im seeing sooo much misdirected anger and blame in all kinds of communities and im just rahhh its so sad and frustrating because i just want to scream that theyre angry at the wrong people
really struggling with this atm.
ive lost all the strength i fought so hard for the past two years. it doesnt seem fair that it can all be taken away so fast.
im exhausted. trying is exhausting.
disabled consistency prt. 2 prt. 1 here (u dont need to read it to understand this post)
what happens to consistency, to habits, when you have a dynamic disability?
i want us to understand the differences between having a consistent body and having an ever changing one. sometimes you could be so healthy you are working/studying, exercising a few times a week, socialising, and independently caring for yourself. but other times.. youâre bedbound? canât even shower and brush your teeth twice a day? canât keep up with texting your friends or social media? what habit is surviving that.
you work so hard to build habits and follow routines you and your doctors have set, and then you achieve it, but then it all gets taken away in a flare-up. you wonder what the point is. its a constant vicious cycle. even abled people know its hard to build habits. it takes time. and you might not have that time.
for abled people, theres no time limit on building a habit. they might have a goal in mind of when they want to achieve it, but theres no actual clock ticking in the background.
for me, and for other dynamically disabled people, we are on a time crunch. you may not be aware of it, but you are. itâs always a race to get things done while you can, build those habits and routines and get consistent and get your life together while you can. because even if youâre not thinking it, you are living on a countdown until your next flare-up. until the next crash, the next time you lose all your progress.
and that cycle, is exhausting. itâs like building a sandcastle right on the shore. you build it and you get to revel in it for a second. then itâs gone. there may be a little bump in the sand where your hard work had just stood, but essentially, you are starting from scratch. while the abled people are up the beach a few metres and their sand is perfectly wet and perfectly dry and the waves never reach it.
then those same people, tell you to just keep building. âeventually youâll get there!â âkeep trying!â âhabits take time!â they say. but how? there will always be another wave.
understanding this difference in experience is so important if you want to understand why you canât just tell a disabled person to form habits or be consistent and expect results.
âmy songsâ are songs where you go âthis song is for me it is mine.â
people can have the same âmy songsâ that doesnât make them any less yours, theyâre just also someone elseâs mine.
its just songs that get you on another level, songs that represent you!
yea..
Itâs hard not to feel alienated sometimes by your friends, even if unintentionally, as a physically disabled person.
âOh, letâs go to this place!â
âHow far away is it?â
âItâs only a three-minute walk.â
But you canât do that three-minute walk. And itâs uncomfortable speaking up that you canât do that three-minute walk. And maybe youâre well enough that day to push through it, but you pay for it afterwards. The worst part, your friends think theyâre being accommodating because itâs such a short walk. However, a short walk to them isnât a short walk for you. But eventually, you simply start saying no to hangouts because you donât want to be a burden because you canât engage in basic activities that are easy for everyone else.
Sometimes you do speak up, and youâll ask something like, âCan we drive there?â and thereâs always pushback. âOh, itâd take longer to drive there than to walkâ or âwalking is good for you!â You regret mentioning anything at all; the discomfort and guilt linger.
Structural inaccessibility adds another layer to this problem. Youâre forced to say no to countless hangouts that arenât wheelchair-accessible. Even if you can walk, you might not be able to walk far enough to enjoy the planned outing. People start noticing you always say no, and before long, they stop inviting you at all. Maybe itâs better this way. It still feels lonely.
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 ]
i dont know what it is anymore its day 14 and its still the same im losing it
on day 5 of a migraine get me out of here
im being referred to multiple new specialists and being put on multiple new medications im so exhausted and im sick of not getting any answers and only short term relief
If youâve ever related to the phrase âif you want something done right, do it yourselfâ then you have absolutely no right telling a disabled person with carers how it âmust be so nice to have people help you to cook/ clean/ showerâ