#and thats not to say i dont think you should be cpunk

[salt-baby]

Hi! This might be a dumb question and also not specifically relevant to you, but do you know if crip punk includes people with physical disabilities that are invisible? I get that neurodivergent people have their own similar movement (madpunk or something?) but as someone with an invisible disability, I would hate to look like I'm appropriating crip punk. Any insights would be super helpful!

Looking solely at the semantics of the original tenets, I would argue that you qualify, simply because you have a physical disability regardless of it's visibility. I'm sure someone asked the original creator at some point, so you can probably comb their blog for a more definite answer. I don't think people would accuse you of appropriating it.

Honestly, though, I no longer identify with cripple punk. I think it's become something exclusionary and divisive. I've gotten multiple asks like this, where people are asking me to be the arbiter of whether their disability "counts".

Many people on Tumblr will devote so much time and energy to trying to find the exact line in the sand - I don't think it exists. Is my disability invisible, because I can cover my orthotics with pants, or is it visible, because I'm subject to plenty of strangers comments on it? Is Alzheimer's a mental disorder, because it primarily affects cognition and personality, or is it a physical one, because there are biochemical and anatomical differences in the brain?

Why waste time arguing over this? It's all disability in the end. We're all getting the same discrimination, the same bullshit questions, the same massive medical bills. It wastes so much time and resources to argue with each other over who's "enough" and who isn't.

And I get it. I was in your shoes once, and that's why I'll time and time again answer these questions with "yes, you're disabled enough", because there was a time where I really needed to hear that. But the truth is? To me, hay fever is "disabled enough". I don't think people faking disability socially like that is a big enough problem to care about, and if I'm tricked once in a blue moon, then so be it. I'd rather live a life where I believe in the people around me and occasionally one of them lies, than to live my life constantly suspicious and invalidating of people who needed my trust.

[safety-pin-punk]

Hey Im just gonna brain dump here for a sec so bear with me as I develop this

I just saw a post (and added it to the queue) that talked about disability cards in Europe. And one of the comments ‘How do people with invisible disabilities get accommodations?’ Made me think of another post I saw a while ago talking about how there should be a community for punks that don’t necessarily fit into the cripple punk community, but still are not necessarily fully healthy and able bodied. (I’d tag the op but Im not sure they would appreciate the attention, so I wont)

For example, I have an autoimmune disorder (among other things). My body will never function the way its supposed to, and that causes me a lot of problems in my day to day life. But Im not physically disabled or in chronic pain from it, and I really dont feel comfortable identifying as cripple punk.

The person who coined the term cripple punk said that “Cripple punk is exclusively by the physically disabled for the physically disabled”. And I think thats a great thing, people with physical disabilities deserve to have their own space and community (and if you haven’t heard of the cpunk community, you should check them out if it applies to you). But because cripple punk is a community focused on physical disabilities, those of us with invisible disabilities are left out.

So, Im going to support the idea of a community for those of us who have invisible disabilities or chronic illness. For those of us who aren’t fully able, but are not part of the cripple punk community. For those of us that want a space and community to talk about our issues without shame or pity and not detract from the issues of those with physical disabilities. And I think the name from the post I read with the original idea should stay.

Not to say these communities shouldn’t or can’t overlap. Really, they should. We should be communities that can band together when we need to, but still allow for separate spaces for separate issues.

Im in support of Sick Punk, and if you have a problem with it, then get off my blog

[cloudcoveronclearnights]

okay so i had a big long thing typed out but im doing this instead because i realized all my questions come back to one thing. tagging this as cpunk discourse because, regardless of my opinion here, i dont feel comfortable calling myself/using the word cr*pple. posting it instead of directly asking someone because i know im not owed a conversation and this lets people more freely decide if they want to engage or not. i promise im asking in good faith, im just trying to understand the side of an argument that i currently dont. im trying to be as patient and respectful and have been reading posts on the topic, but have not seen anyone address my one specific question so im asking it myself. for transparencys sake, im physically able from the neck down and my only body system that doesnt work right is my nervous system. i have several mental disabilities.

anyway. enough of that. my question about this whole thing is:

why do mental illnesses/divergences/disabilities not count as physical ones? both in the context of the ongoing cpunk discourse but also in general.

because, from what ive seen in the 3ish years i studied psychology at university (before dropping out due to my disabilities), mental illness/disabilities/whatever very much have a physical aspect. there are measurable differences between healthy brains and not-healthy brains, between neurotypical brains and neurodivergent brains. these differences are both qualitative and quantitative, and although they are often harder to see than classically physical disabilities (since the brain is one of the most complex organs and most of the problems with it are invisible to the naked eye, as opposed to, say, a foot that grew backwards), they are very much caused by a psychical problem.

i take, and have taken, daily medication for well over a decade in order to function. missing just one day of one of my anti depressants sends me into a spiral that, in my opinion and experience, kinda proves a physical aspect to my disability. 

now, i do agree that there should be a word for people who have more classical physical disabilities, especially those of you who have mobility-based disabilities. because yeah, they arent the same as mental ones and have different needs. i just dont get what anyone gains from splitting a community into smaller chunks.

so, yeah. thats my thoughts and my arguments. i promise im asking in good faith and just want someone to explain why they think mental fuckery doesnt count as physical. im trying to understand both sides.