Hello, Deconstructing ableism, how it works and where it arises and how it affects us (individually and collectively), is perhaps a whole lifetime of work for those of us trying to change it.
I deeply related to this. "As they come over, I see the stranger clock my physicality and then have a little argument with themselves in which they decide a wheelchair is nothing to worry about (it’s amazing how visible this internal monologue is on people’s faces)." I am not a wheelchair user, but I have a limb difference, and I have gotten this exact look before, many times. You describe it so well. Feels good to feel seen.
I have a friend name Stasia W who can’t talk.she uses her eyes to choose words and then her iPad says them. I bet she has some of the same experiences.
Thank you for sharing this, Lucy. For describing so clearly & vividly what this looks like and feels like. So often when I read your writing, I have this moment of deep pause — to feel so intimately and powerfully brought in on a kind of experience I don’t know firsthand. This is one of the many reasons your writing is so damn powerful.
I deeply related to this. "As they come over, I see the stranger clock my physicality and then have a little argument with themselves in which they decide a wheelchair is nothing to worry about (it’s amazing how visible this internal monologue is on people’s faces)." I am not a wheelchair user, but I have a limb difference, and I have gotten this exact look before, many times. You describe it so well. Feels good to feel seen.
I have a friend name Stasia W who can’t talk.she uses her eyes to choose words and then her iPad says them. I bet she has some of the same experiences.
Thank you for sharing this, Lucy. For describing so clearly & vividly what this looks like and feels like. So often when I read your writing, I have this moment of deep pause — to feel so intimately and powerfully brought in on a kind of experience I don’t know firsthand. This is one of the many reasons your writing is so damn powerful.
🩷