as small as a world and as large as alone

1:33am June 5, 2014

lichgem:

Some people believe in ableism, but they only half-believe. Or they don’t recognize it when they see it. Or they believe some things, but not others.

But some people outright don’t believe in ableism, and when that’s the case, I know for certain it’s because they see the way things are as completely and unquestionably natural.

They believe certain types of disabled people belong locked away in institutions just as birds belong in the trees, and fish belong in the water.

They believe, also, that they don’t see visibly disabled people as much as other kinds of people in public because that’s natural, too, because access barriers are invisible to them.

And so on.

It’s for the same reason people used to think misogyny was a laughable idea because women just BELONG in the home, under their husband’s benevolent, authoritative care. (Still do. Not as much, but still do.)

And, also, there’s the prevalent belief that when you’re disabled, you get all kinds of special treatment. Forgetting that, without accommodations, you don’t get to do the same things as other people… it’s the difference between being able to go out in public, and staying stuck at home.

And some of the “special treatment” is condescension, or control masked as caring, or other things that aren’t actually good for us or special at all.

Forgetting, also, that a disabled person got stabbed in the leg because someone wanted to test to see if they were REALLY paralyzed from the waist down. Forgetting that a cop ran into a disabled person with their car and then just drove away. Forgetting that a disabled woman went to a hospital and had the nurse say, “Come on, it’s not like she’s a real person,” when talking to her able friend. Maybe not forgetting, so much as not even seeing that these things are happening at all.

This is the best description yet.

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