What “disability” really is

#Disability #Amputee #Disabled

[melmoo]

You videos.. help me every day. I became disabled in 2019, but looking at me, you wouldn't know I was disabled. Your videos help me come to terms with what has happened and accept myself for who I am now.

[d.h.]

That’s wild. I just recently started saying, “I’m disabled for the way the world is set up right now, and hopefully that gets more accessible with time.” Instead of making it about my shortcomings, I make it about societies.

[rachelfagerburg]

This meant a lot to me. I'm autistic and most people don't realize that (I was diagnosed at age 25) -- I'm good at putting on a mask and playing a part, but I almost always pay the price later. Society wasn't built for my brain, other autistic and neurodivergent brains, or physically disabled people. But accepting that is so very hard.
I want to fight for a world where people have their needs met, can pursue their joys, and can go where they want to go, regardless of ability or disability. Of course, in reality, not every place can be accessible, but maybe differences won't be such a big deal.

[daniel.romano]

Exactly - the social model of disability takes "blame" away from the deviations from the normative body. Why I much prefer it to the medical model

[katestark]

Now it would be really nice if the world at large could acknowledge this and behave accordingly!

[kjhanson]

You are absolutely right about that! Our societies and systems are not made for the disabilities that we have. But, because we now are acknowledging those differences and having more and more names and understanding to them, we can cultivate communities around them and start changing our larger systems and societies at large to better accommodate and make things accessible to everyone

[graciegill]

The song "Fish in a Birdcage" really helped me in a lot of ways. It put into words and validated a lot of my feelings, the concept of living in an environment that isn't built for you. I highly reccomend giving it a listen!

[LimegreenSnowstorm]

I’m neurodivergent and felt all fuzzy inside when you mentioned people whose brains work different. It means a lot to be acknowledged :) And I feel validated for seeing myself in a lot of your videos despite having all my limbs

[braumkimball]

This actually means so much. I struggle a lot with my mental health and putting myself down for not being "normal"

Sometimes, having someone who you dont really know tell you that youre fine the way you are is the best thing that can happen

[anio]

I'm still struggling with seeing myself as complete, and being neurodivergent. Accepting both of thse statements is daunting.
You are an inspiration, Jo! ❤

[GeorgieB]

I always try to live my life by a favorite Robin Williams quote (might be a album title too) "Reality is Conceptual." Makes moving throw the world is easier.

[iveylomax]

I'm really struggling with the worthless and broken thoughts. They've actually surpassed thoughts and are facts at this point. Thank you for what youre doing.

[seajelly]

As a sociologist, I think this video is an excellent and succinct introduction to critical disability theory. Well done!

[lourosso]

I've been handicapped all my life and it has taken a lifetime to come to the same conclusion. Congratulations.

[fendr]

I find that my hearing loss disability is a different situation as it is a disability that no one can see. And no matter how many times you tell people you have a hearing loss they will acknowledge that they know you have the loss then proceed to talk to you as if you didn’t. Especially if you tell them you have hearing aids. Nobody understands that having hearing aids does not mean you are able to hear as good as if you had normal hearing. Even the expensive hearing aids won’t get you back to 100%. There is nothing worst than having someone ask you a question a couple of times and your asking them what and they turn to someone else to get their answer. So for the person with the hearing loss who has to keep asking what? what? You just disengage because it’s too disheartening to go through those type situations.

[maripytta]

I've come to roughly the same realisation over the years and it's really helped my process of coming to terms with my own disability and the life it enables me to lead

[hot_wheelz]

Jo, just wanted to say that your hair looks great today and that sleeve is getting better every time we see it.

Also, yes, totally agree, our differences aren't what disable us, it is the fact that society fails to accommodate those differences that is what makes our differences disabling. So yes, we are simply stuck in a world that is built for a norm that doesn't fully include us, so we have go adapt to get access to the bits we need. I can definitely appreciate when you said, "there's no good, or bad or worthlessness" about that reality, it simply is our reality, nothing more, nothing less, it just is.

[weirdmouselady]

this is a great illustration of the difference between the social and medical models of disability! in short, the medical model says an individual is disabled because they lack something; the social model says that society’s inherent inaccessibility is what disables people. we’re all different, and the world we live in sadly isn’t built for everyone. stay strong jo ❤

[Nickle_King]

Thank you. This is something that a lot of people today don't understand. It's also a conversation people who aren't disabled often find uncomfortable. probably wasn't someone with a disability that came up with the term "differently abled." Which, sorry, anyone I've ever met in a wheelchair or with a prosthetic never really felt "abled" in any new, exciting way. One person in a wheelchair I knew in college did make a joke that they were (and I quote) "abled to park closer to the entrance." Which we all chuckled at.

Personally, I just think people need to learn and take to heart the definition of the word Disabled. All it means is that there is something that is considered normal that most do that someone can't. That's it. It doesn't mean "Trash to be thrown away." It just means that someone is unable to do something an average person can without assistance. Which... oh no. A person has to ask for help with something. God forbid having object lessons of humility.

Yes, it's hard. Depending on the disability, it can be outright humiliating at times. No question about that. But it's not the end. If you learn to live with it, then it simply becomes just another aspect of your life. No more. No less.

[CarlytheQueenofChaos]

I have made the same conclusion, because that is simply nothing more than facts.
I love that you are sharing that, so that able-bodied and ablebrained people get educated about the issues that a life with a disability brings in a society specifically made for able-bodied and brained people.
(Asides that I don't really like the term able brained, because my brain is very much able, it's sometimes even more than most neurotypical brains, but neurodivergent only applies to certain disabilities, specifically those on the autism spectrum and not to stuff such as down syndrome, schizophrenia(REALLY depends on who you ask in that specific case), personality disorders etc. So able brained is the only term I come up with, especially because I am a foreigner.
Technically"able" and "disabled" really refers only to if the standarts given by that exact society that is not built for us at all are met or not and does not actually has to do with what we can do or not(partially it does, someone who is paralyzed is still not able to walk, without excessive training(depending on the severity of their paralysis), but only refers to daily things and standarts we can't do or fullfill because there is naturally or socially given boundaries and barriers.

Specifically the social boundaries and barriers are the ones that barely anyone actually fullfills properly.
If most people would have no problems with the system at all, almost everyone would be able to be perfect in school, yet somehow I have a record of being class best, although autism and adhd are both learning disabilities and I had severe boundaries in school(and still have goddamnit), there would not be a huge and I mean HUGE gap between rich and poor, we would be the only marginalized group and faschism would not be a thing.(it's not as deep as you think when I say this is why faschism will never work, asides you do the Germany 1940s move and just KILL EVERYBODY that does not meet given standarts, but even then faschism would not work because eventually the main leader would be the only one left, except they wouldn't because even they would have must to be killed by their set standarts)
Basically there would not be any political ideologies at all except I guess a well working democracy and the fact that Germany is legit the worst European country in the Pisa studies and we have a massive faschist growth shows that Sokrates was right that there would be a perfect education needed first before we can have a proper democratic society.
Also in a perfectly democratic society, where everyone has the same and extremely good amount of education no social barriers and boundaries would exist and therefore only disabled people who are disabled, because we can not remove natural barriers and boundaries.

Long story short: society is absolute ass, the best thing we can do is fight for our rights and needs to be met and also accept ourselves as the part of society that it was not aware of when it developed.
Let's become the cool outcast gangs in class or school and later become activists and advocates for human rights for now, because there is nothing else we can do.

Luckily(for me) there is some countries with proper law enforcement where we already have the juristic rights on our side.(specifically where I live that usually works well, until we look at education laws, but even those are better than most teachers think they are, they just don't end to be acknowledged to those who should be uh follow these laws? Lol??)