#ComebacksForAbleism
A few months ago, I was absentmindedly scrolling through my Twitter feed and I came across the hashtag #ComebacksForAbleism. As a disabled young person, I've encountered my fair share of ableism over the years and have always wondered how others put in the same situation would quip back at those ignorant enough to make comments like the ones in this thread.
Here are some examples of the kind of things those in the disabled community clap back with when met with day to day ableism:
What a brilliant conversation starter, not insensitive or rude in the slightest. What if nothing "happened"? What if as the tweet above states the person was just born with their disability, makes you look a bit silly doesn't it? Or on the other hand, their disability could have been the result of a traumatic incident or time in their life, it's just not a question you ask someone at the end of the day.
Disabled people don't need your apologies, what we need is to be treated like people, not pitied or looked down upon. At the end of the day it's no secret that disabled people do have their own personal struggles whether it be accessibility or getting adapted housing/equipment but no matter what we are still people. We can live just as fulfilled lives as any able bodied person so really, don't feel sorry for us. Save it for someone who really needs your apologies and sympathy.
We, as a community may sound like we're nitpicking but how you speak to and treat disabled people really matters, as a society we have a long way to go before we achieve full equality for the disabled community but hopefully a change of attitude from the able bodied is the first step there.
Here are some examples of the kind of things those in the disabled community clap back with when met with day to day ableism:
— Karrie Higgins ♿️ 🦓 (@karriehiggins) November 3, 2018
What a brilliant conversation starter, not insensitive or rude in the slightest. What if nothing "happened"? What if as the tweet above states the person was just born with their disability, makes you look a bit silly doesn't it? Or on the other hand, their disability could have been the result of a traumatic incident or time in their life, it's just not a question you ask someone at the end of the day.
Stranger: you're so brave.— Diary of a Disabled Person. (@WheelsofSteer) November 5, 2018
Me: clearly you've never seen my reaction to a spider.#ComebacksForAbleism
In the disabled community we refer to comments like this as “inspiration
porn”, this is when non-disabled people use disabled people as a form of
inspiration, but in most cases it just feels like pity for the disabled person. I've personally experienced this many times, no I'm not an 'inspiration' for getting up every day...I'm doing the same as everyone else but just while also being disabled. It's extremely patronising, those with disabilities aren't there just to warm the hearts of able bodied people and make them feel better about themselves.
"Why do disabled people get all the perks? It's not fair."— Elsie Tellier 💖 (@65PinkRoses) November 3, 2018
We can't get into most buildings, are frequently denied employment, are often the poorest of the poor, & suffer high rates of physical/sexual/financial abuse. Are you sure a parking space is a perk?#comebacksforableism
Bizarrely, women of a certain age, class and race sometimes come up to me out of the blue if I'm sitting somewhere like a coffee shop and make this weird scrunch face and tell me "I'm so sorry."— No Teeth But Still Lots of Bite (@mssinenomine) November 3, 2018
I usually ask them if they farted. #ComebacksForAbleism
Disabled people don't need your apologies, what we need is to be treated like people, not pitied or looked down upon. At the end of the day it's no secret that disabled people do have their own personal struggles whether it be accessibility or getting adapted housing/equipment but no matter what we are still people. We can live just as fulfilled lives as any able bodied person so really, don't feel sorry for us. Save it for someone who really needs your apologies and sympathy.
We, as a community may sound like we're nitpicking but how you speak to and treat disabled people really matters, as a society we have a long way to go before we achieve full equality for the disabled community but hopefully a change of attitude from the able bodied is the first step there.
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