Tag: disability

wetwareproblem:

thefibrodiaries:

fogblogger:

fightinginthenameofnothing:

thefibrodiaries:

if abled people spent even half the amount of time supporting disabled people that they spend ‘calling out the fakes’ the world would be a much a better place for disabled people.

I don’t see how it’s unsupportive to expose people utilizing resources and garnering false sympathies who do not need those resources or sympathies. If anything it frees up those services for people who legitimately need them.

Of course! But the problem is that people take it upon themselves to go after absolutely anyone who is disabled and requires services, and us disabled people end up having to constantly (literally on a daily basis) explain and justify our needs. I think people think it’s very easy to get gov assistance, when that is completely not the case. It takes years, a lot of money and time, and a whole lot of proof. It’s super stressful to go through the whole process, and then every year/few years you gotta do it all again and reprove yourself. Most people have no issue with the gov keeping tabs on it all, since we don’t want people misusing it, but when regular people try to do the governments job, that’s where I have a problem.

Plus, they’re never kind about it! It’s always done in a horribly rude and sometimes actually scary way. You shouldn’t be forced to divulge your whole medical history to every person on the street (or in whatever institution you need access too, even though it’s illegal, people don’t care and do it anyways). 💜

@fightinginthenameofnothing I understand what you are saying, if someone is genuinely faking an illness to use resources they don’t need and you are 1000% sure they are not genuine then sure, expose them, call them out. 

The problem with this whole “exposing the fake disabled” culture, like @fogblogger says, is that people are going after anyone on disability, anyone using disabled badges or getting any extra help/support etc. 

I have been attacked for using my disabled badge, harassed when people see me walking because that must mean I am not disabled. I am in constant fear of people accusing me of lying and just being a lazy scrounger (all these things have been said to me in the past) and I even have severe anxiety as a result. People have taken this whole thing too far and so many genuinely disabled people are being harassed and abused because of it. This may have started with good intentions but is turning into a hate crime against the disabled.

 People are even being investigated by the government because they’ve been reported as falsely claiming benefits. The governments own figures show that most of the people reported are genuine and they’ve just wasted all that tax payer money investigating someone who didn’t deserve to be investigated in the first place. 

Obviously I would like the people who are not genuine and taking resources from those who need it to be caught out but if I had choose between protecting the disabled community as a whole or trying to catch out the 0.7% (actual figure of people in the UK fraudulently claiming benefits). I would rather one person get away with benefit fraud than risk hurting thousands of disabled people in a witch hunt to “catch out the fakes”

The public have no right to judge every single disabled person who needs help. It is not up to them to decide who is or isn’t disabled. We go through enough stress trying to prove that we need the help in the first place. We undergo assessments, Appeals, medical tests.

 This is culture is not even helping to stop benefit fraud, it is just harming the most vulnerable people in society. disabled people don’t deserve this constant harassment and fear of losing their support just because some asshole on a power trip thinks that they can stop benefit fraud by going after vulnerable people.

Instead of trying to make sure “fakes” aren’t taking up limited resources, why not spend that same time and effort building more resources?

Also looking at the UK, with its ongoing austerity dumpster fire and encouraged easy anonymous reporting:

Only 7% Of Benefit Fraud Allegations Are Substantiated (Covering all benefits, BTW.)

DWP also admit they don’t record how many people make malicious allegations – mainly due to the anonymity they provide accusers – and take no action (legal or otherwise against those who do.

Meanwhile:

There seems to be a large disparity between this and public perception: an Ipsos Mori survey in 2013 found the public believed 24% of benefits were fraudulently claimed – 34 times greater than the level seen in official statistics.

From last month (October 2017), and not at all unconnected:

Disability Hate Crime Reports Surge, And Campaigners Think Media Portrayals Have ‘Demonised’ People (‘Disabled people on benefits are portrayed as scroungers.’)

Of course, it’s not as if the ones harassing and assaulting disabled strangers can even know who may or may not be receiving benefits at all, much less how legitimately. Just being disabled in public is plenty. Scroungers by default. It’s an unfortunately socially acceptable excuse for abusive behavior wrapped up in resentment. Self-righteousness can be one hell of a drug.

And letting other people go about their business without interrogation and harassment should be the default. That includes everyone.

(Though sometimes they don’t even bother with that pretense. Also from last month: Hate crimes against disabled children rise 150 per cent in two years)

To reiterate wetwareproblem’s point:

Instead of trying to make sure “fakes” aren’t taking up limited resources, why not spend the same time and effort building more resources?

I mean, there are some obvious reasons the government would prefer to scapegoat us all as drains on society, but “concerned citizens” really don’t need to do so much of the dirty work for them. It’s really not in anyone’s best interest to keep squabbling over crumbs.

We’re Not Lazy

cactus-spirit:

When you’re disabled, there are people who will assume you’re either lazy, stupid, or both. They’ll act like you meant for your life to end up this way. Like you were never anyone important who had plans or dreams or goals. They’ll assume you never wanted to be anyone because they think it’s easier to have a disability, as if it was a choice. Or maybe they assume you aren’t smart enough to do anything better with yourself. 

It’s hard enough to mourn what you’ve lost to your illness without people’s judgment.

So here’s to all the beautiful people with chronic illnesses who had big plans – who were going to finish school, who were going to travel the world, become athletes, have a meaningful career, raise a family… whatever your dreams were.

I’m sorry for the parts of your future that your illness took from you. 

earlgraytay:

queenofthesilverswapmeet:

I think women in authority who don’t understand neurodiverse children are particularly pissed when it’s a girl, because they expect certain behavior from boys and a girl acting that way, well hell, she isn’t being her gender the right way and that’s just a personal insult to women everywhere somehow.

I’ve told this story before but it’s relevant so I’m telling it again:

As you all have noticed, I have a pottymouth. I’ve been trying to swear less because it’s both unprofessional and unbecoming of a gentleman, but I say the fuck word a lot. And I did this as a smol AFAB child, too, only I didn’t know any dirty words because I was a sheltered kid. I said ‘darn’ and ‘heck’ and ‘crap’ and ‘stupid’ and ‘moron’ a lot in the same way I say ‘damn’ or ‘hell’ or ‘shit’ or ‘fucking’ or ‘bastard’ these days. 

Wellllll… when I was in school, especially middle and high school, the special ed teachers and paraprofessionals I had to work with Did Not Like That. They banned me from using any of the minced oaths I knew. And I mean any of them- . I can understand them telling me i’m not allowed to say ‘stupid’, but 

I wasn’t allowed to say ‘heck’, for pete’s sake.    

I started switching to fictional curse words, because I need to have something to put in the ‘curse’ word space- if I don’t have a way to quickly intensify a phrase, I can’t properly express myself. But even the fictional curse words quickly got banned. ‘D’arvit’, for example, sounded too much like ‘darn it’.

For a while, I had to resort to the phrase ‘oh, purple-spotted dalmatians’, because it was the only even remotely-curse-like thing I could get away with using. Eventually, I switched to French curse words, and used them until I was able to escape to the safety of homeschool. 

People really don’t like neurodivergent girls being anything but sweetness and light. You’re supposed to be cute and childish and innocent, gentle little Helen Kellers ready to be taught by noble Annie Sullivans.

People forget that Helen Keller was always full of righteous anger.

karalianne:

gingerautie:

ivanaskye:

fierceawakening:

shanneibh:

dendritic-trees:

flavoracle:

languill:

It’s sad how much of what is taught in school is useless to over 99% of the population.

There are literally math concepts taught in high school and middle school that are only used in extremely specialized fields or that are even so outdated they aren’t used anymore!

I took calculus my senior year of high school, and I really liked the way our teacher framed this on the first day of class.

He asked somebody to raise their hand and ask him when we would use calculus in our everyday life. So one student rose their hand and asked, “When are we going to use this in our everyday life?”

“NEVER!!” the teacher exclaimed. “You will never use calculus in your normal, everyday life. In fact, very few of you will use it in your professional careers either.” Then he paused. “So would you like to know why should care?”

Several us nodded.

He picked out one of the varsity football players in the class. “You practice football a lot during the week, right Tim?” asked the teacher.

“Yeah,” replied Tim. “Almost every day.”

“Do you and your teammates ever lift weights during practice?”

“Yeah. Tuesdays and Thursdays we spend a lot of practice in the weight room.”

“But why?” asked the teacher. “Is there ever going to be a play your coach tells you use during a game that requires you to bench press the other team?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then why lift weights?”

“Because it makes us stronger,” said Tim.

“Bingo!!” said the teacher. “It’s the same thing with calculus. You’re not here because you’re going to use calculus in your everyday life. You’re here because calculus is weightlifting for your brain.”

And I’ve never forgotten that.

I actually also get really angry about this whole, “most people won’t use it” bullshit. Because yeah, by the numbers, most people won’t be astronauts and engineers and use calculus every day. But when you use that as an excuse not to teach it you go from “most of these kids won’t go into careers that use this”, to “these kids can’t go into the careers that will use this”.

I don’t use most of my education in my everyday life. But I wouldn’t trade away any of it. It taught me how to apply critical thinking, how to question. There are also things I thought I’d never use, but that I use all the time now. You don’t know who in a class is gonna need to know x or y, so all students might as well know it.

Besides, how do you imagine a world where you’re only taught what you’ll need would work? Baristas only knowing how to make coffee, accountants only knowing maths, History teachers only knowing historical facts? And who decides who needs to know what, how and when?

Yeah, this.

Tbh this is why I wonder about homeschooling sometimes too. I mean, when i was convalescing after surgery the tutor my school sent couldn’t explain calculus and it was the one thing I failed awfully.

I always think of that when I think about parents teaching their kids everything. How much does Jane Random know? I mean, she *might* be an amazing teacher, sure, and absolutely some parents actually are, but all I know for sure she did was make a human.

This is really interesting discussion, but I want to add that that’s not usually how homeschooling works. Typically, in the way I’ve experienced and/or seen it, it works in one of three ways:

1. Taking online classes/an online curriculum. This would typically have about the same set of subjects Classic School (public or private) would have, although less ability to say, ask a teacher things, so I’m not sure how useful it really is. I kind of get the impression that people usually go this route if it’s decided that the social dynamics of Classic School are too damaging to the kid involved to be worth it, or if the very specific time commitments would be.

2. Kind of being taught by a parent, but mostly by books. This is what I did from the ages of six to eleven, and I mostly learned a lot of stuff pretty well. Honestly I just read a bunch of textbooks and did a bunch of workbooks for a few years… it was concentrated on the subjects that interested me most, but I did a bit of almost everything.

3. In the best case scenarios, usually when the homeschooler is a teenager, they seek out tutorship/mentorship from an actual shit ton of people in the community, who each have various skills. Maybe their neighbor teaches them math, and someone a parent knows can teach them outdoor skills, and someone else can teach writing. I actually know some people who have managed to do this, so it’s apparently possible, although I never experienced it personally, and it seems to have worked out for the people who have done it.

Of course, some people also … kind of don’t do anything? Which sounds pretty bad, and I’ve often judged people for it, but oftentimes the people who didn’t bother with any schooling at all when they were like, ten, suddenly get motivated at a later age and do well in community college or something. I’ve seen that happen. I guess it’s kind of like protecting them from bad experiences with school at a young age so they can have good experiences later?

I think there’s a lot of arguments to be made for and against all sorts of things in education, and a lot of room for nuance too, but I did want to add all that.

Being able to essentially self teach from reading books at age 6 is likely pretty uncommon I think.

I think most parents can probably teach their kid reading and basic maths, if they have enough time.

I’ve seen a lot of examples of this not happening though. (yay, special interest in fundamentalism).

A relatively common pattern is this:

Generation 1: Has some post secondary education, can write well, without obvious spelling mistakes. Has 5-12 kids.

Generation 2: Graduates from homeschool at 16, appears functionally literate but with odd, idiosyncratic mistakes. Literacy skills may vary hugely with birth order, younger kids may be far less literate because they’ve been taught by teenage siblings.

Generation 3: Mostly still teenagers, but appear to be way, way less literate than you’d expect for age. Things like 16 year olds who write like 7-8 year olds.

I think it can work ok on a basic level, but if you don’t leave parental control and get education from experts at some point, then you get progressive decline.

The kids who are motivated to learn at any point likely end up ok eventually. You can learn to read and write as an adult. But the kids who aren’t motivated to learn are likely to end up functionally illiterate or so poorly educated they can’t hold down most jobs.

This caution is important.

Around here there are homeschooling groups, so you might teach your kid yourself for the stuff you’re good at and then take them to a class for French or something. I haven’t looked into it a lot yet since my son is only two.

I do remember when I was in high school (the early 1990s) I worked part-time at the public library, and we always hated the days when the homeschool kids came in because they were rowdy and had no respect for adults or the books they were there to read and sign out. So my initial impression of homeschooling was less than good.

I went to public school and it was okay. My husband went to public school and wasn’t challenged properly. We want to homeschool if we can. I’m pretty clear about my limitations, though; we’ll be seeking out that French class and some kind of social studies/history supplement because I am terrible at social studies and my French is, shall we say, rusty. I’m confident in my ability to teach English/Language Arts and elementary level science and math; my husband is a computer engineer, so he is very excited about looking after advanced science and math (though I may need to step in with biology and chemistry supplements to ensure a rounded education there).

And I’m open to sending my kid(s) to school if they want to give it a go when they’re older. I’m thinking high school, TBH. I’d rather he not have to deal with middle school “politics” and there’s too much about elementary school that can be screwed up by the wrong teacher, especially for a kid who isn’t neurotypical (which genetics say my kids definitely will not be).

Oh, and in case you think I forgot about art and music: I’m a musician and we already go to music classes, and he’ll take lessons as soon as he’s ready; and we have art supplies and I’m gradually exposing him to different materials as we go, and if he shows interest I’ll find him a teacher or class (I draw and paint but I’m not an art teacher).

I think it’s about knowing your actual limitations and respecting them.

Hearing loss charity encourages people to be proactive about their communication needs – Action On Hearing Loss: RNID

clatterbane:

clatterbane:

The UK’s largest hearing loss charity Action on Hearing Loss is urging the 9 million people in England who are deaf or have hearing loss to tell their GP what support they need to help them communicate.

The call to the public comes as the charity launches its new campaign, ‘On the Record’, just under three weeks before the NHS England’s mandatory Accessible Information Standard comes into full force.

The charity’s Access All Areas research found that most people with hearing loss surveyed were forced to struggle with the phone or go in person to book appointments for lack of other options such as online booking. One in seven had missed an appointment because they hadn’t heard their name called out in the waiting room. Furthermore, more than a quarter had said they didn’t understand their diagnosis after seeing their GP, and two thirds of those needing a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter didn’t get one.

NHS England estimates that missed appointments for people with all levels of hearing loss costs the NHS at least £14 million every year.

Dr Roger Wicks, Director of Policy and Campaigns at Action on Hearing Loss, said: “This is a huge step forward for people who are deaf or have a hearing loss. From simply booking appointments to fully understanding what has been said in the consulting room, many have struggled to enjoy full, equal access to healthcare.

“This Standard now means that the 9 million people in England who are deaf or have hearing loss must be provided with the support they need to communicate when they visit the GP or other NHS services. We urge anyone who hasn’t had their needs recorded to use one of our free resources to contact their GP and make their needs known.”

The Standard, which becomes a legal requirement in England by 31st Jul 2016, establishes a clear administrative process for providers of NHS care or publicly funded adult social care to follow to make sure people with disabilities and sensory loss can contact services when they need to, communicate well during appointments and understand information they are given.

The charity has created a template letter for patients to send to their GP practice manager or a card for patients to give to the receptionist the next time they’re at the surgery. Patients can use one of these two resources to explain what support they need.
To find about more about how the Accessible Information Standard will affect you, and to download the template letter or card, please visit: www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/ontherecord. All information on the Standard and how to use the template letter are available in BSL on the page.

Very relevant. Hopefully this will make some difference, with their at least having to look like they’re doing something about accessibility.

This is supposed to apply to all kinds of disabilities which may affect communication needs. (So what is the Accessible Information Standard?)

(And I must add that the DDA went through in 1995, and that describes the state of accessibility for NHS services over 20 years later. I don’t necessarily expect much, but you can bet I am sending a letter to the GP’s. Where I have not been able to make an appointment for quite a while.)

Reminded of this again. Because they are threatening me with loss of treatment for freaking retinopathy and maybe going blind, largely because I am already HOH and otherwise disabled.

(I also developed that complication already largely thanks to inaccessible and just plain bad care, but I don’t need to go on right now.)

And the state-run health system has largely avoided even pretending to follow equalities legislation for over 20 years. Because the system places that much value on disabled people. Simple appointment booking is the least of it, but still a major hurdle.

Then they keep blaming us for draining the system with missed appointments. When we’re too often not treated as worth providing decent care.

Not even able to add much right now. (Other than that I did, indeed, get dropped from ophthalmology services recently for having to reschedule too many times, while sick and without the support needed.)

Hearing loss charity encourages people to be proactive about their communication needs – Action On Hearing Loss: RNID

fullyarticulatedgoldskeleton:

Being disabled in different settings is fucking wild

Being disabled in settings where you’re presumed to be abled is a lot of, “But why can’t you? I don’t understand. What’s so hard about…”

And being disabled in settings where you’re presumed to be disabled means having people repeatedly assume that you can’t use your own phone and set your own appointments, even though you showed up on your own, after having to use your phone to set an appointment. Or continuing to assume you need help with something even after you’ve been saying repeatedly “I don’t need help with this,” because some other disabled people they know need help with [thing], so they assume your actual communication about your needs is just you being adorably plucky.

Like I need people to understand that abilities don’t come in package deals. Disability is not like an on/off switch, where either you’re not disabled, and therefore you can do anything abled people can, or you are disabled, and therefore you can do nothing. And I need people to understand that they can’t extrapolate a disabled person’s abilities based on other disabled people they know. We’re all different. Even people with the same diagnosis have different ability levels.

Sometimes people’s assumptions about what I can and can’t do are so strong they overwrite clear evidence to the contrary (see above: Setting my own appointments, but still having that doctor assume he’s talking to a caregiver when he calls me on the phone). Sometimes they’re so strong they don’t even pay attention when I tell them in plain English that I do not need help with that.

Don’t assume that just because you know one disabled person that you know all disabled people. Don’t assume even if you have worked in positions where you spend a lot of time with disabled people that you know all disabled people. It’s almost always better to ask questions than make assumptions. And for god’s sake, don’t make people tell you something seven to nine times because you think you know better than they do what they need.

First Time Walking-Stick/Cane Users Tips

squishbones:

whyistheworldlikethis:

I’ve seen a post about first time wheelchair users guide. Since I’ve been using a walking stick for a while now, I thought I’d make one specifically for these types of aids. These will be in no particular order– they’re just things you probably don’t know about using a walking stick.

– if you’ve hurt you left leg/ect., hold the stick in your right hand (if possible) and if you’ve hurt your right leg/ect., hold the stick in your left hand. Trust me, your shoulders and back will thank you

– the pad of your hand will hurt– it just will. You’ll get used to it and your hand will develop more protection there eventually. To start out, look into a pair of fingerless gloves. 

– a fold up/collapsable stick is good for beginners because you can take them on public transport/cars without too much hassle (they also fit nicely into desks and under chairs).

– When you’re using your stick, you only have one free hand. This may seem obvious, but it really impacts your every day life. Practice for a while around the house, so you get the feeling down.

-there are a lot of different types of walking sticks: fold up, one leg, two legs, three legs, etc. 

image
image

(these are only a few of the many designs)

-if possible, go to a shop that specifies in walking sticks. ask to try a few out, they will also help make sure that you’re using on that’s the right height for you.

– a height adjustable walking stick is a miracle, especially if you want to wear high heels to an event.

– you don’t need a prescription to get a stick in most regions (but in some cases they may help get a discount)

– getting a stick that is the right height for you if very important (even with an adjustable one). Too short, and you’ll hurt your shoulder. Too tall, and you can’t put weight on it properly. The correct height is when the highest part of the handle reaches your wrist when the stick is standing straight up, as shown in this image.

image

– if you’re young (under the age of 60) people will stare, often they wont mean to– it is annoying but you’ll get used to it. 

– again, if you’re young, people will ask why you’re using the stick, all. the. time. Even strangers will sometimes ask. You can use a really simple answer like “medical condition” and if they pry further, you can say “That’s all I’m comfortable saying”. If they don’t know you, or don’t know you well, they really have no business asking.

-Children will ask, a lot. Please be gentle with them, especially if they’re really little. I know it’s annoying but you can give children reallllllllly simple answers like “I just need it to help me walk” and most of the time they’ll be perfectly content with that and won’t ask more.

– don’t be afraid to use more advanced mobility aids if needed on bad days, or when readily available (eg. at a supermarket, when they have motorized wheelchairs for customers)

– You don’t have to use your stick every day for you to have a disability or for you to own a stick. Even if you need it once a week, once a month, you can still own one. You’re not less worthy or a mobility aid than those who need one everyday. 

-Use backpacks, the ones with 2 well-padded straps that go over your shoulders evenly. Use them as much as you can. Bags that you hold in one hand or have one strap make you unbalanced or take up your only free hand. 

– If you want to, decorate your stick, go all out. 

Even if you don’t need/use a walking stick, please reblog this to let those who do, know this information. 

More tips!

-Your cane will fall over a lot if you prop it against things; I fold mine if half and put it on my desk at work, and prop it against my body on the bus to keep it from falling out of reach and making a bunch of noise.

-Able bodied people will get weird when you are visibly disabled; You may feel like people are going out of their way to inconvenience you (People will cut in lines ahead of you more frequently, pull doors closed behind them, move/use accessible elevators just as you’re about to get on, walk close enough to you that they push you, snd generally pretend as though they can’t see you). Sticking up for yourself is scary, but everybody backs off the second you point out what they’re doing. Don’t let them walk all over you because they will, and it sucks.

-If you’re a transit user, don’t be afraid to ask for a seat if you need it! A lot of the time people sitting on trains and buses zone out or immerse themselves in reading, and they will legitimately not notice you get on. It’s better to talk to a stranger for a second than to potentially fall!

-Holding your cane in the opposite hand to your compromised leg will absolutely save your back and shoulders, however, if your leg is prone to collapsing, it won’t really help you. Holding the cane on the same side allows you to use the cane as support while walking.

(#I wanna know why physiotherapists always say to hold it opposite #Ive literally had someone accuse me of faking because i hold my cane on the same side as my ghost leg #Excuse me for not wanting to fall over like a jackass when the knee buckles and the only support is on the complete other side of my bod)

Some very good additions.

I would say that the best way to use a cane very much depends on why you need it, and what you’re using it for. I finally started using one about 10 years ago, when I was having a lot of trouble with a knee unpredictably buckling out from under me–and in that case it’s not necessarily going to help you much in the other hand. Also from personal experience, using a cane on the other side made the situation worse with a not so stable pelvic fracture. Also too relevant sometimes, especially with something like EDS and/or a frozen shoulder thrown into the mix: which arm can reasonably handle it right then.

Basically, it’s important to figure out what’s the most helpful and comfortable approach in your specific situation. Where there may also be multiple considerations to juggle.

Just going to repeat this, as much as it continues to drive me up the wall where I’m living now:

-Able bodied people will get weird when you are visibly disabled; You may feel like people are going out of their way to inconvenience you (People will cut in lines ahead of you more frequently, pull doors closed behind them, move/use accessible elevators just as you’re about to get on, walk close enough to you that they push you, snd generally pretend as though they can’t see you). Sticking up for yourself is scary, but everybody backs off the second you point out what they’re doing. Don’t let them walk all over you because they will, and it sucks.

IME, not everybody will back off. Some will get mouthy and/or put on a show of aggrievement. But, they need the feedback anyway, because jfc. And you’re not the one in the wrong, either for taking up their precious sidewalk space or for having the gall to object to literally getting shoved around 😬

lizardtitties:

gingerautie:

I think one of the consequences of SJ’s tendency to refuse to empathise is that people who are oppressed for reasons that aren’t often discussed get pushed away, often to anti-SJ places, simply because their axis of oppression isn’t the most commonly discussed.

A lot of disabled people need to discuss the oppression they face as disabled people. Sometimes disabled men try to discuss the ways in which they are abused and oppressed primarily by women. There are patterns of abuse of disabled men which are predominantly done by women. There are ways in which non-disabled women use the power they have as non-disabled people to hurt disabled men, sometimes using gender and sexism as a way to portray themselves as victims. These situations are complicated, and it can be hard to tell just by looking at them who is the victim.

SJ forgets disability so much, and is so used to looking at easily visible things like race and gender, that sometimes people look at a situation, and go “clearly that man is privileged over that woman, she must be the victim in this situation”. If you’re a disabled man trying to talk about this, having your experiences of oppression dismissed as “male tears” or “privileged whining” is alienating in a way that could easily push you away.

The MRA belief that women have “female privilege” is inaccurate. But if your experiences of oppression as a disabled man have been primarily at the hands of women, and your foray into SJ spaces didn’t identify this as disability based (because no one remembers disability), then what anti-SJ and MRA spaces are saying sounds like a more accurate description of your experiences.

Yes! And on a similar note, a lot of the time NT feminist leaning people tend to sort of… ignore neuroaytypical women’s stories, or get outright angry at them for being outside the approved narrative. Other people have spoken about this much more eloquently than I ever can, but the main examples I’m thinking of was all the furore over that autistic STEM woman’s article on how she found the STEM world, or the whole “sisterhood” thing, which weird women like me are told and shown very early on that we’re not a part of. Which at least in my experience, has made me a lot less willing to call myself feminist even if I have similar goals and beliefs as particular brands of feminists.

Government cuts have caused ‘human catastrophe’ for disabled, UN committee says

autisticadvocacy:

Cuts to the UK Government’s welfare made “systematic violations” of the rights of disabled people, says the CRPD.

The CRPD has previously said the Government’s welfare cuts have resulted in “grave and systematic violations” of the rights of disabled people – a claim opposed by ministers but backed by UK courts…

The committee is now conducting a much wider investigation to assess the UK’s progress in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People, as part of a periodic review all nations signed up to the convention must go through.

Stig Langvad, the CRPD’s rapporteur for the UK, said he was “deeply concerned” about the Government’s failure to act on the committee’s previous report.

“I could provide a long list of examples where the state party does not live up to the Convention,” he said.

Government cuts have caused ‘human catastrophe’ for disabled, UN committee says