The Dos and Don'ts of Disability

In this film, Michelle Middleton takes a humorous look at people's reactions to her cerebral palsy.

The 26-year-old has created the piece, with the help of Fixers, to encourage others not to treat her, or anyone else with a disability, differently.

[CofyjunkyPNW]

LOL!! I love #2! I use a wheelchair, and another student I was acquainted with at college grabbed the handles on my chair to pull me backwards up a ramp, when I was doing just fine on my own. I nearly slid right out of the seat and could've crushed my knees.
Last 'Don't': one guy at work actually patted me on the head as he walked by me. (My head was at his waist-level) I wasn't cool about it at all, as we worked in a loud manufacturing plant. I yelled: "Hey! Don't ever do that again!" Guess what? The supervisor was nearby, (I didn't know--too noisy) and he asked me what upset me. I looked him in the eye and told him sitting in a wheelchair didn't give the co-worker the right to pat my head. Supervisor looked mortified and asked if I wanted to file a complaint. I said no, but that if the co-worker did it again, I was at a perfect level to throw a fist into his jewels.
Supervisor decided not to touch that one. He could've 'warned' me that that'd be inappropriate, but instead he looked at the co-worker and told him to report to his office.
I quit the company two days later.

[vincentvangoghaway]

It would also be nice if students and teachers wouldn't constantly say that your condition is annoying or say that you are faking it.

[HighTen_Melanie]

I’m in a chair and I hate especially when said after every sentence!

[evanhalsey]

It dumbfounds me what people without disabilities think they can do to us who have disabilities.

[jaydeepaquette]

Lmao When the redhead girl moves the blonde guy like he's a bloody featherweight. hahahaha!

[mikedavidz]

It’s also worth remembering that aging in particular overlaps a lot with disability. Disability becomes much more prevalent as people age, and the percentage of the population that is elderly is huge. 2 in 5 people 65 and over have a disability. The large aging population is part of what makes the disability community much larger than people tend to assume.

[jenniferwong]

Great video and so true. People can be very ignorant and rude.

[susanwilliams]

"You don't look disabled"
And you don't look like the most annoying person on the planet, but here we are

[ranitagadling]

As someone who was born with both cerebral palsy & hydrocephalus I'm so extremely glad that I just so happened to type dating with disabilities in the search engine and came across these videos because the topics are all things that I can relate to and now I don't feel so alone anymore.😊

[iamthegame]

I work in the disability sector and I just couldn't stop laughing at this!...and it wasn't because I found it funny (I certainly did not!) but because I've not only heard but also seen these things unfold in real life and they annoy the s**t out of me!...one that really gets to me is when someone says to a person with an intellectual disability who's over 18 years of age "good boy" or "good girl"...as a carer I find that so disrespectful, because what I always say is "good woman" or "good man"...or another one that gets me is when people hear of a child with a disability and they good "aw" and I usually respond with "he/she is a person, not a puppy!"...and I'm not saying that I always get it right because I certainly don't but my God, don't treat and adult with a disability like a child and NEVER treat a child with a disability like an animal!..

[JennIferWilliams]

I love this video and it is all so true! I think Michelle has been able to perfectly demonstrate the range of weird and wonderful situations that happen everyday to people with disabilities and in such a clever, funny way. I am a wheelchair user and the list is endless of people’s reactions to me everyday. It is amazing to see a strong disabled women have a powerful voice that challenging peoples perceptions. It is so important and needed to chance the stereotyping of disabled people.

[livingatypicallyactuallyau]

I hate “you don’t look disabled”. Like “looking disabled” is a crime or something. It is okay to openly have a disability!

[tribblebooth]

The scene in this brilliant short film, that had me in hysterics, was when the girl picked the guy up! Absolutely

[evanhalsey]

I've got another big one that always gets me that definitely belongs under the do's and don'ts of dealing with disabilities. Don't act on your own perceptions of me. I don't want to know what you think of me and it's embarrassing to hear what that is. Many people assume that because I have a disability that I'm not supposed to cuss, drink, or do anything else that adults around my age do. They assume I always need help and can't take care of myself. All I'm supposed to do according to most of the people I know or meet is to please everyone, satisfy their good deeds, and set the perfect example of what it means to take life very seriously. Everyone thinks of me an innocent person whose behavior is close to religious purity. That's bullshit. What do you expect? I'm an adult and I've got to discover my true self. Life is too short to just attend to my disability, sit on the sidelines, and be the perfect person for everyone to follow. I'm going to participate in activities that all my adult friends do at parties or gatherings. Why, if they drink beer, so will I. If I just sit on the sidelines and don't participate in the main activity everyone else is doing then I'm going to be like "what am I doing not participating?" I want to blend in with everyone I meet, which means I'm going to drink and cuss because I want all my future friends to see me as the man that I've become and nothing less or stereotypical of my disability. Do: learn that none of the stereotypes of disability or perceptions of me are true and it hurts me when you express them to me.

[venomusdrake]

I laughed so much. i just love how you represented this! almost all of these happened to me, so, yeha.

[alexanderfletcher]

I'm multiply disabled (developmental and physical) and it's surprising the amount of ableism there is in society

[josephwritessongs]

I was not expecting that accent and I am deeply pleased!

[cristiana]

I love the way the captions have to clarify she's being sarcastic .

[RobinHood-tcln]

here's another one do not speak to us as if we are children

[davidharrison]

i have never understood why anyone would assume that anyone is faking a disability . why the hell would anyone do that unless they had something seriously wrong with their brain !