#fuck this country fuck ableism

[auntie-histamine]

just had a phone hearing to explain to the food stamps people that $23 a month in government subsidy is a fucking joke

spent 10 minutes laying out ALL of my medical expenses (which I estimate to come to around $1,700 in 2023) only to be told that NONE of my medical expenses count towards my benefit if I am not officially elderly or disabled

I was actually told "we need to decide if you are disabled" word for word

they said "this hearing does not decide anything, we're going to do an investigatory period," but they ALSO said "if you don't provide documentation from the SSA that you actually are disabled then no medical expenses will be counted"

I'm absolutely livid

$23 a MONTH for groceries

it's a fucking joke

[shiverandqueeef]

the thing about canadian nationalism is that it exists in a perpetual state of relativity to our perception of american jingoism. their patriotism is loud, aggressive, vulgar. our patriotism is quiet and polite. which of course provides the exact conditions needed for our own brand of chauvinism to fester under the glossy, collective self-delusion so many canadians whole-heartedly and uncritically embrace; that we are the "good ones"

so we mock patriotic americans for their devotion to/celebration of the great myth of the american dream, and all the while we fail to address the lies we tell ourselves about who we are as a country. we have medical care! marriage equality, abortion rights, social support networks, our police don't shoot unarmed people of colour in the streets. a socialist utopia. no don't think about it too hard. don't look into any of the above statements or address any of the structural inequalities we refuse to admit exist. residential schools? a tragedy, of course, but an anomaly. disabled people lose all financial support if they get married? well surely that's for their own good. we once denied entry to autistic immigrants? well that's all in the past, we take them now! and look at all the ukranians we welcomed so lovingly! the syrians? oh well that was a different situation you know, not so cut and dry you see. turn your attention (again. and again) to the amazing work we did in rwanda. I'm so sorry, what's that you're saying? somalia? never heard of it!

it's okay. it's all okay. we're still not as bad as america

[bonefall]

it is healing to come onto this blog and see basic respect for diasbility after being in other corners of the fandom and reading the words “snowkit could never be a warrior because he wouldnt know what anything is. he wouldnt even know what a clan is because nobody could explain it to him” said in full seriousness

Im..... That statement is so ableist I cannot even imagine the worldview you'd need to have in order to come up with that.

They really think the only way anyone learns anything is through verbal-speaking-words-noises? No one has ever observed something before? Not even once?

This is beyond touching grass, this person just fell out of the fucking Jurassic Period when all they had was ferns and stegosaurs.

I just...

OH YES. I remember my first day of Society Lessons as a hearing person, where the everything was explained to me. Via Audiobook. FIRST they spoke and said, "you are standing on the ground." It was a life changing revelation, and the world began to spin.

But it did not stop.

THEN they said, "there are fingers on your hands." The sensation of flesh and bone crackling into existence is indescribable, but I did not yet know pain, until they told me, "that hurts." I began screaming immediately.

And yet... it continued.

They explained so much. Chairs. Tables. Walls. The sky. Frogs. Ionizing radiation. Breathing. I was told all of it, in one sitting, and only then did I understand. Only when my ears were bursting with normal hearing knowledges, did they begin... my final test.

A strange wall-chair-finger emerged from the sky-of-the-wall, stood on the ground several times, until it was in front of me. A second one came behind it, this one slimmer. The audiobook gave these things names;

Human. Father. Mother. Door. Walking. It was completely impossible to know what these things were until that very moment.

I watch a human dip a hook into water and produce a fish, and I recall my Society Lessons where they called that "fishing." I am decked in the face by a nefarious hooligan, and I have only the audiobook to thank when I know I have been "punched" by a "bad guy." It was only the magic of verbal-speaking-words-noise that made me understand that there are "other people" and that they "do stuff."

Sometimes, even, in "groups."

Before the Society Lessons Audiobook, I knew nothing. I was pure, innocent, uncorrupted by concepts such as "parents" and "door." I am grateful every day that there is no such concept as "being shown things" or "simple logical reasoning" or "looking."

Blessed be those amongst us who escape the horrors of the Society Lessons Audiobook. I pray that you never learn what anything is. Be free! Free as a bird, which also knows nothing and famously cannot learn. 🤗

DEAF/HOH FOLLOWERS I'm losing my mind do you want me to bump a 'Hearing Disabilities Herb Guide' to the top of my priorities? Something you can use to bludgeon whackadoodles like that. This is ridiculous

Obviously not a MEDICINE guide but like; common causes of hearing disability in clan cats. Accommodations for hearing loss vs congenital deafness. Actual difficulties of not having that sense Clan-by-Clan. Debunking of misconceptions like... not being able to learn APPARENTLY.

[rjalker]

"those evil trump supporters who all have brain damage from lead poisoning--"

yeah you're literally proving right now that you absolutely fucking hate everyone who's not a rich white homeowner. holy shit.

[accessibleaesthetics]

Ok the gym class case was as follows:

For context you need to know I was excluded from participating in gym class bc "the school didnt want to take responsibility if i injured myself in class and sued them". Not because my low vision prevented me. But being a public school, they couldnt just Not Give Me Grades so they told me to write reports. Said reports had to be written in white paper by hand, and would take longer to write than gym class. I was also sent to the library which had Another class taking place inside. And there was only 1 working computer full of viruses (im not from the global north). The grading system was bad and unexplained (or I was too autistic to deduce it)

ANYWAYS. For the end of the year, they would make every class show off some kind of activity, a dance, a routine of exercises, gymnastics, etc. And every student had to march for the entrance event (including me).

My task was to write a report summarizing the events and what every single class in the school did. I was NOT given any written information or itinerary and part of the evaluation was taking notes during the event to make sure I paid attention. I had to march in Uniform, and was not allowed to bring a notebook. I wrote the notes in a napkin I had on my pocket and a pencil. ideal for someone who needs to write big (sarcasm). I also had to do this while taking finals in all 11 classes we had and use my breaks between classes to interview kids in every group. Some classes had multiple presentations. I also had to write the report twice bc one of them was lost. I think I got the bare minimum passing grade. I learnt nothing.

They could've just told me to Not do the warm up running in the fucking staircases everyone else was supposed to use and use a safer route. I could've done other exercises during practice with ball games seasons. I could have done Other warm ups normally!!! but No. They didnt want legal responsibility. Fuck you Ms. Mónica i will never forget you.

[wandering-wolf23]

Anyway, your glorious revolution means that marginalized people are going to die horribly.

[chipped-chimera]

Did I say how much I hate living in this fucking country? Because I do btw.

[mythologeekwriter]

Genuinely fucking furious about this

Also begging people to read this.

[thetimetravellercat]

To every single person who has decided not to wear a mask on public transportation in the middle of a triple epidemic outbreak (covid, the flu, bronchitis, aka the unholy trinity of death): I hate you with a burning passion. Sincerely, someone who could die from your lack of care.

[cyarskaren52]

I can't take this madness anymore! RIP sweet King! 💔💔💔💔💔💔😥😥😢

[giantkillerjack]

Watching Horrible Histories for the first time and reminded about working conditions in the Victorian era and how British people in that time believe themselves to be the Pinnacle of society!

Which reminds me a lot of America today - the greatest country in the world (as long as you don't look too close)!

I'm sure it'd be alright if we did a little (or a shit load of) imperialism - after all, we have better ways of living we can share with these poor foreigners! (Ignore our medical mortality rate, we are doing AWESOME.)

[corescreen]

I don’t like the American medical system. Boo. -10/10.

[rjalker]

the government is not going to give us any more foodstamps unless I prove I'm working or looking for a job. While they take their sweet time deciding on whether or not I'm really too disabled to work. Despite the fact that the federal government has known literally from the moment I was born that I'm disabled, and its literally their fucking fault that someone fucked up the gods damned files when we turned 18 and deleted us from the fucking system.

And the people who are supposed to "help" me get a job that will accomodate me are not, in fact, going to actually do anything to help me get a job that will accommodate me. They're literally just to make sure I am trying to get a job.

The person on the phone literally exclaimed incredulously, "Well, you need to go to a doctor!" when I explained all my damn problems with standing and walking too long. So then we had to explain, I literally can't, I don't have health insurance.

Which a job will not fucking provide anyways unless I work full time, which I am physically and mentally incapable of doing.

So I'm going to be forced to apply to Walmart, even though I know for a fucking fact that they will not let me sit. Which is why I had my fucking hip dislocated for months before I finally quit up in Pennsylvania!

Welp.

I'm telling you all now. I will literally not fucking accept anything less than $20/h. I will not fucking negotiate. If Walmart hires me as a cashier they will literally be getting the best cashier they've ever fucking had. I will not fucking accept anything less than $20/h when I know for a fact they're not going to accommodate me and I'll probably have to put up with being misgendered and deadnamed the whole fucking time.

And I will straight up refuse to work on the self checkouts because that's literally how I destroyed my hip the first time. And I will not be fucking collecting carts. Or stocking shelves. Or cleaning.

Either I get to do nothing but run the cash register, which I am a fucking expert at, while being allowed to sit in a chair that is comfortable and not making everything worse, or I'm not fucking doing it. I am not killing myself for this shitty fucking corporation again when they are literally raising the gods damned prices on food overnight and $10 can't even buy you a shitty meal for your lunch.

And I will not be fucking working 9 hour shifts with an eight hour unpaid lunch break either. I am not letting them steal my entire fucking day.

They can fucking afford it. And we both know it. And I will not fucking let them pretend otherwise.

If this fucking government is going to force me to work when I'm too gods damned disabled to do so without destroying my body even more, then I'm getting the bare fucking minimum of reasonable wages while doing so.

Fuck America.

[dovedrangeas]

just saw a recent post about how people would take mentally ill people more seriously if they were physically disabled instead. this keeps fucking happening jesus fucking christ you people never learn do you

[wren-kitchens]

love the fact I have to write email after email to my school to remind them that

a) trans kids wanting to change their name/pronouns in school should not need parental consent for this to happen, and they should not have their parents called about it (because this is happening to my friend right now)

b) students who don’t look obviously mentally ill/neurodivergent should not be immediately overlooked and acted towards like they’re faking (because surprise surprise that’s also happening to my friends)

c) if a student you know is struggling tells you not to talk to their parents about it, don’t fucking call their parents

d) there are more identities then bi, gay, lesbian and binary trans people and they shouldn’t be all lumped together into the one mandatory pshe (or now ‘personal development’) lesson they did once, because for some kids there’s no other way to learn about this

on the topic of d, don’t fucking put a whole powerpoint slide of slurs on the fucking screen to say not to use them

[kittycak3s]

Is there such a thing as like rehabilitative programs for disabled people? like...for more than just physical disabilities (although I know from experience support for those are severely lacking in general)

I have yet to find anything that's not incredibly hostile to me as a childhood torture survivor, autistic person & someone who's severely chronically ill

Like I know for a fact I can't live alone but I think I could maintain some level of independence with enough support.