I! Love! My! Wheelchair!

This wheelchair appreciation post brought to you by being able to explore my local area independently again. And also I had a nice outfit on so wanted to share.

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whenever i click the cc button on a youtube video that clearly has a high budget and is made by a fucking studio and i see “english - auto generated” i spit daggers from my eyes and mouth at whoever decided to not pay someone to make actual captions

"if you think that someone you know might be having fun due to their medical treatment, please contact law enforcement immediately. all medical treatment must be as unpleasant as possible to ensure that sick people maintain an appropriately ascetic lifestyle, as penance for choosing to be sick people"

I wrote this seven years ago about federally restricted medications and I was fucking right

disabled people who work out, I love you

disabled people who can't work out, I love you

disabled people who don't want to work out even if they can, I love you

disabled people who try to work out but can't manage to do more than beginner level, I love you

disabled people who will never be able to work out, I love you

disabled people who miss working out and can't do what they could do before, I love you

disabled people who work out but can't do every exercise, I love you

disabled people who can do a workout one day but can't do the same the other, I love you

disabled people who hate hearing about working out or being told to work out, I love you

I love you. your worth isn't defined by if you work out or not or how much you can do. don't believe anyone who says so.

Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are ADULTS. Not eternal children

Please stop using disabilities you don't have as comparisons.

I saw a video trying to explain that autistic people don't make eye contact because it can be painful for them (good, this is true) and telling them to "just do it anyway" is ridiculous, saying "you wouldn't tell a wheelchair user to "just walk, its better for you" so don't tell autistic people to just make eye contact".

But people do. They do all the time. It's well documented that doctors will withhold their ok for patients to get a wheelchair (which is needed unless you're paying out of pocket, because insurance and most public disability services like the NDIS need proof from a doctor). I've known people who can hardly walk and are having to fight because the doctor still insists it better for them to walk, even if it's painful and sevearly limiting their quality of life.

Then in the comments, someone pointed out that people do say that to wheelchair users (good, this is true) but then continued on by saying "unless you just don't have legs" which is just as bad as the origonal.

I had to fight to get my first wheelchair as a double leg amputee, and every wheelchair since then I've had to justify not wanting the "better option" (prosthetics) to the government so they'll approve me for the funding. Doctors and even strangers too, all want to know why I'm not walking, why I'm not using prosthetics all the time. When I go on trips with my family I'm told to "just walk" so they don't have to pack my wheelchair. at my own graduation from university I was chastised by the organisers for not bringing my prosthetics (because wearing them was exceptionally painful back then and i hadnt worn them in nearly 3 months. I had asked before if this would be ok. they knew) because the venue was accessible but not the part of the venue the graduates were in. On the topic of university they also put my class in the only non-wheelchair accessible room and held meetings i was expected to take part in, in the non-accessible lunch room. When I complained, I was told to just use my legs for a few minutes so I could get into my classes. Being an amputee with no legs didn't shield me from these experiences either, it often made it worse.

I have all 3 of the disabilities mentioned (autistic, wheelchair user, amputee). If you don't have the disability you're using for a comparison, don't use it. Please

When those in power constantly lied about the little things, it isn't hard to see why people have tuned out--and even questioned whether masks were even effective against the virus.

i NEED you to remember this: you are allowed to be angry at your doctors. you are allowed to be furious. you are allowed to be mad at your nurses and technicians and neurologists and psychiatrists and medical assistants. they are not god. they are human beings and they work in a system that wears them raw, and that is unfair, but it isn't an excuse to treat you badly. i'm not necessarily saying you should throw a brick through the window of their car, but you can, should, must be angry with them for ignoring you, demeaning you, dehumanizing you, dismissing you, acting like you're lying, talking only about your weight, failing to acknowledge you past your symptoms, etc etc etc. you are an equal to your doctor. you are a human being and so are they. do not treat them as beyond reproach. you are allowed to be angry at your doctors.

It should be illegal to have a bus stop without a bench I am 1000% serious rn

Friendly reminder that you can sit down.

Sit in the shower.

Sit to brush your teeth or do your hair.

Sit while cooking.

Sit to do dishes.

Sit down in the middle of walking to rest if you need.

Sit down whenever! You are allowed to make things easier on yourself!

i think that if you go to the doctor and say that you're in pain they should believe you and help you to the best of their ability. controversial, i know

An adult in a diaper isn't less of an adult. An adult who needs the help of a caregiver isn't less of an adult. An adult who can't speak isn't less of an adult. An adult who can't work or study isn't less of an adult. An adult who can't live independently isn't less of an adult. Adulthood is about your amount of years spent alive, not about your skills and abilities

anyway here's to disabled people who are not healing. disabled people who are not recovering, ever. people with disabilities that only get worse and worse over time. people who cannot access treatment for their disabilities or whose disabilities simply aren't treatable. people who know they'll only get more and more disabled as time goes on. people who know their disability will kill them sooner or later. you are seen, you are important, you are not dead weight, and you deserve support.

If You’re Gonna Make Something Wheelchair Accessible, Don’t Make it a Thing

Here’s some examples awkward accessibility being a thing:

Your at a hotel that has a lift to get you from one sub-floor to another, but the lift can only be unlocked and operated by one specific person that the hotel now has to go find. Sure, they’ve made the entrance to the sub-floor is accessible, but now it’s a thing.

The buses are wheelchair accessible but the driver has to stop the bus, take 30 seconds to lower the goddamn ramp, move passengers out of their seats, hook up the straps and then secure you in the bus. Sure, they’ve made the busses accessible but now it’s a thing.

The restaurant has an accessible entrance, but it’s past the trash room and through the kitchen. Sure, the restaurant is accessible, but now it’s an insulting thing.

Here’s some great examples of accessibility not being a thing:

The train to the airport pulls up flush with the platform. I board with everyone else and sit wherever the fuck I want. Riding the train is accessible and not a thing.

In Portland, I press a button the side of the streetcar and a ramp automatically extends at the same time the door opens. I board in the same amount of time as everyone else. This is not a thing.

I get that it is difficult to design for wheelchair accessibility, but folks need to start considering the overall quality of the experience versus just thinking about meeting the minimum requirements.

rewatch crip camp on Netflix for about the 6th time 🥰🥰

cannot describe feelings i get from watch this