Skip to main content

Disability Rights Must Be Demanded

 As Disabled people, we are often shunned by society and gaslit in a number of ways that a statement of demanding rights might seem, well, a little demanding, but let me explain.

Throughout the course of the Disability Rights Movement, we have been attempting to demand equal rights, access, and accommodations to the things we need, but we have not made it far. We have had a few policy changes over the past few decades and a few accommodations in some areas, but there are still many public places that are not accessible for people who are not able-bodied. This does not even take into account the term "able-minded," which can just as easily translate to able-bodied, as the brain and neurology are directly linked to how the body behaves.

I have heard from many wheelchair users in my time on Twitter that many restaurants simply do not afford them enough room, if any, to move around. Many of them have been told that no accommodations could be made.

Many buildings are not accessible to wheelchair users, much less Autistic people, which would be more my area of expertise as a Multiply Neurodivergent person. Most public buildings are full of giant fluorescent lights that flicker, make noise, and hurt my eyes. Not only that, public places means that I might have to navigate a crowd of people, and my navigational skills are poor. It most definitely means I will likely get sensory overload if I do not carefully plan, as I do when I am getting acclimated to university classes, and in a worst case scenario, I will have a meltdown in public.

So, while it may seem absurd to ask others to join with me in demanding rights for Disabled people after the short description I just gave, if we work together and with each other's disability, it might become easier to demand our rights as equal citizens deserving of a future with accommodations.

I would like to thank past movements that have made it easier for the Disability Rights Movement to evolve, such as the Gay Rights Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and the intersectional Feminist Movement. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction

 My name is Lily Maureen O'Nan, and I am currently going to university for my associate of science degree in social science, and then will be moving onto a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology with a minor in gender studies. I am non-binary transfeminine and autistic and ADHD, and will be using this platform to publish essays as I go through academia until I have a better grasp on coding.  I will be discussing a wide array of topics from disability studies to traditional psychology to psychedelic therapy to Marxism and more. I will also be discussing gender and "neuroqueer" experience, and possibly publishing poetry and art-themed pieces as well. Be on the lookout for updates. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Communication and Assistive Technology for Autistic and Other Disabled People

 Communication is more than speaking and Autistic people are a great example of a community who uses a wide variety of communication techniques and technologies to help assist us. Some Autistic people are speaking, some are nonspeaking, some partially nonspeaking, many have apraxia of speech, some connect to language in a synesthetic way, some are object visualizers, and some spatial visualizers. For nonspeaking and partially speaking (and even speaking Autistics who want an alternative) can turn to assistive technologies or other forms of communication, such as facilitated communication, RPM (rapid prompting method), letterboards, AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) devices or apps, writing, typing, ASL (American Sign Language), and a multitude of other ways to communicate, including, but not limited to music, sound, and motoric movements that convey a message to the Autistic or otherwise Disabled person. These methods are used for other Disabilities sometimes as well...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ketamine Therapy

 There are many forms of trauma-based therapy, but throughout the years, I have learned the type of neurobiological transformation that I want comes in form of ketamine therapy. I take ketamine troches (lozenges) at home because I have a lot of medical trauma. They are legally prescribed to me. The topic of ketamine therapy can be murky for the Autistic, as we respond to anesthesia differently than neurotypicals in many cases. Some ketamine doctors are also not sure what to do when presented with Autistic individuals. In many instances, if you're Autistic, you are also more likely to have gastroparesis, which might be my case. Gastroparesis can change the way that you metabolize certain substances, and in my case, it tends to elongate the experience of ketamine for me, considering I am taking it sublingually and orally. It goes through secondary and (in my opinion) tertiary pass metabolism. This leaves me with a day to re-connect my thoughts and helps encourage neuroplasticity. I d...
Post a Comment
Read more