Had A Group Of Teens Laugh At And Make Fun Of Me For Walking With My Cane Today. Wtf Yall Wtf.

Had a group of teens laugh at and make fun of me for walking with my cane today. Wtf y’all wtf.

Is decency not a thing? Is kindness non existent? I am just a person and sure I use a mobility aid but goddamnit that doesn’t mean you cam/should laugh or make fun of me or any other disabled person for how they walk or behave and what not

GIRLS<3

Thank you for listening.

Hello! I'm also an autistic disabled person and I've thought about getting a cane but I haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. What made you decide? Is it an every day thing or a some days thing? Idk I'm just trying to gather info ig.

Hey! It took me a while to decide to do it honestly but realizing that I don’t need to push myself is a big part of it. I’ve always been a person who has pushed themself to do everything perfectly and I’d get really frustrated when I couldn’t and to be honest I’m still like that. It wasn’t until recently (got my first cane back in January) that I realized that having a mobility aid or aids would help me be able to do what I wanted how I wanted was a big part too.

Also I came to the realization that people don’t think about/dream about how much a cane or mobility aid would help them if they don’t need or would not benefit from it.

I was constantly worried about how other people would perceive me and as an Autistic person I struggle with knowing how people perceive me so I’m always self conscious of that but ive come to realize that the opinions of others don’t mean Jack shit compared to my comfort. Additionally, I was really scared to be rejected by my family and loved ones and to an extent I have faced some ableism from them (my mother especially) the way my mobility aids have helped me way out weigh that.

Basically just coming to terms with the fact that I can’t do everything the same way as everyone else, realizing that people who don’t need it don’t think about it, and that I should prioritize my health and comfort over my fears of how others perceive me. The comfort and safety of my body is the most important thing so I decided to finally listen to the part of me that has been begging for help.

Fuck abled people and their opinions on disabled bodies

My mother literally said to me that she “believes that I am choosing to be disabled and that she believes that I am healthier than I feel” like ma’am you are not in the same body as me you do not know it better than I do. Do you not think that I wasn’t to be healthier? Do you not think I’d rather not be in pain? You really think I’m choosing this? After saying that bull shit she goes on to say that she only wants the best for me and for me to “get well soon” and arugh I stg she really feels like one of those people who are like “don’t say disabled say differently abled” like gah no there are things I simply cannot do anymore I don’t do them differently I just can’t do them

I really really wish New York City was more accessible

I’m currently in NYC and because of the repurposing of buildings rather than building new ones in many parts of the city they end up being inaccessible.

I understand wanting to save and repurpose buildings rather than tearing them down and rebuilding but there has to be a better way to repurpose that can include being accessible.

Yesterday I went to a CVS that was in an old bank building and guess what no automatic doors and the only way in was a flight of stairs.

Today I went to the Chelsea market and sure getting in was fine enough except the lack of automatic doors and cobbled crosswalks/streets (my enemy) outside but even inside the floor is so bumpy and uneven that I constantly feel like I’m going to fall and have to be hyper aware of where I’m putting my feet and cane.

There has to be a way we can do better as a society and as people.

Also the amount of doors people have let shut in my face when they see me coming on my crutches is ridiculous when they were just holding it open for someone else like sure I can do it and I will but it would be nice if you’d at least keep it open long enough for me to grab it with my foot or crutch or something

On the good side though I have seen a ton of wheelchair accessible taxis and that makes me really really happy. I’ve seen more of those than of regular taxis actually.

Edit: in the comments on this post I have been let know that the taxis that I mentioned are not in fact as accessible as they appear and are rather unsafe for those who are in wheel chairs so I guess that’s just one more shit thing. Go look at the comments to find more explanation/lived experience with this

The fuck is up with abled people and thinking that using or having a mobility aid makes us weak? Or that our goal should be to not use them? Why can’t they just accept that using mobility aids is not a bad thing and that we use them because they help and give us more freedom? My mobility aids enable me to do so much more than I can without them and my goal is not to get rid of them or not use them or whatever my goal is to have the ability to do what I want and be independent and not be in excruciating pain. Maybe at some point I wont need my mobility aids but right now I do so idk about other disabled people but stop telling me to try to not use something that makes my quality of life so much better and stop telling me to get better soon I’m just trying my best and the fact people don’t see that is really disheartening just because I don’t fit what someone thinks i should look like or be doing to “get better” doesn’t mean they should feel free to tell me their opinions on my body and what I do to accommodate myself

Honestly this started out as a rant about ableist bullshit regarding mobility aids but it definitely applies to so much else like neurotypicals complaining about how I accommodate my autism and telling me to “just be normal” and other shit like that.

It definitely applies to more than what I’ve said here but goddamn it abled people stop policing disabled bodies and minds, stop trying to control us, stop thinking you know our bodies better than we do

Tl;dr: abled people need to stop with their bullshit and leave disabled people and their tools and accommodations and self accommodations alone. Abled people believe they know our bodies better than we do and that’s simply not true.