#i have blind/VI people who are constantly touched without consent | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

purplesaline · 4 days ago

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Actually you know what

I was gonna leave all this in the tags but I need to bring this bit here.

Hirsch's criticism of the Unicorn not being grateful for the "help" he gave her is far, far too much like the criticism disabled folks get when some "well-meaning" stranger "helps" them without stopping to ask if the help is even needed. I know people in wheelchairs that have been pushed somewhere they didn't want to go because someone just assumed they wanted to.

I'm not even blind but because I had a service dog a cashier assumed I was and grabbed my hand to move it to the pin pad when I was paying with my debit card! I have PTSD as a result of interpersonal trauma. A random stranger grabbing me like that could have gone SO wrong.

And if we get, rightfully, angry about being "helped" rather than expressing gratitude we're accused of being rude and unappreciative. It doesn't matter that the help wasn't asked for and wasn't even about US in the first place, just like the Wizard helping the Unicorn wasn't about her.

Following the author of The Last Unicorn on Facebook is the only thing that makes being on that site worthwhile.

(source)

#would you expect a tree to be grateful #that it was turned into a beautiful hand made dresser #rather than burned for fuel?#of course not #because we don't expect trees to have human feelings #likewise we don't expect the injured snow leopard to be grateful we placed it in a zoo #rather than letting it die slowly in the wild #we don't expect it to understand what is happening #the wizard saved her for his sake #not because she asked it of him #it was his feelings of distress he was trying to ease with his actions #why should she be grateful to someone for an action that only tangentially considered her in the first place?#we see this same attitude from people who get offended #when disabled folks are upset at recieving “help” they didn't ask for #a stranger comes along and “helps” a wheelchair user by pushing them across the street #but they didn't stop to ask if that person even wanted to cross in the first place #(yes this really happens more often than you think it's not even exagerated for affect)#i have blind/VI people who are constantly touched without consent #hell I'm no visually impaired at all but because I have a service dog a cashier once assumed I was #and grabbed my hand to move it to the pin pad of the Interac machine at the check out #my service dog was for PTSD!!!#random strangers touching me used to be a huge trigger for me #thankfully at the time I'd done a lot of therapy #and was left bemused rather than triggered #and yet we're yelled at for not being grateful because these folks meant well #even if we are left worse off as a result?

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