@disabilityinsight

Happy August! I hope we all commemorated Disability Pride Month appropriately by learning and believing the experiences of disabled advocates who chose to share, and worked on dismantling our own ableism because if we aren’t, of course, we aren’t allies. Gentle reminder to not stop only because July is over. There is still disability history you don’t know. We still need to listen to the disabled community. We still need to encourage others to know better to do better. Allies still have work to do. There’s still exclusion, injustices and discrimination inflicted on the disabled community that shouldn’t be. Disabled advocates are still educating. It’s an all-year thing. (Image description in comments) Hashtags #Disability #Disabled #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityPride #DisabilityPrideMonth #DisabilityAwareness #DisabilityRights #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAdvocacy #DisabilityAlly #DisabilityAllyship #Ally #Inclusion #Advocate #Accessibility #InclusionMatters #DisabilityAllyship

Tomorrow is July! Tomorrow starts Disability Pride Month! Alright. Some disabled people absolutely love Disability Pride Month, and others absolutely hate it. Both are okay. It isn’t our place, as allies, to assume or to expect a disabled individual, or the disability community in general, to be active “participants” this month who are willing and wanting to educate. July - the same month the ADA was passed 32 years ago on the 26th - is intended to offer a specific period for these individuals to raise awareness, however they choose to, and we as the non-disabled community can observe and learn. I mention in these slides that Disability Pride Month isn’t about allies (of course), and we should be bettering ourselves year-round (of course). However, allies should be meeting the efforts of the disability community this month by actively working towards dismantling our internal ableism and learning, truly, about disability history and the reality of disability experiences (positive or negative) influenced by various external models. Disability Pride has no room for allies, this is true - but we can commemorate (not contribute) in our own ways independently so those who are disabled don’t feel burdened or obligated to educate us if they don’t wish to. I, for one, am choosing to not post for the month of July out of respect for the amazing disabled advocates who I know will be working (and have worked) tirelessly to educate. That’s why I’m posting this today. See you in stories to spread their lessons. ☀️ ID in captions. Hashtags #Disability #Disabled #DisabilityPride #DisabilityPrideMonth #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityRights #DisabilityStudies #DisabilityAlly #DisabilityAllyShip #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityJustice #Ally #Allyship #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAdvocacy #Advocate #Advocacy #Inclusion #InclusionMatters #Accessibility

📣Disabled students can go to school and it can be normal📣 Sharing again: As a continuation of my last post, I of course had to elaborate a little on the very detrimental, very common usage of disabled students as general inspiration porn. How many times have you seen those viral videos go around social media where a disabled student is lovingly selected for the school’s football team, or we watch a disabled student bravely make a graduation speech? I can’t be the only one who cringes at these. I find these videos to be incredibly ironic, convenient. The reality is that the average American is far more exposed to these inspiration porn videos than awareness to the inaccessibility, the lack of inclusion, and the bullying often experienced by the average disabled student. These videos give Americans an excuse to peacefully rest their heads at night with the false assurance that our school system offer the upmost education to our “special” population. “Everything’s fine” we tell ourselves while we watch a heartfelt video of a disabled student (miraculously!) walking across the stage at graduation while the flames of accommodation denial and abuse the student endured trails behind them for the rest of their life. Not all disabled students have bad school experiences - which is wonderful - but all deserve authentic and positive experiences. Disabled students don’t exist to inspire you. They don’t deserve friends who use them for attention, or a coach who pats their head and calls them a good boy just to make the local news. They deserve activities that are rethought and reinvented so they can be as involved as possible. They deserve friends who like them for who they truly are. Don’t let the inspiration porn created of disabled students distract you from the work that needs to be done for them. (ID in comments) Hashtags #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityAlly #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAdvocacy #Ally #Advocate #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityAwareness #Ableism #AbleismExists #AbleismAwareness #DisabledStudent #SpecialEducation #SpecialNeeds #Disability #Disabled #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityRights #Accessibility #DisabilityStudies

📣 Disabled people can go to prom and it can be normal 📣 I had to share again: Prom season is upon us, and it wouldn’t be complete without the heroic and stunningly brave senior who dutifully asks that one disabled student to prom. “What a heart of gold”, we think as we skim through the story on some random news outlet who (for some reason) have covered the story to merely reflect the senior’s good deed - paying no regard to the disabled student’s narrative. The news story is *intended* to do one thing: To make you “feel good” (?), to “restore your hope for humanity” (?). But the news story *successfully* does one thing: Prolongs the belief that the disability community is different. And this is so dangerous. Every time I’m asked to explain inspiration porn, I use this exact prom scenario as an example. Because it’s perfect: Able-bodied person does very normal thing with disabled person but we think it’s noteworthy because we don’t expect the disabled person to perform or participate in it because they’re disabled. We rejoice. And there’s also extraneous amounts of praise for the non-disabled person. What a good kid. Treating a disabled person like a person. I’m going to be very honest here. Try to understand what I’m saying. These stories are dangerous for a lot of reasons. Too many to list in this limited caption. Disabled students are not your inspiration. They can participate in normal school things and it can be normal. Non-disabled students using a disabled person for attention isn’t inspiring, it’s actually really shitty. Disabled students deserve to go to prom with people who genuinely like them, to experience sincerity with their peers. Be a good person, and raise good people. This doesn’t include exploiting disabled teenagers with deceitful kindness to show the world what a nice kid you have. (ID in comments) Hashtags #Disabled #Disability #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityAlly #DisabilityAwareness #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAllyship #DisabilityAdvocacy #InspirationPorn #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityStudies #DisabilityRights #Ableism #AbleismIsTrash #AbleismExists #AbleismAwareness #Accessibility #Inclusion #Ally #Advocate

Happy Friday ☀️ You know what annoys me? When people knowingly choose the aesthetic option than the one that’s accessible and inclusive. We - humans in general - get so caught up with what “looks good”, what’s “acceptable”, and worrying about what other people may like/think/say so much that this often leads up to disregard an entire community (which happens to be the biggest minority in the world). “I’m not going to add Braille to this menu because that’s going to look really shitty.” This goes with opting for easier choices, too. “I’m not going to add captions to this video because it’s easier if I don’t.” I’m not going to pretend that I haven’t made mistakes regarding accessibility on my page in the past (and perhaps I still am unbeknownst to me). But it’s one thing to genuinely not know any better, and then to be asked repeatedly - by a disabled person, nonetheless - to improve something and then to not do it for superficial reasons. If you disregard inclusion of the disabled community at the mercy of what non-disabled people might say or thing, this is what you’re saying: non-disabled concerns are more important to me than disabled integration. You’re choosing one not-very important thing over a very-important thing. That’s ableism. The message accessibility sends is much greater than the message of aesthetics. (ID in comments) Hashtags #Disability #Disabled #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityAwareness #DisabilityRights #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityStudies #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAdvocacy #DisabilityJustice #Accessibility #Inclusion #Advocate #Advocacy #Ally #Allyship #DisabilityAlly #InclusionMatters #Accessible

Can you believe this? I’m gonna be honest. I’ve sort of created a little bubble for myself here on Instagram. A bubble that I love and am so appreciative for, but a bubble nonetheless. What I mean is this: I am surrounded by people who agree with me. Yesterday was weird. It was one of those days where ableism was just so obvious. I went on TikTok, and it was there. I went on Facebook, and it was there. I watched TV, and it was there. But when I’m on Instagram, and I’m surrounded by so many amazing advocates, so many informative posts, and so much support, it’s sometimes easy to forget that there are still people in this world - and too many of them - who don’t think that disabled people are equal. Who truly believe that disabled lives aren’t worth living. And that it’s okay to prolong the depths of exclusion and inadequacy onto the world’s biggest minority. I don’t have anything to say today other than I can’t believe that. 2022 and this crap is still a thing. Be excellent to each other. (IDA in comments) Hashtags #Disabled #Disability #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityRights #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityAllyship #DisabilityAwareness #DisabilityAdvocacy #DisabilityAdvocacy #Ableism #AbleismIsTrash #AbleismExists #AbleismAwareness #Inclusion #DisabilityStudies #InclusionMatters #Advocate #Advocacy #Ally #Allyship #Accessibility

Happy Friday! ☀️ Doing another re-do of a previous post today. I know us disability allies are sometimes subject to criticism. We’re told it’s not our position to advocate. However, I believe it’s not *what* we’re doing but *how* we’re doing it. Us disability allies are often made to feel like we’re unwelcome within this space. But I think we’re important tools to creating an inclusive world. Allies can advocate and be deeply moved by the experiences of those close to us who are disabled. I do think that there is a place for us within this space - but only if we do it properly. I’m not a perfect ally myself nor am I an expert of what it means to be a disability ally, but I’ve been doing it my whole life and I don’t think I’m too bad at it. There’s two prevalent problems allies seem to get caught up with that I wish we’d do better with. First: Allies will never know what it’s like to be disabled. You may know what it’s like to be the parent, or the sibling, or the best friend of a disabled person, but this doesn’t mean lived experience. Second, ensure that the advocacy you’re pursuing is legitimate and a problem for the disability community. That it’s accurate and not simply an issue created by the non-disabled community. Fight for employment equality because making subminimum on the basis of disability isn’t okay - disabled people say so. Say disabled - disabled people say so. Raise awareness about inaccessible public transportation because there’s no excuse for it - disabled people say so. If the majority of disabled people are advocating for one thing and you’re advocating for another, this does nothing but create unnecessary confusion amongst the general population. The time disability rights get for America’s advocacy is small. No room for fake problems. Allies can be ableist. Don’t be one. (ID in comments) Hashtags #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityInclusion #Disability #Disabled #DisabilityAlly #DisabilityAllyship #DisabilityRights #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityJustice #Ally #Allyship #Advocate #Inclusion #Advocacy #Accessibility #DisabilitySupport #InclusionMatters #DisabilityAdvocacy #Ableism #AbleismAwareness #AbleismExists #AbleismIsTrash

Happy Friday ☀️ I’ve finally done it. I’ve finally made The Post. Glass Child syndrome is something I’ve wanted to talk about for a long, long time. But I haven’t. Because it’s a touchy thing. I can sense the messages now. They’ll go like this: “I care a lot about my non-disabled son, thank you.” “I liked your post but my daughter really is the perfect straight-A student… it has nothing to do with her disabled sibling.” “You have no idea how hard it is to balance it all as a special needs parent.” And so forth. I also can sense this being misconstrued as implying that disabled children are somehow problematic to family circles. That, by any stretch of the imagination, is not what I’m saying at all. I’m not going to spend time convincing anyone about the Glass Child phenomenon. You either are one and get it, or you aren’t and you don’t. Instead, I’m going to invite you to spend a little bit more time with your non-disabled child - as little time as you may have to spare - because they deserve it. Take them to counseling even if you think they don’t need it. Write a Facebook post about how proud you are of them because you probably haven’t in a while, or ever. Let them enjoy “normal” (you know what I mean) kid things with their friends. Ask them about their interests and how their day was. Give them a lot of room to break. And if they do, make sure they know that it’s not a big deal - because it really isn’t. Don’t make them grow up so fast. Everything you feel they feel too, remember that. To the Glass Children who follow me: I see you. Good job. (ID in comments) #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAdvocacy #DisabilityAlly #DisabilityAllyship #DisabilityRights #DisabilityStudies #SpecialNeedsFamily #GlassChild #SpecialNeedsParenting #Accessibility #Ally #Advocate #Inclusion #InclusionMatters

Happy Friday ☀️ A few days ago, my friend @mathewsbambina made a reel about people missing out on getting to know her daughter, Addie, solely because Addie is disabled. This got me thinking, and made me remember a very significant conversation I had with a former employer of mine. She told me that one of the only “bad” things about having a child with CP is that other people don’t understand that her child is just a “normal” child, who likes dinosaurs, having fun, and Disney. This post is likely stemming from my love of children, but it is so heartbreaking to me that so many disabled kids are excluded from very normal, enjoyable childhood activities/things solely because they are disabled, and others are too ignorant to understand that they can and do enjoy the same things as non-disabled kids do. If you’ve followed me for longer than 2 minutes you’ll know that I’m not telling you to do anything extraordinary here - no special treatment, no pity, no inspiration. But if you’re thinking of inviting that one classmate to the birthday party, and for whatever conditioned ableist reason is holding you back from doing it (real, experienced scenario here), this is your sign to do it. The inherited ableism you’ve learned from your parents, and they learned from theirs, stops with you. Disabled children will likely experience exclusion and discrimination throughout their entire adulthoods. Let them enjoy being kids. (ID in comments) Hashtags #DisabilityInsight #Disability #Disabled #SpecialNeedsKids #SpecialNeedsFamily #SpecialNeedsMom #DisabilityAlly #DisabilityRights #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityAllyship #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAdvocacy #Accessibility #Inclusion #InclusionMatters #Ally #Allyship #Advocate #Advocacy #DisabilitySupport #DisabilityAllies #DisabledKids #DisabledChildren

Happy Friday! ☀️ Such a simple statement but a lot of allies needs this reminder. The overwhelming majority of disability allies who are passionate about advocating for a more just and accessible world are often related to someone who is disabled. It makes sense. But just as often, we tend to mix up their experiences and narratives with our own. But they are, in fact, entirely different things. You may know what it’s like to be the parent, the grandparent, the sibling, the spouse, the cousin, the friend , etc., of someone who is disabled very deeply and personally - but you don’t actually know what it’s like to be disabled, ultimately. Unless you are disabled yourself your knowing ends. And that’s where your listening and learning begins. 😊 Listen to disabled people. Let disabled people make their own choices. (ID in comments) Hashtags #Disability #Disabled #DisabilityRights #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAdvocacy #DisabilityAlly #DisabilityAllyship #Disabilities #Advocate #Advocacy #Ally #Allyship #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityStudies #Ableism #AbleismIsTrash #AbleismAwareness #AbleismExists #Accessibility #Inclusion #InclusionMatters

Happy Friday! Sorry that I keep harping on this topic, but… there’s a lot of ableism to harp on. (ID in comments) Hashtags #Disability #Disabled #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityRights #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityStudies #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilitySupport #DisabilityAdvocacy #DisabilityAdvocate #Ableism #AbleismIsTrash #AbleismAwareness #AbleismExists #Accessibility #AllyAllyship #DisabilityAllyship #Advocate #Advocacy #Inclusion #CovidDeaths #InclusionMatters

📣 COVID isn’t over 📣 Happy Saturday! Yeah, we’re still caring about this. 😂 I asked yesterday in stories if those who are disabled, or close to someone who is, could share some ways non-disabled people could help them during this devastating surge in America that’s left them totally behind. These were the most common responses, with wearing a mask being number one. The absolute bare minimum. (Thank you for everyone who responded to this 💙 If I didn’t tag you and used your response please message me so I can give you credit) ID in comments Hashtags #Disability #Disabled #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityAwareness #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityRights #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAlly #DisabilityAdvocacy #DisabilityStudies #DisabilityAllyship #Ableism #AbleismIsTrash #AbleismAwareness #AbleismExists #Accessibility #Inclusion #Advocate #Advocacy #Ally #Allyship #InclusionMatters

I wanted to re-do this post to commemorate one of my favorite people to have ever lived. I usually post it on April 4th, but today seemed fitting. Dr. King’s legacy is rich and moving - certainly much profound than I Have A Dream or short, misconstrued quotes tossed around far too often. Go learn something. (ID in comments.) Hashtags #Disability #Disabled #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityRights #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityStudies #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAdvocacy #DisabilityAlly #DisabilitySupport #Advocacy #Advocate #Ally #Allyship #Inclusion #Accessibility #InclusionMatters #Ableism #AbleismIsTrash #AbleismExists #AbleismAwareness #MLKJr #MLKJrDay

📣 Happy New Year! 📣 Can we start a petition to extend the slide limit on Instagram posts? 10 are simply not enough. But here’s some suggestions on how to be a better ally in 2022 to the disability community: 1. Wear your mask. 2. In America, every House seat, several Senator seats, and many Governor seats are up for grabs in November. Vote for politicians who genuinely care about disabled people. 3. Recognize that your story, and your disabled child’s story are not the same narrative. Listen to them. 4. Listen to all disabled people, too. 5. Call people out when you see inspiration porn posts. I give you full permission. 6. Thank you for following my page and supporting me. But there’s so many others who need support as well. 7. Disabled isn’t a bad word. That’s it. Move on. 8. Disability unemployment rose during 2021 by 8%. Stop overlooking them. 9. Wear. Your. Damn. Mask. (I can’t believe we even have to say this) I am so humbled that so many of you want to know better to be better. Let’s make 2022 better, together. Please. 😭 (ID in comments) Hashtags #Disability #Disabled #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityAwareness #DisabilitySupport #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityRights #DisabilityStudies #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAdvocacy #DisabilityAlly #DisabilityAllyship #DisabilityInclusion #Inclusion #Accessibility #NewYearsResolutions #Ally #Allyship #Advocate #Advocacy #InclusionMatters #Ableism #AbleismIsTrash #AbleismExists #AbleismAwareness

📣 What a year! 📣 (TW/CW disability abuse) Happy Wednesday! Let’s recap on what we learned during 2021: 1. Disabled lives are disposable during this pandemic 2. Violence against disabled students is okay 3. Who cares about disability rights? 4. It’s okay to victimize, hurt, and kill disabled people 5. Disabled adults don’t belong in the workforce 6. Only those who can easily access the COVID vaccines should get them 7. It doesn’t matter if law enforcement understands the disabled community 8. We don’t need to respect a disabled person’s property and means of independence 9. Get disabled people away from us. … And so much more. Here’s to a better, more inclusive, just, dignified, and less ableist 2022. 🤞 (Information obtained by the CDC, Disability Scoop, or the United Nations) (ID in comments) Hashtags #Disability #Disabled #DisabilityInsight #DisabilityRights #DisabilityAwareness #DisabilityAdvocate #DisabilityAdvocacy #DisabilityAlly #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityJustice #DisabilityStudies #Advocate #Advocacy #Ally #Allyship #Accessibility #Inclusion #DisabilityAllyship #DisabilitySupport #DisabilityAcceptance #Ableism #AbleismIsTrash #AbleismExists #AbleismAwareness #InclusionMatters