and if you think otherwise unfollow block whatever this is not the place for your bigotry.

[indiecrowarts]

There’s something so wholesome about the camaraderie between strangers who see eachother with their mobility aids. Here’s a few of my favorite examples I’ve experienced:

The time I had a really nice conversation with an older gentleman about this beautiful wooden walking stick he was using. His daughter worked in South Africa and brings new walking sticks for him made by craftsman where she works- it was really sweet and his walking stick was beautifully made :)

The time I was delivering food and it took a little while for the customer to come to the door, it ended up being an older woman with a walker profusely apologizing to me because she was slow, I showed her my cane and told her I understood and it wasn’t a problem, I could tell it made her feel better <3

The time one of my substitute teachers brought her cane to school and we chatted while I was working on my ap art project about how certain kids in my high school could be mean and insensitive, and we complimented each others cane patterns~

The time I was trying to deliver food to a hotel and I got to chat with two other queer people who were working as desk hosts, one was a cane user and we were talking about how dumb it was that a lot of businesses in my town could be really discriminatory towards employees with mobility aids (which is why he hides his in his car and why I was forced to leave my job). It was really cathartic and it was nice connecting with another human over shared issues <3

The time I met a special needs student by accepting her hug and having a nice conversation with her- she complimented my cane and was super sweet and nice- I could tell her aid was worried about how I’d respond to a stranger coming up and hugging me, but once she saw I reciprocated the hug- as well as my cane, I could tell she was relieved. I saw her a few more times after that and she always waved hi and shouted “Friend!” across the hall and it made me really happy :)

I don’t know there’s just something about events like this that warm my heart and I wanted to share

[mctwilight-mcd]

I was once again scrolling through the cane user tag (because community and such) and I saw an awesome post (that was just reblogged).

It got me thinking about how I use my cane.

For those who don't know, Hi! I'm Twily. I'm 16 years old and I'm an ambulatory cane user.

Ambulatory means that I only use my cane some of the time. I suffer from chronic pain and fatigue, mainly in my hips and knees. My knee problems are also due to patellofemoral pain syndrome, otherwise knows as "runners knee".

My pain is usually manageable and greatly helped due to physiotherapy. One day I may be able to set my cane aside completely, but as of now, the pain is here to stay.

I have let my friends try my cane as a gag in the past and it always surprises me how badly they move with it. When using a cane, people will usually carry the cane in the opposite hand to which side needs support.

For example, when my issues started, they were mainly in my right knee. That means I learned how to walk with a cane using my left hand. Nowadays, I still only use my cane in my left hand, even though I switch which leg I am favouring regularly. The motion of swinging a cane is something you get used to with time. I am now able to use my right hand completely independently and expressively while keeping my cane moving in my left.

Mobility aids are used a little bit differently for everyone. I have my preferences and specifications for the way I use my cane.

Being so young with a mobility aid gets me looks, sure, but I've learned to live with it. This is what's right for my body. This is what works for me. Early dismissal, seating privileges, pain meds, skipping class for flare ups, and all.

Thank you for reading if you've made it this far. I'd love to hear your stories of mobility aid usage! Have a great day!

[mercyandme007]

service dog registrations are fake - education post one

So i have not seen a whole lot of service dog content on tumblr and as a service dog handler I would like to see more so i thought i would also start typing facts about service dogs on here to help educate the public. Todays fact is that service dog registrations are fake. Now what the general public thinks of as a service dog is potentially two things. A well behaved lab or Golden wearing a guide harness and or program vest that is probably blue, red or yellow. The dog is in a heel while being feed treats for being a good dog and focusing on the owner. The second "service dog" is a small dog in a Walmart shopping cart barking at everything that does and does not move. When the Walmart employee asks about the legitimacy of this "service dog" the owner pulls out a registration card. The employee does not know that ADA laws so she allows the pet dressed up in a service dog vest to go into the store. So im going to talk about "service dog" number two. The ADA law states that a service dog is not required to show any form of proof in writing or patches that it is a service dog. This includes registrations because the ADA (Americans with disability act) does not recognize them as a valid way to prove a service dog. So if service dog registrations are a scam how do i go get a real service dog. Task one you must have a disability. No matter how severe if it impact you even a little bit and you think a service dog could help you, your on your way. A service dog must me task trained to mitigate your diability. what ddoes this mean, it means that your dog will directly be trained to help you manage your disability. Like it you have chronic pain your dog might do fmp (foward momentum pull) to help preserve your energy. or if you are diabetic your dog might alert to high and low blood sugar and retrieve a diabetic kit for you. However to sum up this post please dont just go buy a service dog vest and slap in on your pet. This cause cause trouble for the people who have real service dogs. along with the fact that it gives real service dogs a bad reputation. thank you for reading if you like this please hit the like button and go follow my Instagram @/mercy_and.me

if you would like to learn more about diability and service dogs go to ada.gov

[solarianvoidthearoace]

Okay, uh… so I got a new cane and just for the fun of it, I’m asking you (general audience reading this post) how you would decorate it!

I genuinely encourage anyone who comes across this post to put their decoration suggestion in the comments

Imagine you get to decorate a walking cane for a 20-something young adult

Stickers, reflectors, tape, pendants, trinkets – go nuts!

Don’t bother looking at my blog, BTW. If you see this post and have any ideas/ creative impulse/ opinion about it, feel free to just comment that!

[melodymorningdew]

As it turns out, PSTD nightmares to start the day are NOT a good sign.

[stillfuckingtired]

Recently described my heart palpitations and the way feel as being like walking down the stairs and missing a step. One of the doctors said “That’s a really good metaphor!” And I was like *yes! I’m gonna get a good grade in doctors appointments, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve!*

[justabunny]

unpopular opinion but mobility aids shouldn't cost so much !!

[cripplemetal]

things about my arthritis that i experience daily. making this post partly for enlightening, partly for seeing more people with this b#tch (arthritis) relating so i'd feel less alone

i'm in pain all the time, but when one specific joint decides to go ouch? yeah i hate it

i unlearned limping within years of having it

"can we sit down and rest? thank you. oh no i think i need more than a minute. okay fine let's go walking further. *five minutes later* can we sit down?"

holding onto armrests while sitting down/getting up. that includes clinging to walls when i try to sit on the toilet or stand up from there

joints cracks

"i walked a lot yesterday so i can't get off the bed in the morning. help me"

fatigue. all the time

you know it when people throw a leg over another leg to sit like that? i grab and hold the leg i'm throwing over another one. not always, but. it hurts less this way

jumping? running? haha no. can't afford it

i had to quit basketball and figure skating. i loved it :( but crying in pain was... too much to handle

when planning a meeting with friends i always need to make sure there are places to sit down

can't fall asleep, too much pain

pain killers? you mean my fashion collection of pretty pills? :3

[depresbiandairies]

With the tone shift Depresbian Dairies is going to take, in addition to the fact that I don’t really relate to Skirt-Wearing-Wren anymore (I’ll be 21 this year and my current look resonates more with 16 year old me) I decided to come up with some new outfits that ring truer to how I presently dress and feel. So that being said, what do we think- which outfit do you think looks best? I’m thinking maybe rotate them sometimes but mostly I’m trying to stick to just one. (Also we’re going all white with colored hair because there wasn’t enough contrast between the blues in my old design.) But yeah gimmie your thoughts please 🙏

[cupcakes-n-rainbows]

One of my parents just had surgery.

It's nothing major, but they're numbed from the knee down until the nerve block wears off in a day or two. They're entitled to their experiences, of course they are, but it pinches just a little bit as they move the furniture to better accommodate the wheelchair they borrowed from me and as they recruit someone else to push them up the too steeply sloped ramp in our garage, complaining all the while.

And, I know it shouldn't, but it hurts. They never let me move the furniture that far, even though it would facilitate daily access. They didn't listen to my experiences and my needs when we were building that ramp, even though we had the room and the resources to make it more accessible. I live with paralysis and foot drop and partial sensation, live with double or triple what they're experiencing now, and suddenly their temporary disability justifies access they never allow me.

Am I not important? I want to scream, to clutch my wheels and wave wildly at myself. Is your temporary disability so much more important than my permanent one that you'll do things to accommodate yourself you expressly forbid me to do?

As a young disabled person, as someone with access needs often cast aside by their family, situations like these sting. Situations like these are why I feel misunderstood and hurt.

Able-bodied family members, please. Just...think about it for a minute. Think about the person who lives in this circumstance you were shoved into for a day or two. Have just a little human decency. It's all I ask.

[peridot-the-kitten]

I found a diary entry from when I was 10 talking about how I wished I had a wheelchair sometimes because of how tired my legs would get walking around when everyone else I knew seemed fine. I didn't start complaining to the doctors about my joints hurting and my legs getting tired until highschool.

I genuinely don't remember writing this diary entry. It's not the only one complaining about things like that but it's the only one that gets specific. How long was I going like this and getting worse and just assuming it was normal?

Would I have even known it wasn't if I didn't start joking around about it assuming it was?

Shit dude.