This post contains some ableist language that might be triggering
Yesterday I engaged with two people who excused their ableism by saying they work with children and adults with disability. No.
That’s like saying you know a black person so you can be racist.
Knowing a disabled person, or working with them is not a free pass to be ableist or discriminatory.
One person admitted to not wanting disabled people represented in media and advertising, and the other admitted to using “fucktard” around friends with disability. Both said they work with disabled people.
You are not a good disability ally or support worker if you use ableist language and cannot see the problem.
You are not a good disability ally or support worker if you don’t listen to actually disabled people.
You are not a good disability ally or support worker if you say you’ve got friends with disability so it’s ok to be ableist, discriminatory and don’t see the need for disability representation in the mainstream.
You are not a good disability ally or support worker if you fail to amplify disabled voices, othering us and underestimating our ability.
You are not a good disability ally or support worker if you regard your studies or work in disability to be above the lived experience of people with disability.
You are not a good disability ally or support worker if you don’t educate yourself about the problem with ableist language, ableism and discrimination.
You are not a good disability ally or support worker if you fight ableism and discrimination with the same behaviour.
#everydayableism
(Here’s a resource about ableism to get you started. Here’s another on the R-Word.)
Hear hear Carly
I've got an acquired disability so I've not live a full life with thsee issues. I'm still learning all the time and I respect those with much more experience then me. It drives me to tears of frustration when people refuse to listen to those who are actually experiencing the problem while those people are busy indignantly being the problem.
Thank you for your courage to speak out on these issues.
I know I have used ableist language without realising but I have also had people kindly let me know. It's not hard to apologise and allow yourself to learn more about such issues. Thanks Carly- you're someone I have learned from!