Tag: ableism

Assumptions

This post might seem like I’m just bitching…

The issue I have been noticing with being disabled is that people expect you to have some sort of grand insight into what social issues there are with being disabled. I have noticed myself being hindered by the idea where not everything I write or vlog about is in relation to me being in a wheelchair, so this post is to people who are in that camp.

The irony of feeling I should be discussing disability issues is the deafness and tragic comedy of the situation.

Okay, that sounds incredibly selfish, so please allow me to put it another way.

I spent 24 years of my life not disabled. I got the meningitis vaccine in high school, and got meningitis anyway. It induced encephalitis, and now I am in a wheelchair and suffer from epilepsy. So, when I start to complain about how “hard life is”, I feel disingenuous. I feel like I am just complaining because my life has hit a road block, and I am worried that my “plight” will take attention away from more important issues. I also feel as though I am far from qualified enough to talk on the social and economic issues at hand.

When someone says that they will not follow or promote my work because it’s not focused enough on disability issues, this is why I find my respect for that person start to drop.

I have lived a great portion of my life under the assumption that I should not let my shortfalls hold me back, and now that I am in a place where my shortfalls have a greater impact, I still hold that advise to a higher regard. Possibly, a higher regard than I should.

My point simply being: if I have a “hot-take” on some social or political issue, I will probably write about it. If I don’t, it either doesn’t impact me or I don’t want to give wrong information. If I am NOT focused enough on things you feel I should be, don’t read my blog. That simple.

see you in prison.

I am filled with glee.

For those who were living under a rock for the last almost-year, Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd during an arrest. I am not qualified to go into details, I recommend reading them yourself if you wish for details.

The short answer to the result was that he was found guilty of all three charges levied against him, including a level of murder. His trial went on longer than I personally think it should have since there was video footage of the event, plus a fair number of eye witnesses.

I have seen a number of people point out how this does not solve racism in the police force, and they are right. This is just one victory that needed to be made out of hundreds that occur each day. One victory in one country, and it is against one man. The whole system in every country needs to be reformed. Racism is only one part of a pie that was cut into very thin slices, and every -ism needs to be corrected.

The one bit that I personally have not seen acknowledged is how this is still a victory, and nothing can change that.

I am saying that as a white man from Canada, so you should take my opinion with a grain of salt. I am disabled, but my plight is more with society as a whole. I will say that a motion towards an and to racism is step to help all minority populations around the world.

Racism continues to be an issue in most countries. Homophobia and transphobia continues to be an issue in almost all countries. Sexism continues to be an issue globally. Disability discrimination continues to be an issue globally.

However, we get to celebrate for the next little while that there is one victory for the black community.

You’re Not Dead version 2

I have noticed myself having a hard time accepting that people can do obvious things, such as walking. It’s probably just because I have spent damn near a sixth of my life in a wheelchair.

Oh yeah: that’s a thing. I have been in the chair for five years as of the 30th. Well, at least unable to walk. I guess it could be argued that I first used a wheelchair in February when I went to that aquarium in Toronto, and had done nothing by lie in bed for four months.

ANYWAY.

My point is more that, as people get make assumptions towards things I can do, I find myself surprised at what they can do. My wife and I have been apartment searching as of late, and our search has been limited due to steps to the door with no wheelchair access available. I forget that people do not have to be concerned with things like that. I forget that even a flight of stairs that travels up one story of a building is of no consequence to an abled. The threshold can be up a foot because people have knees and are able to get up that no problem.

I have a similar, but not as extreme, issue with the apartment I am in right now. There is a CM-high lip to get into my unit. I am able to get over it no issue usually, but it does create a challenge in the event I am carrying groceries, laundry, or packages.

On the flip-side, so I do not always bitch and complain how hard life is, watching someone who does not use a wheelchair try to do ANYTHING is the funniest thing ever. Everyone knows you push the wheels and propel the wheel, but there is almost always a moment of confusion that casts over faces whenever an able bodied person gets into a wheelchair for the first time.

AND GOD FORBID YOU COAX THEM INTO SOMETHING MORE COMPLICATED!

Anyone who has spent a few hours with me knows that I love to pull wheelies. Just stationary ones, and even then I am far from impressive. I THOUGHT. My dad tried to pull one after fixing my breaks up one day and fell backwards instantly. I had to hide my face because I could not hide the smirk that traveled across my face.

In anewsinPublication news, people who sign up on Patreon before the month is out at $3 or more are promised a copy of the revised and updated You’re Not Dead.
WITH THAT SAID:
I am still working on fixing all the things I placed awkwardly in the pages of that book. I have already added several pages by just explaining things properly. Who knew that if you write things well, they turn out decent?

ANYWAY: Next month I am releasing the first chapter as the ansP release. I will not be sending the Patreons anything until the book is done, and then they will get the book in its entirety.

Ableism : Social v. Institutional

I got about 200 words deep into this topic, when I decided to look back at my catalogue to see if I had done something like this before. I had. I feel silly.

One thing that I did not talk about (because I was not faced with it yet) are the fucking cabs in this city.

I, to those who did not realize, used to live in Hamilton. Now, I live in Burlington. You can actually see Hamilton downtown from my living room window if you can look past all the buildings.

It’s behind Ikea.

What I did not and could never expect was how different the cabs were. Regardless of time, Hamilton was there to make sure you had a wheelchair taxi at your disposal. Four AM or four PM, you were covered.

Burlington, on the other hand, almost pretends that people in wheelchairs do not exist after dark. Accessible cabs do not exist after eleven, forcing you just to give up and go to bed.

Stores have wheelchair ramps and doors, but it feels like it is out of obligation. Rooms are never designed to fit a chair, main door theshholds are always too large, and everything is horrible.

But, enough of me wincing on about that. What about political?

There are laws in place to protect people who find themselves, whether acute or not, in a wheelchair. Are they enforced? Fuck no. There are government buildings where automatic doors open the wrong way, there are a plethora of ramps that are to steep, and God Forbid you have multiple disabilities: the job market cannot handle it.

For example, I am paraplegic and epileptic. I have searched for a job. I wold love a job. My body is too unreliable. No, employers cannot discriminate about your disability here. They can find other avenues, however. They can stress the fact that you cannot leave your post until it is time, health condition be damned. They can point out pitfalls in layout and pose the question as “… but that will not be an issue, right?” The point is taken.

I fully admit that I have a limited scope in dealing with this kind of bull. Between knowing that I am the only disabled person in my building and knowing that, no matter how much I really want to, I cannot go back to my old job, my ego is fractured into one-thousand pieces.

….and do not get started on government assistance. I have had a right bitch of a time getting medical coverage for the two medications I need and STILL do not have any coverage.

What really hurts me, and I double checked that other article, is people who knew me before still assuming I could (at least half) do what I could before.

Or people who never knew me before assuming that I am using my disabilities as a kind of crutch.

Oh, there would be a special place in the afterlife for people like that, if one exists.

NOW THAT I HAVE GOTTEN THAT OFF MY CHEST!

anewsin Publishing is having its first release on the first of July. I have updated the Patreon to include an awesome perk that if you donate just $3 a month, you get the upcoming story early! I hope you like it!

Ableist

It is something we all tackle with: the idea that someone cannot do a task all because of their position. Assuming someone is useless because of their handicap is ridiculous and strange. All because someone is in a wheelchair, or unable to walk without some sort of aid, dose not mean that should be cast aside and deemed unable to do anything.

Now, I say anything, but that is a bit extreme. Okay: the person cannot walk. That is not ableism, that is just obvious. It is ableist to assume that they need help with every little thing they face in life.

Yes, it is okay to ask if they need a hand. If they refuse your assistance, however, THEY REFUSE YOUR ASSISTANCE! I could not tell you how often, in my situation, people offer help and then INSIST after I say that I am okay. It is offensive. You are displaying that you actually see that person as less than that: you see them as incapable to do anything.

Wheelchairs, in particular, are a clear depiction of someones physical limitations. In some cases, people are never without the chair. It may as well be a shirt. They are obvious, huge, intrusive, and a hinderance to more than just the user.

Now, with that said, there are people who are better in a wheelchair than most are at walking. Some people in chairs flow through heavy foot traffic gracefully and quietly. They maneuver peacefully and do not disturb a single person. There are, however, those who need a hand. That is why you just simply can ask. It is not offensive if you accept the potential ‘no’ and leave it at that.

I feel like a broken record. I touched on the ramifications of forcing yourself on someone in a previous post. (Example one || Example two || Example three || and there are more I’m sure, see “Law Rants” up top). It is only part of the issue.

My personal example is that someone wanted me to go to a social thing a little while ago, but did not push the issue because of my chair. They never talked to me about it and I only found out when they decided to explode with rage towards chariot. The fact was ignored that I would have enjoyed that. There, by law, have to be ways for me to get into the venue. I have preferred seating (if the venue is not run by dicks) and usually my physical condition gets me a reduced rate. However, there was a sense of true anger towards the situation that I had no choice but to live with. I was made to feel as if I did something wrong because I am in a chair. There was no concession for the fact that I am trying to get up from here: no sympathy about how I might be impacted by the situation.

Google Definition

SIDE NOTE!
Post #90! Thank you!