It’s complicated enough to navigate life if you are not neurotypical or have a disability without having to deal with ignorance and insensitivity. On Twitter, people are using the hashtag #AbledsAreWeird to share of glimpse of what that is like.
Neurotypical person: “Lol, I’m sorry I forgot, I’m so ADHD”
Me, a human with ADHD: No worriesMe: “Sorry, I forgot, I have been really overwhelmed and didn’t put it in my calendar.”
Same neurotypical person: “Stop using your ADHD as an excuse.”#AbledsAreWeird— Andrew (@lAndrewh98) March 16, 2019
Doctor: Do you want to try this medicine with bad side effects that has never been tested on your illness and I have no real proof it will work but maybe it will?
Me: No
Doctor: Do you even want to get better?#AbledsAreWeird
— Kayla A. K. Jean (@KaylaAKJean) March 17, 2019
Ableds never want to ACTUALLY hear about how I’m doing, they just want me to say I’m fine. If I ever say how I’m really feeling, they get really uncomfortable. #AbledsAreWeird
— Laura Adams (@adamslaura1) March 16, 2019
My childhood:
Teacher: do this thing (run, go outside in certain conditions, use cleaning products, etc.)
Me: I will have an asthma attack if I do that thing
Teacher: liar, do it
Me: *tries to do it and has asthma attack*
Teacher: 😲#AbledsAreWeird— Christina (@raspberryotter) March 16, 2019
Bringing this back for #AbledsAreWeird 😇 pic.twitter.com/3UfOO6gWHK
— Momo ✨ (@momoxmia) March 17, 2019
“You’re too young to be so tired.”
“You’re too young to be in so much pain.”
“You’re to young to be chronically ill.”#AbledsAreWeird— baby mia (@tsunderemia) March 17, 2019
#AbledsAreWeird. They think it’s okay to ask strangers about their medical history because they have a service animal or mobility device, but get indignant if they are asked in return about the results of their last STD test.
— Abrea♿️, Flirty🦄& Cadenza🐎 (@Cadenza_33) March 16, 2019
Lady on train: why is your wheelchair pink?
Me: because I like pink.
LoT: But you shouldn’t make a wheelchair pretty.
Me: why not?
LoT: Because then people might think it’s okay to have one.
#AbledsAreWeird— Pilgrim (@PilgrimKitty) March 18, 2019
Got an F on paper I worked very hard on. My teacher said even though he couldn’t prove it was plagiarism he knew I had not written it because he had never seen a deaf person write in English like that. #AbledsAreWeird
— Shoshannah Stern (@Shoshannah7) March 17, 2019
That time I was in the accessible bathroom stall & without warning a woman crawled under the door & into the stall with me to ask if I needed help. I’d given no indication that I needed help (because I didn’t). She just saw my wheelchair & assumed incompetence. 🤷🏻♀️#AbledsAREWeird
— Katy ♿ 🌊 (@Katydid516) March 16, 2019
🧡
“I’m disabled”
“Don’t say that about yourself. Don’t you ever say that about yourself! You are wonderful”Cool. I’m also disabled.
#AbledsAreWeird— The Garden (@TheGardenGroves) March 17, 2019
That one time someone kicked my cane out of their path to get past me, sending my whole body into their path instead, and then asked me, after I’d barely avoided sprawling to the ground, “well, why were you leaning on it anyway?”#AbledsAreWeird
— Mx Kae (should be drawing) 🌺 (@TodayImKae) March 16, 2019
That one time a nurse repeatedly ran into my chair, kicked it, just grabbed it and moved me, etc and finally I asked her to stop, she responded with, “If you don’t like it, you should walk like everyone else.” (Yes, you read correctly, this was a nurse.)#AbledsAreWeird
— Marybeth♿♀️🏳️🌈 (@poeticdiction) March 16, 2019
Government: You are disabled because of a set of chronic illnesses.
Me: Yes.
Government, a year later: Are you better yet?
Me: …No?#AbledsAreWeird— ☀️Sonny D☀️ (@Sunshinecackle) March 16, 2019
I think about the time an abled random stranger threw my crutch into the pool “to help me swim” a lot. #AbledsAreWeird
— Crutches&Spice♿️ (@Imani_Barbarin) March 15, 2019
Bottom line: DO BETTER, humans.
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