GETTING FAMILY AND FRIENDS TO UNDERSTAND YOU’RE DISABLED
This is a tough one. Not only do disabled people have to do the work to get over internalised ableism and accept that yes, we are actually disabled, but we have to break it to everyone else in our lives too.
Cue the litany of “but you’re not like real disabled”, “you’re not disabled” and, my personal favourite, “you shouldn’t call yourself that”.
FEELING CONFIDENT AS A VISIBLY DISABLED PERSON
There is nothing quite like the first time you go out with a new mobility aid. It doesn’t matter if this is your first time using one or you’ve just upgraded from one type to another. The questions, stares and insecurities all come flooding in and leave you wondering if you really need it. For a non-disabled person, this can be hard to imagine, with the idea that only people with obvious limb disabilities require mobility aids still a common attitude.
WHY IS LIVED EXPERIENCE SO IMPORTANT?
Or, you know, what the hell is it?
I have to explain the importance of lived experiences so regularly I feel like every person who reads this blog (particularly those who aren’t in the disabled community themselves) needs to keep passing it on to another person to read until, finally, the whole world just gets why lived experience is so crucial!
