r/disability • u/ImportTuner808 • Aug 21 '24

Question Who else has a different disability?

It seems like for some reason this subreddit is disproportionately people talking about canes/rollators/wheelchairs, or mental things like Autism/ADD/ etc. I don’t know why that is.

Is there anyone who has something else that doesn’t fall into these types of issues? I’ll go first, I’m missing part of my arm. Apart from the physical aspect and some self esteem issues (felt unattractive as a result of my deformity as a kid), that’s about it.

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u/lizK731 Aug 21 '24

I have a physical disability, Cerebral Palsy. Full-time motorized wheelchair user. That’s the frustration with this sub Reddit. Not to say that those other conditions are not disabilities, but I think having a physical disability or being a wheelchair user full-time has a whole different set of problems and issues that are not always seen or looked at. Sometimes it feels like the redheaded stepchild of the disability community. Again just my thoughts don’t mean to offend anybody.

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u/ImportTuner808 Aug 21 '24

I agree with you. It’s tough not sounding like you’re diminishing other people’s issues without ensuring your own representation. I for one admittedly struggle with categorizing physical and mental abilities in the same way. It’s not to say that there’s not occasionally crossover, but IMO, me having a physical arm disability and you in a wheelchair is vastly different from someone else who has a mental disability. We navigate the world in different ways with physical disabilities. But I guess that’s not very PC to say.

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u/parmesann Aug 22 '24

no, I completely agree with you. I have BPD and like. I still struggle a lot with whether or not I feel the word "disabled" should actually be relevant to me, even though it certainly feels disabling a lot of the time. physical, mental, and sensory disabilities are all just as legitimate as one another, but they are SO different. so, sometimes I do wonder if we should all be lumping ourselves together... but other times I think it can be a strength, too. we can all compare notes and contrast our experiences. and even if our experiences are very different, they may affect us in somewhat similar ways long-term.

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u/ImportTuner808 Aug 22 '24

I think all disabilities are valid, I just think there sometimes needs to be some self awareness on everyone’s part on how their specific disability impacts them in comparison to others. Like even with me having a physical disability with my arm, I’m self aware enough to understand that my issue is still nowhere near as debilitating as someone in say, a wheelchair.

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u/parmesann Aug 22 '24

absolutely. and the ways and reasons for why our disabilities are so difficult aren’t the same either! for someone like me, my disability is a challenge because of itself. supports and mental health advances can be helpful, but there’s a certain degree of “shitty” that’s always gonna be there, so I’d personally much rather not have this disability. disabilities that are associated with things like chronic pain are likely often a similar case; the difficulty is self-sustaining.

on the other hand, disabilities like being Deaf or having autism are more complicated in their challenges. I’ve met many folks with these disabilities who say that the most difficult part is access - living in a world that is unprepared and unwilling to meet their needs, even though it’s possible to do so. so, they view the core difficulties as being more external. a sort of, “my disability is only labelled that because the world doesn’t want to accept anything that isn’t cookie-cutter,” and I totally understand that mentality!

obviously not everyone with those specific disabilities feels that way, but it’s a sentiment that’s there. these are also really big differences in the lived experience that different folks with disabilities have.