Disability Thought Of The Week: Good Things Are Actually Bad
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About 70% of disability activism involves trying to explain that things people think are good or nice for disabled people, (or at worst harmless), are actually bad.
For example:
- Sympathy
- Sharing photos and videos of inspirational disabled people
- Non-disabled actors playing disabled characters
- First responder registries of disabled people
- Assisted living facilities
- Nursing homes
- Sheltered workshops
These are all things that most people think are good. In many cases, they don't think it. They just assume. It falls to us as disability activists to persuade them, essentially, that blue is actually red. Sometimes we have excellent arguments for this, but often we just have to insist that people take our word for it.
This is one of the built-in problems with disability activism; it’s inherently negative. It really has to be. But that's why it's so important for us to craft and push forward a “positive” agenda ... a set of things we affirmatively want.