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actually, "autism is a huge part of who i am and i'm proud of it" and "autism is a disability that requires accommodations" are both true statements that can and should coexist

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With transfering currently being tricky, I am absolutely hating the awkward support rails in toilets that you have to lift to bring down. Fuck whoever decided to create those.

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The rise of doctors describing functional or psychogenic symptoms as "not real" symptoms should genuinely disturb everyone.

It harms those with functional/psychogenic symptoms, because yes, the symptoms are real, regardless of a lack of organic cause. They aren't lying or faking them, they're just not organic in nature.

And even if you don't give a shit about individuals with those types of symptoms (you should), it should still worry you if you're disabled, especially if you're a part of another marginalised group (especially women tbh). You're more likely to be assumed to have functional/psychogenic symptoms, and if doctors believe you do, they won't test for other stuff, or only do very basic tests. Like having any kind of functional/psychogenic diagnosis or suspected diagnosis on your records will hinder any other attempts to seek medical help because everything gets blamed on that, even if (like me!) you have proof that there's other stuff going on (eg positive test results). This means that you can be very definitely physically organically ill, and still be refused tests and treatments based on assumptions.

And then when those symptoms get labelled as "not real"...well, suddenly those with functional/psychogenic problems are basically being called liars, fakers, etc, and can't get the help they need to a, recover/improve, and b, get the support they need whilst/when they have symptoms. (And hey, guess what, if you have neither of those things, you're not gonna get better and may in fact get worse!) And those who've just been assumed to have them are going to get labelled increasingly as liars and fakers as they get increasingly sicker from the "not real" symptoms, risking long term damage from the "not real" symptoms.

(Post inspired by a conference I went to in which an actual doctor stood up in front of hundreds of people and described how it's hard to tell if a teenage girl with anxiety has real stomach pain or not. Because if your stomach hurts from anxiety, it's actually fake, the pain doesn't exist I guess.)

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Also, if you're complaining about PIP. Please know how it fucking works. Common example: no, you don't get thousands a month. Nobody does. PIP literally does not pay that much even at maximum.

BUT ALSO

NOBODY IS JUST ~GETTING A CAR~

The motability scheme doesn't work like that!! Holy shit you give them an upfront payment, then instead of getting PIP you've basically hired a car that's accessible so you can actually drive. And I do mean hired, if you lose PIP you lose the car. A wheelchair accessible / adapted car can be incredibly difficult to get otherwise. Worse if you need a wheelchair accessible van.

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There's a lot of anti-disability rhetoric in the UK atm, and it's kinda scary. There's especially a lot of anti-neurodivergence (autism and mental health get specified a lot).

Like there's so much doubt about people's diagnosis', because "kids self diagnose on tiktok!" And apparently that means official diagnosis is wrong? (No, Steve, self diagnosed kids aren't recieving disability payments!) And then it's harder to get help because "well autism is just Being Quirky, it's not actually a disability, what do you mean you get PIP points for autism?? Scrounger!!"

It's also weird as someone with multiple disabilities because I'm finding people will (at least to my face) accept my mobility problems as a legitimate disability. But if I discuss the difficulties being autistic brings...well, already had coworkers go on about how "we need more stigma for mental health conditions", "autism is diagnosed too much, people used to just be Weird", "we're all a bit autistic", "I blame tiktok".

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This is stupid BUT - I'm a wheelchair user who is very slowly trying to walk more, with aids. My aim is to get to a point of walking full-time, but this is like..."years from now" type goal. And every now and then I feel...ableist for it? I am very happy in my wheelchair, and I'll be just as happy walking with crutches/rollator/walking stick. But part of me feels like it's a bad thing for me to want to walk and to try get to that point. Is it ableist of me tho?? I don't know why this is playing on my mind so much atm

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because I've seen this a couple times now.

'ambulatory' does not mean "uses aid sometimes"

'ambulatory' means "able to walk, even just a little bit"

the phrase 'ambulatory mobility aid user' means anyone who is able to walk And uses a mobility aid. yes it includes people who are not full-time wheelchair users. but it also includes people who are full-time users of aids that include walking (e.g. canes, rollators, etc)

I think some people are using these terms incorrectly in a way that makes me confused about the point they're trying to make. so just thought I'd clear that up

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[lots of] doctors on social media: my patients are lying and exaggerating and it makes things so difficult for me; they just need to eat healthy and exercise!

chronically ill and disabled people on social media: hey everyone I made a celebration cake because after 15 years a doctor finally believed and correctly diagnosed me! deep down I’m still worried I somehow lied and faked it even tho this has been hell. Who wants a slice

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”autistic people don’t do [ extremely common higher support need , higher level autistic trait / symptom ] , that just stereotype”

you need include us too : you need include childish autistic person , you need include nonverbal autistic person , you need include autistic person who drool , you need include autistic people with intellectual disability , you need include autistic person with loud messy public meltdowns .

can not hide behind “it just stereotype” because that not true . there are many people very disabled by autism , you need remember us and include us .

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demonic possession wouldn’t even affect me, i would just assume it’s The Symptoms

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if you're looking for further antipsych readings, i heavily recommend bruce cohen's psychiatric hegemony: a marxist theory of mental illness.

it would be one of the published academic books on the topic of psychiatry i would have the least amount of caveats for - together with anne harrington's mind fixers: psychiatry's troubled search for the biology of mental illness.

if you are already convinced that psychiatry, together with other sciences, evolved alongside capitalist development to serve bourgeois interests, ensure social control and legitimize the hegemonic world order - and that no amount of intradisciplinary reform can change this, short of total abolition - then you will likely not be learning much from this book. it does however lay the arguments very clearly, together with concise, clearly explained marxist theory about labor. it then goes on to tie psychiatry with other hegemonic structures - the family, most notably.

interestingly enough, it manages to completely avoid two of the most common pitfalls of this kind of text: it never places the issue with the use of drugs themselves, but with forced medication and lack of available information - and it never blames capitalism itself for the coercive and punishing character of psychiatry, inventing a precapitalistic mythical past where crazy people were fine.

a solid recommendation if you are trying to give an introduction to antipsychiatry concepts to someone!

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Unpopular opinion

I don’t want a self driving wheelchair that can go up stairs. I want ramps elevators, and curb cuts.

I don’t want a solution in 20 years, I want it now. I wanna be able to go to the mall with my friends and not have to worry about stairs. I want to go the movies and actually chose where I sit. I want to go to a park without having to parkour my way through cracked pavement and curb drops.

I want accessibility and I want it today.

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me: maybe i am not chronically ill, maybe people are right and i just need to push harder and stop being lazy

me going through a massive flare: fucking hell

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"What about abled people who need their stop" WHAT ABOUT THE WHEELCHAIR USERS WHO NEEDED THEIR STOP

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 ]

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Like geez I disagreed with one of your videos. Yes I watched it all, still disagreed 🙄

Ha I knew I'd get a lil video reply directed at me. Youtubers are youtubers.