Tw Mentions Of Disabled People So Beware!!!!!!! - Tumblr Posts
Writing Advice For Disabled Characters
Lesson One: GO HARD
When I see disabled characters who have symptoms that "just so happen" to be totally convenient and not problematic I want to fight you!
Write disabled characters whose burn scars actually come with nerve problems!
Write disabled characters who don't have a "tasteful beautiful and oh so symbolic" scar and just write "neutral scar that is beautiful not because of it's shape but because of the person it's on"!
Write disabled characters whose disability doesn't allow them to live totally indepedently! Maybe you can actually write mentally disabled characters who have caretakers and not have this be a flaw?
Write disabled characters who have "gross" symptoms such as urine/fecal incontinence!
Write disabled characters who don't have amazingly perfect friends who are respectful/understanding 100% of the time but they're trying!
Write disabled characters whose symptoms occasionally prevent them from doing the fun dangerous stuff because their mobility aid can't function properly or their chronic fatigue syndrome is acting up!
Keep this advice dear readers and writers: Disability is not a handbag that you can pick up and put down. Yes, disability is not the worst thing that can happen in a character's life BUT it's not a walk in the park.
If you can't handle representing disabled people in their not conventionally attractive and "easy" state then you don't want to write disabled people! You just want to write diversity brownie points that allow you to fawn over a hot "Technically Disabled" guy but not a "Real Life Disabled Person"
Writing Advice: Disability And Infantilization
Here Is Life Lesson To Take Into Everything: Disabled Adults Are Adults
In My Multi-Part Series, I Will Be Talking About The Different Ways That Writers Alike Mess Up This Phrase.
Disabled Adults Are Children?
This is a common mistake that authors make when attempting to write distabled characters. This is especially common when representing intellectually disabled characters but it definitely appears in the representations of the physically disabled.
Infantilization is a form of ableism where an individual talks/thinks/acts with a disabled person the way you might interact with an infantile child or dumb dog.
This type of infantilizing tends to impact those
If you want to understand how infantilization impacts real humans living in the real world and not characters, there are a ton of resources online and on Tumblr.
For disabled characters, love interests, allies, and the narrative itself relegate these characters to "funny animal sidekick" or "symbol of innocence".
I'm going to go through a rapid fire list of how authors infantilize and downplay how amazing their characters could be if you gave them something to do. Ok? Ok!
Never Giving Your Disabled Character Something To Do In The Story Besides Sitting There And Looking Innocent
Portraying Your Disabled Or Disabled-Coded(autism-coded) Character As Ignorant Or Unwanting Of "Adult Things" Like Sex, Problems, And Unhappiness
Assuming That Your Disabled Character Couldn't Do [THING] Despite Not Asking Mommy Google About It
Not Treating A Disabled Person's Desires, Beliefs, And Opinions Are Serious Which Often Leads To Characters Violating Their Boundaries
Having Your Likeable Characters Treat The Disabled Character Condescendingly Like Patting Their Head Or Acting Disapprovingly Shocked When A Character Goes Outside This
Refusing A Character's Ability To Be Independent By Having Them Only Rely On Others To Do Everything
When you, author, treat your intellectually/physically disabled character as a symbol of innocence or a child, you deny audiences the ability to see well-developed characters on screen! Disabled adults are adults who do things that adults do!
They drink if they want to
They have sex if they want to
They identify as [Something] if they want to
They date if they want to
They swear if they want to
They believe if they want to
Caretaker/Friend/Love Interest characters should not be romanticize when they disrespect this character, desexualize this character, and violate the boundaries of this character.
"When you deny the humanity of certain characters, you deny the humanity of certain people. "