12:32pm August 10, 2014

➸ That Crazy Crippled Chick: This Is What Disability Binarism Looks Like

“I exist on the grey area of disability, the part where things are neither black nor white. I am neither wholly visibly disabled, nor wholly invisibly disabled. I walk on my own, and yet, I use a wheelchair. More people are with me in the grey area than you think. Not everything is black and white. And that is the core of disability binarism - the concept that things are all or nothing - you are either low-functioning or high functioning. You’re either "wheelchair bound” or you can walk. You’re either totally deaf, or you hear fine. Get the picture?

Disability binarism p*sses me off.”

Blog post of the freaking year! Everything she wrote in this blog could have been taken straight from my mouth. I too pretend to be completely unable to walk when I’m out in public in my wheelchair, because the times that I stand up to reach something or to move to a seat or get into the car…I’m treated like I’m a big faker. I was told I was lazy almost constantly when I first got my wheelchair, and not just from strangers either. People I knew very closely judged my need to have a wheelchair for longer distances. Until that is, they saw me use it and saw how I was able to keep up for the first time in my ENTIRE LIFE, how my attitude was better because I wasn’t in pain, and that I was able to be included more often in outings where there would be a lot of walking. All my life I have either been too disabled or not disabled enough. It’s incredibly frustrating having to constantly prove either side to everyone, doctors, insurance companies, people, family, friends, etc. I was denied for repairs on my wheelchair this year because there was “not enough evidence to prove mobility is affected enough to need a wheelchair or other mobility equipment.” Because a team of non-disabled people looking at a piece of paper know my body better than I do, right? I was denied by the same state that gave me my wheelchair 4 years ago. Not everything is black and white, and ableism is very real. Me and my friends experience it daily. Stop sharing the photo talked about in this blog. Think before you say things. *steps off soapbox*