20/07/2025
It's Disability Pride Month...
Sometimes, disability pride is simply surviving, especially at the moment...
Disability pride is also admitting that it's chuffin' hard to survive, especially in a world not built to allow you to access it easily, the government hoping you'll just give up and die, and the media making society as a whole belive you're a drain on them.
From mobility aids being so expensive because they're a nichè market, to there being absolutely no rush from companies to fix faulty aids because they know there's nowhere else for you to turn.
From constantly asking venues if they're accessible and hearing 'Yes, but...' (so no then!), to supermarkets 'upgrading' their stores but not thinking about wheelchair users in the process, thus creating an inaccessible environment (can't even choose my own Strawberries without asking for help!)
Infantalising a disabled person, acting as though they're invisible, assuming they can't do certain things and addressing their companion instead of them, or simply beliving they shouldn't even leave the house if they need so much help.
Thinking '...despite the fact your disabled' is a compliment.
Thinking it's 'just making conversation' to ask why you're in a wheelchair
And you wonder why I struggle with internalised ableism ('I should be able to do that and shouldn't be asking for help')...
Why I crash into the depth of depression over the actual literal 'cant's' when people say i should just make more of an effort...
Why I dread leaving the house and get worked up with anxiety over leaving the house when access feels like an steep uphill hike...
You might say 'I couldn't do it' if you became disabled. Actually you probably would. You'd get on with it, but it would hit you like a tonne of bricks how incredibly hard it is.
And you wonder why I'd just rather be at home with my cats 😻
