Disablity - Tumblr Posts

Rule of thumb if somebody asks you how long you can be active in a day, especially anybody who could take any benefits away if they think you’re being “lazy” (this can vary between countries, so be sure to check the rules of yours!):

Time you can actually be active

- time it takes you to get ready to do it

-time it takes you to get to bed at the end of the day

-time it takes you for any life needing task like bathroom breaks, eating, napping etc. combined

-optional: time it takes to do basic upkeeping taks like laundry

-1 hour because you need to have a break for doing something you actually like doing for you mental health

-optional: time it takes you to get to specific activity

= active time you have in the eyes of people who don’t know what “activite” means for disabled people

If you have less than 1 hour after that, just tell them that you have none.

People love to talk about whether or not disabled people can work

but if you can work just fine and your disability is destroying your ability to have a life outside of work (because work takes all your energy and more)

Dead silence. Nobody cares.

Fantasy Is A Metaphor For The Human Condition, a comic about magic, and art, and speculative fiction, and being sick, and how they all intersect. Originally laid out/pencilled November-December 2017, when I was in a very difficult place emotionally as I was relearning how to draw post-brain injury.

See more of my Brain Injury Comix at this link & in Dirty Diamonds #9: Being

WHY DID I ONLY RECENTLY LEARN ABOUT THE SALT LICK TEST?!?!

I swear, learning how to easily tell if you are deficient in salt has been Groundbreaking in learning how to care for my body.

For the uninitiated, if you feel dizzy or weirdly tired, or you cant seem to hydrate properly, no matter how much water you drink, you may easily be lacking salt.

Yes salt! The thing everyone tells you to try and minimize as much as possible. You are likely not getting enough, and there is an easy way to test it:

Go into you kitchen and grab some plain salt, flaky or fine preferably, since rough salt has less surface area, but it still works, just slower.

Grab a pinch of it and just drop it on your tongue, and let it dissolve on it. What does it taste like? This is just salt. Does it taste kinda mild? Slightly savoury even and actually quite good? Could you easily go for another pinch, just for the taste? You probably should, cause that's your body telling you i Wants More Salt, it Neeeds it!

Do that a couple times over the next few hours, letting your body adjust in the meantime, until it suddenly tastes Too Salty. The same amount of salt, suddenlt tasting quite different, too salty, unpleasant, bad. Thats a sign that you no longer need more salt.

For me it took like two days from barely tasting the salt, to feeling much better and suddenly not wanting more salt.

This has recently helped me so much, why was i not taught this super simple but useful way to check in with my bodily needs?

Mobility aids and sensory aids aren’t a “worst case scenario”

Stop acting like it’s a tragedy when someone starts using a cane or wheelchair, and stop acting like it’s someone admitting defeat if they need ear defenders or stim toys.

Aids are a good thing. They allow us to live better than we could before, and that’s something to celebrate, not demean and be doom and gloom about.

the thing about working as a housekeeper is that sometimes I will be called to clean a room that is in such a state that it gives me pause.

The thing about being a housekeeper at a Hospital is that it is not the things that would usually be concerning that leave me with questions.

Like if I go clean a room and it is just covered in blood, I'm not all "where did all this blood come from" that would be silly. It came from inside the patient and they were already in a hospital so they're probably mostly fine hopefully.

In fact "Inside the patient" is where most of the potentially concerning stuff I have to deal with comes from. Vomit? That's from inside the patient. Urine? Feces? Inside the patient baby. Needles full of unidentified drugs? That was supposed to go inside the patient but I guess they frogot.

But when I go to clean a hospital room and it is full of Sand... Did that come from inside the patient? I hope not. Why is there so much sand? Where did it come from? Was there some kind of terrible beach accident?

I have many questions and I'm scared of the answers.

Shout out to people with incredibly nasally voices, shout out to people with lisps, shout out to stutter-ers, shout out to people who can't say certain words "correctly", shout out to people who can't pronounce certain letters and syllables "right", screaming and hooting and hollering for people who's speech is impacted by neruodivergence or disabilities!

if anyone has approached you at any age about speech therapy, if you've ever been made fun of, just know I love you from a very respectful distance, I'm waving at you from across the street, and you're my cup of tea and also you inherently deserve respect!!!

OH MY GOD. THIS.

Both our parents are disabled and our father in particular is f*cking NOTORIOUS for making it a competition.

Fatigued? He's got it worse.

In pain? He's got it worse.

Can't walk? It's just a period.

Bleeding? Actually that time it's us.

Going in for surgery? "They can't do surgery for me"

Hotel? Trivago.

The other week I was saying that it sucks being a disabled teenager because you're constantly left out of able-bodied friends activities and he straight up said "you should try being in your 40s and disabled"

And I'm just sitting there going "Where did I say that you don't have it rough too???? Just because it's hard for me doesn't mean it can't be hard for you too?? Why is everything a competition???"

I was so close to hissing at him and making an incredibly rude comment regarding the fact not everything is about him. Aaannnndd he wonders why we won't tell him things. 🥴

I feel like nobody talks about the generational trauma of having a disabled parent who projects their internalized ableism onto their similarly disabled child.

Like just because you’re “worse off” than me doesn’t mean I don’t deserve accomodations!!!

Mkay so we weren't going to talk about anything related too closely to our country for privacy reasons

However,

After today

I say fuck that.

I want the world to know that the present New Zealand government has just removed most kinds of usable funding for disabled people. Without speaking to the disabled community. And said they are doing it for the benefit of the community.

I never saw myself saying this but I'm with Guy Fawkes. Burn the government to the ground.

Wheel-talk

I'm flaring, severely. Everything hurts, the world is spinning, nausea is overwhelming, and I'm dizzy from blood loss, along with a myriad of other things: it's not fun. But I went to a museum with mum today, and instead of being stubborn and walking it on a cane, asked if they had a wheelchair that I could borrow.

It was amazing.

As embarrassing as it is to be a teen in a wheelchair (I got some stares and commentary from strangers), it was so freeing. Instead of hobbling around, leaning on things and trying not to faint, I could explore. Look at things. Read. Do wheelies (much to my mother's horror). Spin around and move at a speed I hadn't in years, as my body usually wouldn't let me, and I wasn't tied to leaning against walls and feeling sick.

and I had energy left over to complete chores.

I wouldn't be able to visit a museum, or for that matter.. anywhere, during a flare. But today? Because I had wheels? It was amazing.

It was nice having that freedom. So much so I talked to my mother and asked if we could discuss getting a wheelchair for when the pain is bad…

That went less well.

// slight ableist talk //

She doesn't want me relying on it to get around. She doesn't want me to rely on wheels to get around because she doesn't want me being bed bound, to lose muscle or something like that.

I understand where she's coming from, but… it's so frustrating when that was the first time I felt good in weeks… and having that option might actually give me more time to do things I enjoy.

but she doesn't want me being “that disabled”

a cane is bad enough in her eyes

(and don't get me started on how my father would react if he knew I'd used a wheelchair)

and I don't know what to do...

help?

Sending love to anyone whose disability has changed the way they look.. whether that be through surgery, medication, shifts in weight, using mobility aids, being limited in the ways you can exercise, having a colostomy bag added, glucose monitors, prosthetics, or anything else that's changed or added to your appearance

It's hard having your body change, especially if it's in a way you don't like at first — whether your disability has given you scars, stretch marks, spots, marks, or altered your appearance entirely: sending love, you've got this.

Fun fact: the word 'chronic' means it's lifelong! and the phrase 'chronic illness' means I'm stuck with it until it takes me out, or I take me out. So, to the woman bothering me at a close family friend's funeral today about 'whether it goes away' can shut the hell up. Chronic means I'm stuck with it. Telling me I can think my way out of it when I have things physically wrong with my body will not do anything. No, it's not going away, and praying and trying to force me out of my wheelchair won't do jack-shit (except make me want to break your nose). Trust me, I have tried almost everything under the sun by now.

Besides, I've come to the conclusion if god/s exist, they decided I'm better used as a disability advocate than wasting their precious time on fixing the fact I'm in crippling pain constantly :DDD

A general cane guide for writers and artists (from a cane user, writer, and artist!)

Disclaimer: Though I have been using a cane for 6 years, I am not a doctor, nor am I by any means an expert. This guide is true to my experience, but there are as many ways to use a cane as there are cane users!

This guide will not include: White canes for blindness, crutches, walkers, or wheelchairs as I have no personal experience with these.

This is meant to be a general guide to get you started and avoid some common mishaps/misconceptions, but you absolutely should continue to do your own research outside of this guide!

The biggest recurring problem I've seen is using the cane on the wrong side. The cane goes on the opposite side of the pain! If your character has even-sided pain or needs it for balance/weakness, then use the cane in the non-dominant hand to keep the dominant hand free. Some cane users also switch sides to give their arm a rest!

A cane takes about 20% of your weight off the opposite leg. It should fit within your natural gait and become something of an extension of your body. If you need more weight off than 20%, then crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair is needed.

Putting more pressure on the cane, using it on the wrong side, or having it at the wrong height will make it less effective, and can cause long term damage to your body from improper pressure and posture. (Hugh Laurie genuinely hurt his body from years of using a cane wrong on House!)

(an animated GIF of a cane matching the natural walking gait. It turns red when pressure is placed on it.)

When going up and down stairs, there is an ideal standard: You want to use the handrail and the cane at the same time, or prioritize the handrail if it's only on one side. When going up stairs you lead with your good leg and follow with the cane and hurt leg together. When going down stairs you lead with the cane, then the good leg, and THEN the leg that needs help.

Realistically though, many people don't move out of the way for cane users to access the railing, many stairs don't have railings, and many are wet, rusty, or generally not ideal to grip.

In these cases, if you have a friend nearby, holding on to them is a good idea. Or, take it one step at a time carefully if you're alone.

Now we come to a very common mistake I see... Using fashion canes for medical use!

(These are 4 broad shapes, but there is INCREDIBLE variation in cane handles. Research heavily what will be best for your character's specific needs!)

The handle is the contact point for all the weight you're putting on your cane, and that pressure is being put onto your hand, wrist, and shoulder. So the shape is very important for long term use!

Knob handles (and very decorative handles) are not used for medical use for this reason. It adds extra stress to the body and can damage your hand to put constant pressure onto these painful shapes.

The weight of a cane is also incredibly important, as a heavier cane will cause wear on your body much faster. When you're using it all day, it gets heavy fast! If your character struggles with weakness, then they won't want a heavy cane if they can help it!

This is also part of why sword canes aren't usually very viable for medical use (along with them usually being knob handles) is that swords are extra weight!

However, a small knife or perhaps a retractable blade hidden within the base might be viable even for weak characters.

Bases have a lot of variability as well, and the modern standard is generally adjustable bases. Adjustable canes are very handy if your character regularly changes shoe height, for instance (gotta keep the height at your hip!)

Canes help on most terrain with their standard base and structure. But for some terrain, you might want a different base, or to forego the cane entirely! This article covers it pretty well.

Many cane users decorate their canes! Stickers are incredibly common, and painting canes is relatively common as well! You'll also see people replacing the standard wrist strap with a personalized one, or even adding a small charm to the ring the strap connects to. (nothing too large, or it gets annoying as the cane is swinging around everywhere)

(my canes, for reference)

If your character uses a cane full time, then they might also have multiple canes that look different aesthetically to match their outfits!

When it comes to practical things outside of the cane, you reasonably only have one hand available while it's being used. Many people will hook their cane onto their arm or let it dangle on the strap (if they have one) while using their cane arm, but it's often significantly less convenient than 2 hands. But, if you need 2 hands, then it's either setting the cane down or letting it hang!

For this reason, optimizing one handed use is ideal! Keeping bags/items on the side of your free hand helps keep your items accessible.

When sitting, the cane either leans against a wall or table, goes under the chair, or hooks onto the back of the chair. (It often falls when hanging off of a chair, in my experience)

When getting up, the user will either use their cane to help them balance/support as they stand, or get up and then grab their cane. This depends on what it's being used for (balance vs pain when walking, for instance!)

That's everything I can think of for now. Thank you for reading my long-but-absolutely-not-comprehensive list of things to keep in mind when writing or drawing a cane user!

Happy disability pride month! Go forth and make more characters use canes!!!