I’m Allowed to Be Angry
It has taken me months to try and write this piece. It has sat in my to do list since August, “Write cripple anger piece.” Every time I’ve tried to start, though, every time I think I’ve found the words to begin, I’m set back. I’m pushed away from the issue I want to write […]
Disabled Influencers Are Rewriting Narratives About Disability on Social Media
Image Description: Horizontal image. In the image, a person is seen scrolling on a phone, what seems to be on social media. Only the hands and phone are visible. Social media is centered around how the outside sees in; how the followers perceive the poster’s content, how the likers engage with the creator’s post. More […]
Hallmark Never Misses Christmas, But It Does Miss Disability Representation
The film industry is flawed enough when it comes to casting disabled actors and writing disabled characters (just take a look at Music). The holiday season with everyone’s favorite movies and the new batch of cookie cutter Hallmark holiday movies is no exception. In fact, holiday movies are worse with representation than “every day” movies. […]
Disabled People Face Ableism and Microaggressions While Receiving Medical Treatment
One in four adults in the United States is living with some type of disability; that’s 61 million people living with some kind of medical condition that impacts their daily living, and that number is on the rise. In the United States, while 92 percent of people have healthcare only 66 percent of disabled people have […]
My Scars are Trauma, Not Inspiration
Image illustrated by Staff Artist, Damaris Contreras. CW: medical trauma, graphic descriptions of injury The crack of the plaster fills the tiny doctor’s room, snapping open and ripping apart the cast I have spent the past six weeks picking at. One side, then the other, and my arm breathes for the first time in what […]
Dear Able Bodied People: Your Disabled Friends Aren’t Your Search Engine
July is disability pride month, and that means your social media is (hopefully) flooded with posts on disability, awareness, and research. This might be the first time you’re learning that one of your closest friends has a disability—one that you’ve never even heard of. So, of course, you’re asking them about it. Starting a conversation. […]
I Don’t Have To Prove My Disability To Anyone – Including You, Too
I’m leaning against the door frame of the drama room, talking to a teacher that’s known me for four years, one that wrote my college recommendations and always ensured this was a space where I felt welcome. I’m discussing upcoming auditions and wanting to try out but being scared my disability will hold me back. […]