“You Don’t Look Sick”

Here’s the issue with telling someone they don’t look sick or they’re too young to have problems: it completely invalidates their experiences and adds to the idea that disability has a “look”. It defines an experience that no one but the disabled person has knowledge of.

Abled people believe this is nice, to say that you don’t “look” disabled or autistic or deaf (??), but it does more damage every single time. This stigma is perpetuated by medical professionals as well, in case you thought the medical field was completely unbiased.

If you walk into a doctor’s office and you’re straight-faced saying your pain is at a 10, you’re told you’re lying because, “You would be screaming if you were at a 10. I have patients who come in here crying their eyes out at a 10.” So you go in and you breakdown to the doctor and cry about your pain and you’re told that you’re being hysterical. There’s no way you’re in this much pain, no one is in that much pain, you’re just weak.

Just weak.

If you dress like you’re unwell, then you’re not trying hard enough. If you dress yourself up and look nice, then you’re not in that much pain. If you don’t advocate for yourself and push for proper care, then you obviously aren’t trying to get better and improve your life. If you do push and advocate and demand basic respect, then you’re hysterical and looking for attention.

Admittedly, this is more of a vent post, since I’ve faced this quite a bit throughout my life. I’m told that essential oils can cure my migraines, and a little bit of yoga and sunshine will make my chronic fatigue go away. That forcing myself to “stay active” when my legs feel like they’re being dipped in lava is going to make my body adjust to being able-bodied.

If you’ve been sent this post then congratulations! You might be an asshole. If you didn’t realize you were doing this or didn’t know about the damage you’ve been causing, then make the effort to change! This is your wake-up call that you’re the reason! You’re the reason a lot of us are too terrified to speak up about how our bodies just aren’t normal and ask for accommodations.

Believe disabled people. We know more about our pain and our symptoms than you do, I promise.

I love you, I’m proud of you, and you are fucking worth it

Let’s Talk About #Cripple Punk

“It’s about rejecting pity, inspiration porn, & all other forms of ableism. It rejects the “good cripple” mythos.”

Cripple Punk, started by Tai (crpl-pnk on Tumblr) is a movement by the physically disabled for the physically disabled. Since Tai originally posted about it on Tumblr in 2015, it has grown exponentially and become this amazing community proving that physical disability doesn’t have a “look”.

I mention this because I’m physically disabled (hi, I’m Elliot), and heavily subscribe to the Cripple Punk movement and the ideals. I don’t want to be an inspiration, and I don’t want people to tell me that they pity me and hope I, “Get well soon.” There is no such thing as “well” Linda, there’s just good enough.

This blog is going to be a lot of things. I want it to be a lot of things. I want it to be an accurate depiction of day-to-day cripple life. I want to talk about disability and witchcraft, and what to do when you ain’t got shit for energy but you still wanna do something ~magical~. I want to fight ableism in the most energy-saving way I can.

I hope to post a few times per week, but do catch me on my Twitter (@crplpunk) if I vanish for a hot minute.

I love you, I’m proud of you, and you are fucking worth it.