Helen Keller is one of the most esteemed disability advocates in all of history. So it was an especially powerful moment when, on this day in 1952, Keller herself awarded IBM head Thomas J. Watson the Migel Medal, an award honoring IBM’s inclusion and diversity standards hiring people with disabilities, including those who are blind. It was a history-making start to a workplace culture of valuing diversity and inclusion—a culture that still thrives today.
if you are posting a screenshot or picture, especially one that has to do with disability, please, please,please provide a description for disabled folks who might not be able to see or read those images without that description.
it’s a real disconnect to post something about disability and then make it so that part of the disabled community cannot read or access what you just posted.
Keep thinking about this. It means that the people who receive SSDI can literally NEVER be a part of the group legislating the program. I feel genuinely sick to my stomach…because like…that’s the formal structure. We’ve all accepted this??????????
[image description: tweet by Sarah Blahovec that reads “I am passionate about my job, but the absolute worst part of it is having to deliver the news to a disabled person on SSDI that they can’t run for office (usually an unpaid local office) without losing their benefits. Today it was to a disabled veteran. #CripTheVote.” /end description|
First image: Black text on a distressed red background that reads “Disability is not a slur.
Second Image: Black text on an orange distressed background that reads "Autism/Autistic is not a slur.”
Third image: Black text on a yellow distressed background. It reads “We need to destigmatize the word disability. It’s not a slur, it’s not a swear word, and it’s not dirty. It’s simply a descriptor/label. But you know what are slurs? Words that actually hurt disabled people? The r-slur, cripple, lame, dumb, handicapable, deranged, deformed, crazy, insane. Most of these are still used as insults. Or equated to something bad.”
Fourth image: Black text on a red distressed background. It reads “Disabled people are already living in a world that was not made for us. A little consideration, even just about word choice, can make all the difference.
Fifth image: Black text on a yellow distressed background. It’s titled ‘Sources’ at the top of the image, which is then followed by a list of sources:
Something that I was unable to mention in the above infographic, the reason that words like insane or crazy are harmful because they reinforce that those are morally awful, horrible things, or at the very least something to be ashamed of. This is inaccurate and it only adds to the saneist propaganda already out there. The same goes for using the words 'blind’ and 'deaf’ in the wrong situations, like saying "Man I’m so deaf hahaha” or “Wow I really must be going blind.”
Me: I’m chronically ill which makes me disabled. I managed to adjust my life so I can live as comfortably as possible, which means I don’t work, being poor, and not doing much. Sometimes I have to sleep all day, sometimes I go on hikes with my dog, sometimes I exist, sometimes I want to kill myself. That’s my life and I’m okay with it.
Ppl: BbUuuTTt — ThAt soUndS dEpreSSinNngG!
Ppl: buTtT — I COulDn'TttT lIvE liKe thIsS!
Ppl: BbuUUTtTtT — iSn’T tHEre ANyThiNg THaT caNn bE DoNe tO chAnGe YOur depREssIng stAte?
Ppl: bUuuUtT — LivE iS abOUt LIVING, NOT EXISTING!
Ppl: buTT — hOw cAn yOu LIvee LikE tHat?
Ppl: buTttTTTTT — DoNt be So neGaTiVe, if IT wAsS mE, I WouLd bE mORe HopEFuLl, That thEre WiLL Be a CuRe, AND My dePreSsIng LIfesTyLe WoUlD eNd.
Ppl: BUttT — YOure SUCH AN INSPIRATION!!! I wOuLdvE kIlleD MYsElf By NoW!
Me: Well, at this point we should think about who is the really negative person in this conversation.
Ppl:
Ppl:
Ppl:
Ppl: Yeah, no, you’re negative, saying you’re disabled is negative, disability is okay in and of itself, but don’t call yourself disabled, because that’s so negative, not having goals and not accomplishing anything in life is a wasted life, contributing to society is important, you’re so poor for not seeing how you’re wasting your life, you should really try to change something, although I admire you, because I would have killed myself by now, just saying.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but if the phrase “self care” doesn’t resonate with you, try calling it “system maintenance” and see if that clicks.
One day I’ll get a diagnosis maybe but There’s this thing called OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. And beyond that there’s ‘pure o ocd’ Which is what I would be called.
We don’t have many or any compulsions, just a lot of obsessions. Which is *sarcasm* SUPER fun.
Mine are often about death. Like I’ll start thinking obsessively about the vast I’m in crashing, everyone dying, me having to try and save everyone… And then I realized it was just me thinking.
My brain whirrs so fast sometimes that I can’t even detect what I’m thinking about, just that I’m so anxious I’m shaking.
I have only one compulsion. I snap my fingers. That’s been it my whole life.
But we don’t fit the OCD stereotypes. They bothers me because I know how my brain works. It’s kept me from doing a lot of things out of obsessive fear.
But my parents don’t believe I need diagnosed because I’m not compulsive. c:
I honestly relate to this so much
Keep fighting OP! One of these days, you’ll have a voice to those who really matter, but I support you and I hear you! Don’t give up, stay strong! ❤️
PSA to all you fantasy writers because I have just had a truly frustrating twenty minutes talking to someone about this: it’s okay to put mobility aids in your novel and have them just be ordinary.
Like. Super okay.
I don’t give a shit if it’s high fantasy, low fantasy or somewhere between the lovechild of Tolkein meets My Immortal. It’s okay to use mobility devices in your narrative. It’s okay to use the word “wheelchair”. You don’t have to remake the fucking wheel. It’s already been done for you.
And no, it doesn’t detract from the “realism” of your fictional universe in which you get to set the standard for realism. Please don’t try to use that as a reason for not using these things.
There is no reason to lock the disabled people in your narrative into towers because “that’s the way it was”, least of all in your novel about dragons and mermaids and other made up creatures. There is no historical realism here. You are in charge. You get to decide what that means.
Also:
“Depiction of Chinese philosopher Confucius in a wheelchair, dating to ca. 1680. The artist may have been thinking of methods of transport common in his own day.”
“The earliest records of wheeled furniture are an inscription found on a stone slate in China and a child’s bed depicted in a frieze on a Greek vase, both dating between the 6th and 5th century BCE.[2][3][4][5]The first records of wheeled seats being used for transporting disabled people date to three centuries later in China; the Chinese used early wheelbarrows to move people as well as heavy objects. A distinction between the two functions was not made for another several hundred years, around 525 CE, when images of wheeled chairs made specifically to carry people begin to occur in Chinese art.[5]”
“In1655,Stephan Farffler, a 22 year old paraplegic watchmaker, built the world’s first self-propelling chair on a three-wheel chassis using a system of cranksandcogwheels.[6][3] However, the device had an appearance of a hand bike more than a wheelchair since the design included hand cranks mounted at the front wheel.[2]
The invalid carriage or Bath chair brought the technology into more common use from around 1760.[7]
In1887, wheelchairs (“rolling chairs”) were introduced to Atlantic City so invalid tourists could rent them to enjoy the Boardwalk. Soon, many healthy tourists also rented the decorated “rolling chairs” and servants to push them as a show of decadence and treatment they could never experience at home.[8]
In1933 Harry C. Jennings, Sr. and his disabled friend Herbert Everest, both mechanical engineers, invented the first lightweight, steel, folding, portable wheelchair.[9] Everest had previously broken his back in a mining accident. Everest and Jennings saw the business potential of the invention and went on to become the first mass-market manufacturers of wheelchairs. Their “X-brace” design is still in common use, albeit with updated materials and other improvements. The X-brace idea came to Harry from the men’s folding “camp chairs / stools”, rotated 90 degrees, that Harry and Herbert used in the outdoors and at the mines.[citation needed]
“But Joy, how do I describe this contraption in a fantasy setting that wont make it seem out of place?”
“It was a chair on wheels, which Prince FancyPants McElferson propelled forwards using his arms to direct the motion of the chair.”
“It was a chair on wheels, which Prince EvenFancierPants McElferson used to get about, pushed along by one of his companions or one of his many attending servants.”
“But it’s a high realm magical fantas—”
“It was a floating chair, the hum of magical energy keeping it off the ground casting a faint glow against the cobblestones as {CHARACTER} guided it round with expert ease, gliding back and forth.”
“But it’s a stempunk nov—”
“Unlike other wheelchairs he’d seen before, this one appeared to be self propelling, powered by the gasket of steam at the back, and directed by the use of a rudder like toggle in the front.”
Give. Disabled. Characters. In. Fantasy. Novels. Mobility. Aids.
If you can spend 60 pages telling me the history of your world in innate detail down to the formation of how magical rocks were formed, you can god damn write three lines in passing about a wheelchair.
Signed, your editor who doesn’t have time for this ableist fantasy realm shit.
Some options for other disabilities and aids:
“Jack had an unusual pair of sticks, unlike anything Jill had seen before; they were much like canes, but rather than ending in a knot or handle they continued up into a pair of bracelets, held together round his wrists by a cunning slide mechanism. They kept him, she noted, quite sure of foot even on the steep ground.” (wrist braces; cerebral palsy)
“Fandir wore a ring around her ear. It looked something like a fancy collar, its edges tipped outward as though forming a funnel, and when she was spoken to she turned it in the direction of the speaker.” (hearing aid, based off antique “hearing trumpets”)
“Victor’s left arm was a marvel of the modern age–held together with a thousand miniscule steel plates and ten thousand tiny gears, wearing a small brazier, much like a jacket cuff, to fire the steam that moved its mechanical fingers.” (prosthetic arm, steampunk)
“Sasha carried one of the most unusual canes Mara had ever seen: it was longer than might be considered useful to someone her size, and hollow, its walls so thin it surely couldn’t hold her weight. Mara watched as Sasha swept the cane ahead of her. At first she thought Sasha was merely clearing a path, but then the cane struck a large rock, and Sasha neatly sidestepped it having never been told it was there. Ah, that solved the mystery, Mara thought: the hollow stick vibrated in Sasha’s hands when it struck, and its sound told her what danger she might face.” (white cane, blindness)
“Sibatyn clapped his hands over his eyes. ‘Here,’ said Yanit, ‘put your scarf over your eyes and take my arm. I can lead you until the lightning is over.’“ (avoiding flashing lights, photosensitive epilepsy)
“‘She grows quite ill on bread, even Rosie’s best,’ Sam lamented. ‘Can’t keep a bit of weight on her. It isn’t proper, for a hobbit.’ Gandalf nodded. ‘Have you considered, perhaps, feeding her on Elf-bread? She may take well to grains not often found in the Shire.’“ (special diet, Celiac disease, food allergies)
I literally had to think harder about what disabilities I wanted to represent here than I did about how to represent them. It isn’t hard. You have no excuse.
OP is spot on. Also, thank you @prismatic-bell for including the food intolerances/allergies one – that’s pretty much exactly how I handled it in my series. As with all of these, and indeed with many other forms of representation that sometimes get pushback in SFF, it’s just a matter of wording it in genre-friendly terms. Sometimes I get the feeling some people forget that’s an option, or it doesn’t occur to them. But obviously there is also often ablism and assumptions at play.
(I heard Gandalf’s lines in Sir Ian’s voice so that was fun :P )
oh oh oh! Witch Hat Atelier is such a good example regarding including disability and accessibility in fantasy.
There are two prominent characters that require mobility aid, specifically a sealchair.(since it’s powered by a magical seal)
There’s one who has an incredibly lavish chair since he is rich and powerful
and a much less complex one for a street performer kid who can’t afford anything fancy. (The main character and her friend spend like, an entire issue trying to figure out how to make a better accessibility device for him since the hooves have a hard time going up and down stairs / steeper slopes). (i wont spoil what they come up with but its pretty dang neat)
Apart from the mobile accessibility, there’s also an instance where one of the mentor characters gives a kid a headband with a sound muting seal to help with his sensitive hearing, one character uses a lens in his glasses to help with light sensitivity, and one of the prominent characters has colourblindness which affects his day to day life visibly, and it’s shown later on how he learns to get around it and its really neat!!!
What do I say to someone if their argument is “Healing magic that regrows limbs/cures diseases.” or whatever, because I have had that argument so many times it’s tiring.
I would start by saying, “So, in this setting, healing magic is available to absolutely everyone? Cool! What’s the system for providing it? How many magic healers are there (by geographic area or by population)? Is there, like, one stationed in every podunk village, or do they travel around on a predetermined route, or is there like a bat-signal, or what?”
“Also, depending on what the answer is, you might need to figure out whether there are any limitations on how long after the injury the healing can take place–if you’ve got healers riding circuit through the hinterlands, suppose someone cuts off a limb a week after the healer leaves: will they still be able to heal it when they come around again the next year?”
“Speaking of, I assume people die in this setting, yeah? So the only possible outcomes of an injury or illness are either ‘you are instantly and completely healed by magic, with no lingering effects whatsoever’ or ‘you are dead,’ right? That’s bound to have some kind of effects on society–damned if I know what they are, but you’d better have some idea; this is your setting after all.”
“And, circling back around to how the system works, if magical healing services are available to everyone, the healers can’t be charging directly for it–so who is paying them, or if they aren’t being paid, what do they live on? I guess it could be sliding-scale, but in that case, how is it decided which healers work in the places where rich people live, and which ones heal the poor? While we’re on the subject of working conditions for magical healers, is it something anyone can learn to do, or is it an inborn ability? If it’s inborn, are individuals with the ability obligated to work for the Magic Healing Service? If they are, explain how that’s not slavery. (Or if we’re acknowledging that it’s slavery, what effect does this have on the plot?) If not, how are people recruited to the magical healing service, and what other career options might they have?”
“For instance, Is there magic cosmeticsurgery? If you can afford it, can you have a magic healer grow you some extra limbs? Can you have them grow your child to the height/weight/appearance you choose? Now that I think about it, does this healing ability work on livestock? If it does, do people in this setting slaughter livestock for meat, or do they just cut off the bits they want to eat and have a magic-user grow them back?”
“Oh, you…didn’t think about any of that? And you have no plans to start? So, your setting has healing magic that can regrow limbs and cure diseases with no after-effects, butthe only difference it makes is that there are no disabled people. Anywhere. It does not affect society in any way, or have any implications for the story you’re telling. Okay. That’s…an approach, I guess.”
That’s what I would say, more or less. Words to that effect.
I’ve researched crutches for several characters in historical settings, and those things are universal! Giving a character crutches or canes, at pretty much ANY period of history, and any place in the world - historically plausible. We have medieval European illustrations, ancient Egyptian carvings, Islamic descriptions, Chinese designs, archeological artifacts from all over the place, etc.
There are also little crutches (hand trestles) that look more like little toy horses. People who had lost both legs could sit on wheeled scooters and use to crutches instead of their hands to push themselves around!
Corsets were often used for back injuries, whether the person was male or female. Boards were used at times, too, strapped to the person to support them. (Like an adult cradleboard!)
Leg/arm braces are ancient. They also look REALLY cool. We’re always adding straps to our designs, anyways. Why not make them useful!
Before fitted peg legs, medieval people would design crutches that could be knelt on. Then you would tie the lower limb and crutch together. Same as modern hands-free crutches.
And litters/palanquins are another alternative to wheelchairs. While they limit the person’s independence, that isn’t actually a negative throughout much of history! Wealth was often shown through how many things you didn’t have to do for yourself. Kings were dressed by high ranking nobles. Servants opened doors and put chairs right under your butt so you didn’t have to adjust them. So having servants to do everything for your disabled character can work if you play it right. (Especially if we see other non-disabled characters in similar situations.)
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Those are some other real pre-modern mobility aids. There are many. But, like Bibliosphere said, you don’t have to have proof something existed to use it!
I really like forearm crutches, so my lady from pre-Crusades Palestine uses them, despite their real-world invention being in 1917. (She also has some challenges with keeping the modest silhouette of the period, since it usually requires an arm to hold her cloak closed, and a lot of fabric tripping up the crutches. That’s been fun to figure out.)
I have a non-verbal character that uses a communication board with picture tiles that she can stim with when not communicating. Its design is based on medicine chests, which I adore, and I’m so glad I could find an excuse to add something like this to the story. Its so pretty and makes me so HAPPY.
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In magical or steampunk settings, of course, modern or future tech can be fit in pretty easily. You have to figure out how to describe it properly.
But more ‘realistic’ settings aren’t much harder. You guys, there is SO MUCH about history we don’t know! So many things that one skilled craftsman figured out, and then were lost because they had bad communication skills. So much assistive tech that loving parents spent all their spare time designing, so that their child could grow up as happily as possible. So many things that frustrated disabled people designed to solve their very specific problem, and then never found someone else who would benefit from it or write it down for future generations.
Modern people with arm differences will stick velcro onto their extremity and use it grab fabric so they can put a shirt on independently. Ancient and medieval people were just as ingenious.
If your fantasy hero can figure out modern warfare tactics, or that cool move from Japanese cinema you REALLY want to use, they can figure out an accessibility option that works for them. (Or, more realistically, 85 accessibility options that work for them, since most disabilities aren’t 100% solved with one aid, just like most battles aren’t won using one move.)
I had a blind professor, last semester, and I swung through his office to make up an exam. It was a while before I knew he was in there because he was sitting with the lights off. I finally went in, apologized, and took the exam by the light of a nearby window (which was fine). Forty-five minutes into dead silence he panicked and yelled in this booming voiced, “WAIT, YOU CAN SEE!!!” before diving across his desk to turn on the lights. I’m sure he was embarrassed but I thought it was endearing and it highlighted a large aspect of disabled life that I hadn’t previously considered.
Sort of relatedly I once had professor who was deaf, but she had learned to read lips and speak so she could communicate easily with hearing people who didn’t know sign language. One day she had gotten off topic and was talking a little about her personal life, so that one of the students said “Oh, I know, I grew up in Brooklyn too.”
She stared at him for a long time and then said “How do you know I’m from Brooklyn?”
And he said “You have a Brooklyn accent.”
She said “I do?” and the whole class nodded, and then she burst out laughing and said “I had no idea! The school where I learned to speak was in Brooklyn. I learned by moving my mouth and tongue the way my teachers did. So I guess it makes sense that I have their accent, I just never thought about it.”
My moms a sign language interpreter, and she’s signed with people from all over the US. According to her, when she signs with people from the south they sign with a “drawl.” They have slower hand movements and exaggerate certain parts of the sign. People from the Midwest sign very fast and people from the south sign very slow.
So we were at a restaurant once and my mom started interpreting for someone who was trying to order and she was like “oh you’re from the south!”
And they were like “how did you know that?”
And she said “you sign with a drawl.” And they were really surprised that it came through that much.
It’s really interesting that even when not speaking verbally accents and heritage come through.
the blog is food that can be made without too much effort, with a ranking system by how much effort it takes to make it
they also have category options for gluten free, vegetarian/vegan, lactose free, etc.
if you’re disabled and have trouble cooking, this may be worth it to check out. if you’re not disabled or you don’t have trouble cooking, it’d be cool to signal boost it for those who do need it. for people with very few go to meals, food can be boring and repetitive, so this is pretty cool :*
Please apread this around, dear followers. As a disabled veteran with both physical disabilities and mental illness, especially when I was single, I would often go a day or more at a time without eating (or eating only food I could simply unwrap and eat or throw in the nuke for two minutes), not because I didn’t have any food, but because food preparation seemed like an overwhelming task. (Or because I forgot.) And my health suffered for it. This blog may not save a life, but it can significantly increase the quality.
For starters, I’ve been having issues with my heart rate for over a year now. In the past, I’ve had problems with pericardial effusion and pleurisy a few times. My heart has almost failed twice within the past two years. I can’t remember exactly when, but I’ll say around…April of 2021? Is when my heart rate issues became worse. My resting heart rate is 76 - 88; usually, this is when I’m lying down or sitting for more than 20 minutes. When I sit up completely, my heart rate will go to 110 - 125 or 136. When I stand, it goes to the 140s or 160s. After showering, my heart rate hits 180 - 191. So far, the highest heart rate I’ve had is 198. My symptoms for the past few months has been stomach pain, brain fog, nausea, vomiting, headaches/migraines, dizziness, lightheadedness, random blurry vision that’ll last for up to 10 - 20 minutes, chest pain, shortness of breath, skin sensitivity, painful red patches on arms, leg swelling, painful/uncomfortable bloating, weakness, fatigue, a few fainting spells, and much more but I can’t remember them all at the moment. My current diagnoses are Lupus (SLE), Rheumatoid Arthritis, TMJ, and Raynaud’s syndrome.
Is anyone going through this or has gone through this? If so, what tests were run or recommended? Did you get a diagnosis?
I really need to know. I’ve been dealing with this for so long now. It’s interfering with my day-to-day life and daily activities. I can’t even talk or laugh without my heart rate going up to 126. The lightheadedness and dizzy spells are happening daily, and I’m afraid that I’ll pass out. The stomach issues I’ve been having have made it difficult and painful to eat and drink. It feels like my stomach is on fire 24/7 and being ripped open every once in a while. My doctors think I could have another possible autoimmune disease, either fibromyalgia or a connective tissue disorder (I dislocate almost daily). I’m not trying to self-diagnose myself, but I’ve been wondering if POTS could be another possible diagnosis? From what I’ve been able to research, the symptoms I’ve been experiencing are pretty similar, but I know Lupus can be the cause behind a lot as well. I also know that Lupus can be the cause of POTS. I just want to find out as much as I can to bring some things up to my doctors since they’re just as confused as I am, haha. I’m tired of dealing with this and need relief.
I am in so much pain today. My mental health is taking a hit too. I have no one to vent to since I’m the “therapist” or “sunshine energy” friend, and no one wants to hear about my issues. They’ve shown me that… I feel alone at the moment. I try so hard to keep up my bubbly and optimistic persona, but it’s hard today… it’s hard to smile genuinely. It’s hard even to think that this will get better. I’ve been in a full-blown lupus flare for two years, which has caused my health to decline rapidly. I’m a very independent person, so losing my independence slowly is fucking with me. I’m on the verge of a breakdown. I just want the pain the stop…I want to stop feeling so tired and weak…I just want it all to stop.
I like to have this saved in my phone so I can show friends, family, or random people who are curious to understand the spoon theory and for them to get a better understanding of what we have to do/think about every day.
