#non visible mobility aid

[theatrekidenergy]

Shout out to all of the people who use a mobility aid, stability device or pain relieving aid that’s hidden. The people who use knee braces, wrist braces, scoliosis and spine braces, ankle braces, ring and finger splints, neck braces, and otherwise hidden aids to help themself. You deserve a place in this community like anyone else, if you are disabled, or even if you just need these things to live a better quality of life, even if no one can see you using them because they’re inconspicuous or under clothing, you’re allowed to use what you need to help yourself and you have a place in this community.

[mochasucculent]

Was looking at refs and since Viktor has two different leg braces I was wondering, do we think he wears them simultaneously?? The refs don't perfectly line up perspective-wise so it's hard to tell but parts of the one he wears during the Hexcore scenes look like they could maybe line up with the brace that he wears over his clothes, but also some parts really don't and look like they'd be super uncomfy. Also HOW does he take these on and off. Experts weigh in

[cripplecharacters]

Disabilities that You Should Consider Representing in Your Writing More… part 1

[large text: Disabilities that You Should Consider Representing in Your Writing More… part 1]

While all disabilities are underrepresented in basically all sorts of media, it’s hard to not notice the trend in what disabilities make up the majority of representation. It’s especially visible when having a blog like this, where we can see what disabilities writers even consider including in their writing, and which ones never come up.

One in four people are disabled. With eight billion people alive it means there’s a lot of disabled people, and a lot of reasons why they are disabled in the first place - but this diversity is rarely represented, even on this blog, and anyone who has been following for a while has probably noticed that fact.

To be blunt: there are disabilities other than “amputee” and “invisibly disabled mobility aid user”. Does that mean that it’s wrong to write either of those? No, and we don’t want to imply that it is. Does it mean that either of these have a lot of good representation? Absolutely not, half of all the amputee characters out there are written by people who don't seem to be even aware they're writing a disabled character. Does it mean that when you are deciding on what to give your character, you should think beyond (or along! people can be, and often are, multiply disabled!) just those two? Absolutely. Disability is a spectrum with thousands of things in it.

This is, simply, a list of common disabilities. This is just a few of them, as this is part one of presumably many (or, at least three as of right now). By “common” we rather arbitrarily decided on “~1% or more” - so at least 1 in 100 people has the disabilities below, which is a lot. Featuring!: links that you should click, sources of the % that are mostly just medical reports and might be hard to read, and quick, very non-exhaustive explanations to give you a basic idea of what these are. 

Intellectual disability (about 1.5%) Intellectual disability is a condition we have written about at length before. It’s a developmental disability that affects things such as conceptualization, language, problem-solving, or social and self-care skills. ID can exist on its own or be a part of another condition, like Down Syndrome, Congenital Iodine Deficiency, or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. This post covers a lot of basic information that you might need. We have an intellectual disability tag that you can look through!

Cancer survivors (5.4% in the US, about 0.55% worldwide) A cancer survivor is a pretty self-explanatory term. There is a lot of types of cancer and some of them are very common while others are very rare, which makes this a very diverse category. Cancers also have different survival rates. While not every survivor will have disabling symptoms, they definitely happen. Most of the long-term side effects are related to chemotherapy, radiation, and other medication, especially if they happened in children. They can include all sorts of organ damage, osteoporosis, cognitive problems, sensory disabilities, infertility, and increased rate of other cancers. Other effects include removal of the affected area, such as an eye, a spleen, breasts, or the thyroid gland, each of which will have different outcomes. Cancer, and cancer treatments, can also result in PTSD.

Diabetes (about 8.5%, ~95% of that are type 2) Diabetes is a group of endocrine conditions that cause hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) for various reasons depending on the type. The vast majority of people have type 2 diabetes, which can cause fatigue, poor healing, or feeling thirsty or hungry. A diabetic person will use insulin when needed to help manage their blood sugar levels. There are many complications related to diabetes, from neuropathy, to retinopathy, and chronic kidney disease, and there's a lot of disabilities that coexist with diabetes in general! You might want to check out the #how to write type 1 diabetes tag by @type1diabetesinfandom!

Disabling vision loss (about 7.5%) Blindness and low vision are a spectrum, ranging from total blindness (around 10% of legally blind people) to mild visual impairment. Blindness can be caused by countless things, but cataracts, refractive errors, and glaucoma are the most common. While cataracts cause the person to have a clouded pupil (not the whole eye!) blind eyes usually look average, with strabismus or nystagmus being exceptions to that fairly often (but not always). Trauma isn't a common cause of blindness, and accidents are overrepresented in fiction. A blind person can use a white cane, a guide dog or horse, or both. Assistive solutions are important here, such as Braille, screenreaders, or magnifying glasses. We have a blindness tag that you can look through, and you might want to check out @blindbeta and @mimzy-writing-online.

Psoriasis (about 2-4%) Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition with multiple subtypes; it can cause intense itching, pain, and general discomfort, and often carries social stigma. It’s an autoimmune and non-contagious disability that affects the skin cells, resulting in raised patches of flaky skin covered with scales. It often (30%) leads to a related condition, psoriatic arthritis, which causes joint pain, tenderness, and fatigue, among other things.

Stroke survivors (0.5-1%) A stroke survivor is a person who has survived any kind of stroke (ischemic, hemorrhagic, etc.). While the specific symptoms often depend on the exact location on where the stroke happened, signs such as hemiplegia, slurred speech, vision problems, and cognitive changes are common in most survivors to some degree. When someone has a stroke as a baby, or before they are born, it can result in cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and other disabilities. We have a brain injury tag that you can look through!

Noonan Syndrome (about 0.1-1% - mild is 1%, severe 0.1%) Noonan Syndrome is a disability that is almost never mentioned in any context, but certainly not around the topic of writing disabled characters. It’s a congenital condition that can cause cardiomyopathy, chronic joint pain, hypermobility, short stature, facial differences such as ptosis, autism, and various lymphatic problems among other things. Some people with Noonan Syndrome might use mobility aids to help with their joint pain.

Hyperthyroidism (about 1.2%) Hyperthyroidism is a condition of the endocrine system caused by hormone overproduction that affects metabolism. It often results in irritability, weight loss, heat intolerance, tremors, mood swings, or insomnia. Undertreated hyperthyroidism has a rare, but extremely dangerous side effect associated with it called a thyroid storm, which can be fatal if untreated.

Hypothyroidism (>5%) Hypothyroidism is an endocrine condition just as hyperthyroidism is, and it causes somewhat opposite symptoms. Due to not producing enough thyroid hormones, it often causes fatigue, depression, hair loss, weight gain, and a frequent feeling of being cold. It’s often comorbid with other autoimmune disabilities, e.g. vitiligo, chronic autoimmune gastritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Extreme hypothyroidism can also be potentially fatal because of a condition known as Myxedema coma (or “crisis”), which is also rare.

Deafblindness (about 0.2-2%) Being DeafBlind is often considered to be an extremely rare disability, but that’s not really the case. DeafBlindness on its own isn’t a diagnosis - it can be caused by a wide range of things, with CHARGE syndrome (congenital), Usher syndrome (born deaf, becomes blind later in life), congenital rubella, and age-related deafness and blindness being some of the most common reasons. DeafBlindness is a wide spectrum, the vast majority of DeafBlind people aren’t fully blind and deaf, and they can use various ways of communication. Some of these could be sign language (tactile or not), protactile, the deafblind manual, oral speech (aided by hearing aids or not), the Lorm alphabet, and more. You can learn more about assistive devices here! Despite what various media like to tell you, being DeafBlind isn’t a death sentence, and the DeafBlind community and culture are alive and thriving - especially since the start of the protactile movement. We have a DeafBlindness tag that you can look through!

It’s probably worth mentioning that we have received little to no asks in general for almost all the disabilities above, and it’s certainly not due to what mods answer for. Our best guess is that writers don’t realize how many options they have and just end up going for the same things over and over.

Only representing “cool” disabilities that are “not too much while having a particular look/aura/drama associated” isn’t what you should aim for. Disabled people just exist, and all of us deserve to be represented, including those whose disabilities aren’t your typical “cool design” or “character inspo”, and literally all of us deserve to have good, informed representation. Sometimes we are just regular people, with disabilities that are “boring” or “too much”, and don’t make for useful plot points.

mod Sasza (with huge thank you to mod Sparrow, Rot, and Virus for their contributions with research)

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

when people look at some wheelchair user who can move legs / stand / walk / ambulatory / etc, n they respond with “not all wheelchair user paralyzed,” then if do “educational” post, often go on explain how don’t have (traumatic) spinal cord injury / SCI

often with attitude “paralysis / SCI (to them same thing) so well known well understood accommodated accepted visible”

which. in isolation, “not all wheelchair user paralyzed” & “not all wheelchair user have (traumatic) SCI” objectively true.

but it’s like. the utter confidence in their complete ignorance of paralysis and SCI, & ignorance of their ignorance, conflating paralysis always = SCI, & that both always mean cannot move leg at all. all while treating paralysis & SCI as this most understood disability / wheelchair using reason they a victim of.

as in like. if someone give you shit about be in wheelchair but move leg & you want educate. tell them some wheelchair user can move leg. not “not all wheelchair user paralyzed” because some people paralyzed can also move leg. saying latter only show your ignorance about paralysis, while throw ppl w paralysis under bus

don’t have any kind paralysis so maybe worst person make this post but

did you know SCI & paralysis not the same. did you know can have leg paralysis without traumatic SCI through some sort physical injury. multiple sclerosis, ALS, FND, tumor, paraneoplastic syndrome, cerebral palsy etc can all cause paralysis. n many more

did you know paralysis can be monoplegia (one limb), paraplegia (both legs), diplegia (same area both side of body), hemiplegia (one side of body), & quadriplegia (all limbs). as in, yes, some people may have paralysis but still can move legs because at least one leg not affected.

n

did you know (depending on how categorize) there two types of spinal cord injury. complete & incomplete. people w incomplete SCI, brain can still send some signals below SCI site & so have some feeling and/or function.

did you know some people w SCI can move legs, including involuntary spasms (tho sometimes can be on purpose triggered by doing certain things if learn trigger).

did you know some w incomplete SCI can voluntarily move legs. can walk with mobility aids. can walk without mobility aids. can be ambulatory wheelchair user. some use their spasm to stand. n they still considered have (incomplete) SCI & paralysis.

if you didn’t know these then maybe SCI & paralysis not as well understood well accepted disorder as you think & treat it as.

(also did you know, can be non ambulatory wheelchair user without have paralysis. suprise)

(tried double triple confirm facts, but, people w paralysis, if say anything wrong please do kindly correct. cognitive + language communication disability often mix up things)

[pro-crastinate17]

hello!! so im going to try to make a disability inclusive picrew and id like some help making sure i include as much as i can!

the person would be seated and pretty much all of the body would be visible. ill post it when im done!

its mostly focused on phys disabilities, bc i so rarely can find picrews w good diverse mobility aid options, but ofc im including non phys disabilities as well! (sorry for clunky phrasing, im unclear on the preferred term for non phys disabilities so thats the term ive been using)

what i have so far is below the read more. be warned it is a very long list! (every option/category of option i could think of)

if you think i missed something, please recommend it!!! (related note: id much rather get recommended something that is already on the list than miss something!)

category: head

various jaw shapes 

missing jaw 

crooked/misaligned jaw

category: skin

wide range of skin tones, including white/extremely pale (albino) 

freckles, lots of scar variation (including burns), vitiligo, acne, facial hair, eye bags, other skin conditions (trying to make a list)

breathing tubes, masks, bandages 

bindis 

category: eyes 

blue, grey, green, hazel, medium brown, dark brown, black, red 

heterochromia options 

lazy eye options 

clouded eye options 

closed eyes that look like winking and closed eyes that don't 

missing eyes

category: mouth 

general expressions 

variations for color 

variations for cleft lip, scars, facial paralysis 

category: ears 

ear size, shape, missing ears, deformed ears

category: eye/ear accessories 

earrings, earplugs, hearing aids, bone anchored hearing aids, headphones, earmuffs (modifications for missing/deformed ears), cochlear implant

glasses, sunglasses, blue light glasses, eye patches, eye masks/bandages 

category: nose 

various shapes & sizes, bumpy noses, deformed noses  

category: eyebrows 

lots of expression options, thickness options, color options (including white) 

one missing, scarring, eyebrow slits 

category: body 

body types: very skinny, skinny, fat, very fat (options for muscularity too if i can figure out how)

body hair, scarring, freckles, tattoos   

range of missing limbs, deformed limbs, prosthetics   

diabetes patch 

category: hair 

wide range of hairstyles, bangs, and colors 

patchy hair, scalp scarring, receding hairline 

category: head coverings

range of hats, hair accessories, headbands, bandanas    

range of hijabs, turbans, kippot (+ more variation in cultural headwear if theres space)

head bandages 

category: clothes

range of styles and colors 

adaptable to body types (+ breasts), missing/deformed limbs 

category: shoes 

range of styles 

adaptable to body types, missing foot/feet 

category: hand accessories  

gloves, bracelets, rings, nails, wrist braces, splint rings

range of types, adaptable to missing/deformed hands 

category: pins 

range of queer pride flags 

pronoun pins 

animals, fandoms/characters (def muppets, feel free to recommend characters and i'll try to include some of the most popular ones) 

general disability pride, cripplepunk, madpunk, sign union flag, & pin (for systems), specific disabilities (need some help with these, send me specific flags and i’ll include them!) 

category: seat 

chair, manual wheelchair, power chair, spinny chair, throne, rollator, electric scooter 

category: mobility aids 

cane, white cane, crutches (underarm/axillary and forearm), rollator, walker (with and without wheels), electric scooter  

joint braces (shoulder, elbow, knee, ankle, back, others?), joint tape, compression garments 

category: other disability aids

AAC tablets, word cards, glucose monitor, sunflower lanyard, inhaler, medical id bracelet

stoma bag, central line catheter, picc line catheter, heart monitor, breathing tube, feeding tube (nasal and abdominal), tracheostomy 

stim toys/chewelry, stuffed animals, phone 

service animals

[canonkiller]

asking in advance of an unforeseen future date but because I did hit a couple of follower milestones and I like ocs, reblog this post w an OC ref and I might draw em¹ ! following me isn't required I won't check because I don't care

unusual species, pre or non-op trans characters, mobility aids and visible disabilities² and fat characters encouraged since I don't see them as much! but anything from anyone is welcome

¹ this is a non binding agreement and I am currently still dead on the pavement, so the if and when are a little up in the air

² invisible disabilities also welcome but due to their nature they have no noticeable difference in the creation of visual art. because they aren't visible. love em tho keep making characters with em. mvp

[suzukiblu]

Ko-fi thank-you sentences for Jan behind the cut; mistaken identities and interdimensional refugees. ( + non-chrono link for mobile users )

The hour goes pretty quick, either way, and Kon mostly keeps the kids distracted, and even a little bit entertained. He’s a performer at heart anyway, so he figures it’s his responsibility. 

If it's not, he's gonna make it his responsibility, at least for the next hour. 

A lot of people clear out of the camp in that hour in erratic fits and spurts, with alternate versions of their families or friends or just themselves, and Kon feels a little better about the idea of clearing out himself. He'll keep an ear on the camp until it's all cleared out, for sure, but at least he thinks it should be okay to leave it. 

Jon needs–somebody, yeah, before something happens. Something always happens, when you're wearing the “S”. 

Or you just find something that you have to happen to. Like, ethically speaking or whatever.

Kon figures he can keep an eye on Jon until either they all get home or this reality's Superman notices he's got an extra kid around. Assuming he's got a Jon here to recognize the heartbeat of, anyway. He probably does, if Kon's around and recognizable in the tabloids. Like, the timeline should be to that point, is all. And obviously Lois is gonna be a thing, so–yeah, he's gotta have a Jon by now. Maybe actually an older one than this one, come to think, but it's not like Clark wouldn't recognize his heartbeat anyway. Perfect recall and all, and he's had Jon's heartbeat memorized all his life. 

Kon's pretty sure Clark still doesn't know his, but . . . 

Never mind. Not important. Stupid thing to think about. 

To care about. 

Kon swallows. Keeps grinning for the kids, keeps coming up with new games for them to play, and waves goodbye to each one who gets collected by an aid worker and taken to whoever’s come to take care of them. 

He wonders, again, if Ma and Pa would've come for him, if . . . 

Stupid. Really, really stupid. 

He wouldn't bother them with something that stupid anyway. He's a superhero. And he can take care of himself. He always has, hasn't he? 

He'll take care of himself here too, even if . . . 

Even if . . . 

Kon tries not to think about . . . Kara. About Karen. Or “Paige”, or whatever she's going by now. 

If she's still alive to be going by it, anyway. 

If he isn't currently following in her footsteps, and won't ever see his reality again. Or her. Or . . . anyone he knows. 

People who look like them, sure. People who came from the same concept of a person as them. 

But not his own versions of them. 

Not the versions who he belongs to. 

He doesn't know what he'll do, if he can't get home this time. 

He doesn’t . . . 

He feels Rita approaching with his TTK–recognizes the shape of her body and the cut of her hair and the specific chip in the corner of her clipboard–and glances towards her, and is mildly surprised by who she’s with. It’s someone he definitely recognizes, but it’s not anyone he expected. At least not here and now, anyway. 

“Your ride’s here, sir!” Rita says, looking as relieved as every aid worker who’s come up with a local host for somebody. Well–understandably, he figures. 

“Hey, Rita. Hey, Alfie! No rest for the wicked, or just too many cooks in the kitchen again?” Kon greets with a grin, which is the easiest code phrase to use here that Tim gave him to start off with if he ever ran into an interdimensional Bat and the local Tim’s obviously gotta be the one who sent him, and Jon grabs onto his sleeve and blurts: “It’s dark this morning!” 

Okay, Kon doesn’t recognize that one, but it’s definitely a Bat-phrase too. Jon was not particularly smooth about making it smooth, for one thing. 

Alfred–impeccable as always in the full buttling uniform that Kon has maybe only seen him out of twice, and both of those times were blood-drenched emergency situations–smiles at them both without visibly reacting past that, though Kon hears his heartbeat spike in recognition. Since he was presumably expecting to see the pair of them, or at least him, Kon can only assume that’s code-phrase-related.

“Hello, Master Bruce,” Alfred says, smooth and pleasant, and Kon . . . blinks. “Please allow me to escort you and your young charge to the manor.” 

Wait.

What? 

“Uh,” Kon says slowly. “O . . . kay? Uh–thanks, Alfie.” 

“Of course, sir,” Alfred says, and his pleasant smile turns just a little less polite and a little more sincere. “Interdimensionally displaced or not, we’d hate to leave you out in the cold. No matter what time of night it is.” 

Well, “out in the cold” is what Tim told him to look for in response to “no rest for the wicked”, and he’s betting the “time of night” comment is meant for Jon from the way the kid perked up at hearing it, so . . . yeah, alright then. This is apparently just what’s happening now. 

[ladyknightellen]

It's a Mobility Aid...Not a Fucking Prop!!!

I guess it's just my brand at this point to go mia for a few weeks, then come back with a rant about some new, mildly infuriating realization I've had.

This particular realization is one that's kind of been buzzing in the back of my head as something that was kind of off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was until now. The 'aha' moment came when I was looking for pictures of Kaz Brekker to add to my collection of stickers on my binder for school. As I scrolled through, I began to notice a frustrating trend in the fan art...

Kaz Brekker, a canonically disabled character, who uses a cane to walk is consistently being drawn holding his cane as if it's just a prop, or a weapon, rather than what it actually is A GODDAMN MOBILITY AID!!!!

And before you start with 'but he hits people with it' I'm going to stop you right there. Yes, he does use it as a weapon sometimes, and it's even described in canon as being designed with the intention of using it as a club if needed, but it's still a cane. It is still a mobility aid that he needs TO WALK, and when you treat it like nothing more than a prop or a weapon, you erase a very important aspect of who Kaz is as a character, and honestly, as a cane user with chronic pain myself, it feels almost violent to see how often it happens.

Whenever I see art of Kaz standing with his cane in his hands like a billy club, or holding it across one or both shoulders, all I can think about is how much pain he would be in to hold a position like that without using the cane for support. At numerous points in the books during Kaz's pov chapters, we get several very detail descriptions of what it feels like for him on a daily basis as a result of his chronic pain. We also get several instances of how it feels when he has his cane taken from him, when he uses it to fight, or when he's disguised and doesn't want to give himself away. We see the toll it takes on his body to do this, and he always pays for it later.

Kaz does not swagger around Ketterdam with his cane over his shoulder, occasionally taking a swing at rival gang members. If this is the image you have in your head of him, please, I beg you to get rid of that image. Kaz is DISABLED. He has severe chronic pain and walks with a heavy limp and that cane is making contact with the ground on every step. Based on the kind of injury he had, I would imagine that his injured leg might even be a bit shorter than the other, which would possibly be evident in a visible lack of symmetry in the height of his shoulders. And that's just one possible way it could affect his body beyond just his leg that would be outwardly visible.

There are many more, but the point is that injuries like the one Kaz experienced can affect the entire body even with the best care and therapy, and Kaz didn't have any of that. I'm not asking you to be a medical expert just to draw fanart, but I am begging you think about things like this and at the very least, PLEASE draw the mobility aid being used as a mobility aid, not a prop. Stop erasing and sanitizing what little representation we have. If you think it makes him 'look more badass' or whatever to have his cane over his shoulder, I kind of don't really care.

P.S. And don't use the tv show as a reference because Freddy Carter is yet another example of a non disabled actor playing a disabled character.

[aftonsparv-bugzz]

this disability pride month, include anosmics and ageusics.

this disability pride month, stop using the s slur, saying "delulu" "delusional" "deluled" ect when you disagree with someone, stop using "sch*zoposting" and just overall treat schizospecs better.

this disability pride month, stop saying "psychopath" "sociopath" and "narcissistic".

this disability pride month, be kinder to people who hallucinate and experience delusions.

this disability pride month, stop stupidifying those who have trouble with "basic skills", people with learning disabilities, ect.

this disability pride month, stop villanising cluster b's.

this disability pride month, stop saying youre such a "pyromaniac" for lighting something on fire or saying youre "a kelpto" because you stole something.

this disability pride month, stop fakeclaiming did/osdd systems.

this disability pride month, stop saying "im so ocd" after cleaning something up.

this disability pride month, stop being rude and impatient with people with intellectual disabilities.

this disability pride month, stop infantilising non verbal people.

this disability pride month, stop treating autism and adhd as the cutesy disorders.

this disability pride month, stop excusing yourself by lying that youhave adhd when youdont. people need those recourses, youdo not get to take them away.

this disability pride month, normalise people with little to no empathy.

this disability pride month, stop using "attention seekers" (especially on your fellow hpds and npds).

this disability pride month, stop reality checking those who dont consent to it.

this disability pride month, stop bullying those who "smell bad" or "look weird" or whatever. (you never know what someones going through)

this disability pride month, stop giving weird looks to those who have bald spots, or cant stop picking their nose, or cracking their knuckles or whatever. (this is mainly focused on bfrbs)

this disability pride month, stop saying "everyone has anxiety" to those with anxiety/panic disorders.

this disability pride month, be normal about zoocanthropes/lycanthropes.

this disability pride month, treat those with personality disorders like youwould any other person.

this disability pride month, just stop bullying little people. just acknowledge people with dwarfism.

this disability pride month, dont stare at that mobility aid user so much. eyes off of them, they dont need to be in the spotlight for a physical disability. (unless they want to xoD /silly)

this disability pride month, stop judging those with facial/body deformities

this disability pride month, be normal about those with physical disabilities, and stop silently judging them.

this disability pride month, stop saying "pride month 2" or "wrath month". we dont even acknowledge disability pride month at all.

this disability pride month, stop differentiating "queer pride month" and "disability pride month" as "pride month" and "disability pride month". they are both pride months so call them by their full names.

this disability pride month, acknowledge not all disabilities are visible.

this disability pride month, give up your seat to someone who needs it.

this disability pride month, actually treat disabled people with rights and respect.

disabled people are people to. you failing to acknowledge that is your abelism. treat us like youd treat any other normal human being. and maybe, just maybe, after this disability pride month, youcan start treating disabled folks like living beings of society and not like your little pity pets/scary monsters/silly cutesy babies.

[chobbleblog]

A quick message to Goodtimeswithscar fanartists!

If you tend to draw/portray Scar in fanart with zero mobility/disability aides (wheelchair, cane, cannula, etc), or with them but in a way that pretty much disregards their existence (keeping the cane on his back at all times, making the cane purely aesthetic and not functional, treating the wheelchair like it's as light as a feather and can go anywhere, drawing cannulas but no oxygen tank, etc), I just want you to take a second and ask yourself why you portray it that way.

Scar has stated that he is ok being drawn with or without being visibly disabled, but he sees the wheelchair as a big part of himself ([LINK]). I'm not here to force anybody to do anything. But I just want you to seriously consider why you minimize or completely erase his disability. Is it just because he's a minecrafter and therefore he's not disabled in-game (debatable because when making fanart, the medium and therefore many universal constants are 100% malleable, not to mention how his disability does indeed affect his content such as when he is forced to take breaks, falls out of his chair, etc)? Or could it be that you are uncomfortable with the fact that he's disabled, or at least uncomfortable portraying/acknowledging that in your art? Could it be that you're afraid to get it wrong, don't know how, or simply don't feel like it? Please don't take this as an attack, but a small ask to consider the reasoning behind this design choice.

I do not use mobility aides as my physical disabilities would not be benefitted from them, but I am quite active in the online disabled community, and please believe me when I tell you that physical disabilities are erased enough. They are ignored and minimized enough. If you look in the comments of Scar's videos, if you look at the donations that were read during the charity event a couple of months ago, you will see so many people using mobility/disability aides (or not because they can't get them for many reasons, but need them very much) who are so encouraged by Scar doing what he does, by seeing a representation of their experience and community that they very, very rarely see (and even when they do it's in a pitying, infantilizing, or degrading way). When you draw fanart of Scar, please consider this. Please consider why you are erasing or minimizing his disability, and if you find it in your heart, please consider a design change.

There are aesthetically pleasing ways to include mobility aides. Some great ones I have seen are linked below if you want design inspiration. And plus, if nothing else, it will help you become a better artist by diversifying your experience:

[LINK] - An example animatic with a cane. While it is sometimes on his back, it's usually when he's flying (how would he use it? It makes sense for it to be put away). While he's walking it is being used properly. We don't see him walking around much since it's an animatic, but if I animated it more thoroughly, I would show that he had a clear limp, fatigue, or other difficulty walking, to avoid the "cane solely for aesthetic" interpretation.

[LINK] - An example animatic with a wheelchair, which is coincidentally the same scene. There was a fantastic one where his wheelchair transforms into a flying machine but I searched for 30 minutes and can't find it, so if someone knows the one please link it!

[LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] - Great example drawings with wheelchairs.

[LINK] [LINK] - Drawings with canes.

P.S. all of this goes for writing and other non-visual forms of fanart too!! I see him written disabled even less often than I see him drawn disabled.

Thank you for reading all of this. I hope it helps somebody.

[cpunkwitch]

Happy disability pride month to:

- quadriplegics and paraplegics

- ambulatory and non ambulatory mobility aid users

- folks with prosthetics, stents and replacements

- jaw pain and other mouth issue havers

- folks with spine issues

- folks with deformed limbs and/or facial features

- folks with chronic pain and or fatigue

- folks with comorbidities

- folks with animal support

- folks with human support

- the bedridden / bedbound

- disabled folk struggling to live on their own

- folks with living assistance

- disabled folk stuck living with others (be it family, roommates etc, toxic or otherwise)

- the blind (of any range)

- disabled poc and disabled bipoc

- disabled queers

- disabled folk with sensory issues

- employed and unemployed disabled folk

- self employed disabled folk

- cripples of all sorts

- those with fibromyalgia, any range of arthritis and autoimmunities

- disabled punks

- folks unable to get aids and assistance

- disabled folk in debt

- chronic migraine and headache havers

- disabled artists

- disabled gardeners

- disabled pet owners

- disabled witches

- disabled heathens and pagans alike

- disabled cis, trans, intersex, altersex and nonconforming folk

- disabled adults

- disabled youth

- disabled folk into sports

- the visibly and invisibly disabled

- the frequent hospital visitors

- disabled adoptees

- birth defect havers

- those disabled through birth, genetics or incidents/injuries

- amputees

- those with rare and incurable conditions

Unhappy month to:

- ableists

- able bodied folk using the term cripple and/or trying to be in the cpunk community

- fakeclaimers

- able bodied people who use rescources that aren't meant for them and/or complain about them

- people who claim glasses and other non mobile related disability aids are mobility aids.

- people who continue to use slurs they can't reclaim as well as general offensive/ableist language (cripple, psycho etc)

- people who talk over the disabled

- people who mock others for their conditions and trauma

- anti-recovery folk

- people refusing to give support that's needed/asked for (meds, aids, company etc)

- anti-vax bitches

- those who don't care about the autoimmune and don't take proper steps like wearing a mask when required and WASHING YOUR DAMN HANDS

- scammers and people who take advantage of those in need

- people who harass disabled people for "proof" or an explanation on their conditions

- people who touch mobility aids without asking

- people who use others addictions as a reason not to support them

- those who think disabled and deformed folk are unsightly

- the anti-homeless

- the "you're not disabled you shouldn't use that" karens

- people who use the disabled for inspiration porn (the "wow you're so strong despite your disability" bs)

- those who treat the disabled like fragile infants

- those who take things away from disabled folk for whatever reason

- those who think disabled people shouldn't have kids or pets

- people using the disabled and/or homeless for clout

- able bodied people using mobility aids just for cosplay

- claiming disabled folk can't cosplay a certain character either because "that mobility aid ruins the cosplay/the character is able bodied" or whatever other reason.

- people who insist disabled folk can't live on their own

- people who try to control or criticize how disabled folk spend their money

- people who think using disabilities, disorders and deformities as the butt of a joke is funny

- people who complain about accessibilities

[theatrekidenergy]

GUYS MY ANKLE BRACE CAME IN TODAY AND OML I DONT FEEL LIKE IM ABOUT TO FALL OVER EVERY 3 MINUTES AND MY ANKLE JOINTS AREN’T DYING AS MUCH AS USUAL

[bitchesmoonwalkin]

Give me whump characters with existing disabilities

Flare ups caused by the stress and pain whumpee has to endure

Whumpee not having access to medications or mobility aids

Whumpers who do have access. They show up to whumpee's cell/room for a "day of fun" (torture) with one of their wrists in a compression brace (how does that change their torture plans? Does whumpee eye the brace with confusion, or maybe envy? Does it give them a little flicker of hope, thinking it's a weakness they could exploit?)

Whumper who spends the day, maybe the whole week, in bed with a migraine or a flare up. All the while neglecting whumpees basic needs, since whumper can barely take care of themselves at the moment (does whumpee think it's a punishment, or a tactic to make them more dependent/less defiant?)

How does the non-disabled one (if there is one) respond?

Does whumpee hide it until the last possible moment, fearing their vulnerabilities will be exploited? (Bonus: whumpee crying out in pain when whumpee lightly presses on a random, visibly fine part of their skin that's actually a fibro pressure point)

Does whumper hide it? Do they confidently use mobility aids (even when they don't need to, just to taunt whumpee with the medical help)?

"Oh my god whumpee, I had the worst migraine last night. Can't think of anything worse" while whumpee is literally in excruciating pain

Carewhumper who's empathetic to whumpees disabilities, and provides them with the right meds. Cue whumpees existential crisis because "maybe it isn't so bad"

Caretaker uses a cane, and at first whumpee thinks they went through something similar, and can't help feeling betrayed when they find out otherwise

(Written by a disabled person who just almost broke down in tears because the tablets I need literally cost $52 just to ship here. On top of that the tablets themselves are $28 for a 10 pack I'll go through in as many days. Hahahhaha kill me)

[cripplecharacters]

Navigation: Helpful Posts

[large text: Navigation: Helpful Posts]

Complication of posts from CrippleCharacters, as well as other blogs providing advice on writing disabled characters!

This post covers the general topics - for posts on specific disabilities, please see part two.

Last update: 12/01/2025

Character Making Basics and Ideas

[large text: Character Making Basics and Ideas]

- How to Start Doing Research When Writing a Disabled Character - Disabilities that are Common but Have no Representation - Facial Differences that Would Be Cool to Actually See Represented - How to Do Historical Research - Our "Disabled Character Ideas" Tag - Our "Character Inspo" Tag - Am I a Bad Person for Not Knowing Something?

How to Describe XYZ?

[large text: How to Describe XYZ?]

- Blindness Tropes: the "Blank Look" - Describing Characters with Facial Differences as Pretty - Difference between Fetishization and Being Seen as Beautiful - First Description: when to mention the Facial Difference - How Often Should You Mention Mobility Aids? - Dialogue and Speech Disorders - Sign Language in Dialogue - Words for Residual Limbs (stumps) - Describing a Limp - Words to Use instead of "Walk" for Wheelchair Users - How to not Describe Facial Differences as "Scary"

How to Draw XYZ?

[large text: How to Draw XYZ?]

- Tips for Drawing Characters with Facial Differences - Annoying Tropes in Art Re:Facial Differences - Drawing Blind Characters - Drawing Amputees - How to Draw (and not draw) Characters with Vitiligo - Drawing Cane Users - Decorating Wheelchairs - Drawing Characters with Down Syndrome - Drawing Characters with Cleft Lip - Drawing Burn Survivors

General

[large text: General]

- What's Off-Limits for Non-disabled Writers? - Writing a Newly Disabled Character - Writing a Visibly Different Character - The Accident - Including Disabled Communities - Disabled Characters in Historical Fiction - Coming up with Fictional Disabilities - Tokenism Discussion - Disability and Superpowers - Curing and "Fixing" Disabled Characters - Is It Realistic to Have Multiple Disabled Characters? - "Jaws Effect": how media affect the real world - Worldbuilding with Accessibility in Mind - How to Let Readers Figure Out the Character's Disability - Does the Disability Need to Have a "Purpose"? - Including Ableism in the Story - Casual Representation vs Fetishization (with albinism as an example) - Including Body Horror without doing an Ableism - Including a Storyline of a Character being Traumatized from Causing Someone Else's Disability

General Tropes

[large text: General Tropes]

- "Super-Crip": Magic and Disability - Abled Characters Pretending to be Disabled - I Did a Trope but It's Too Late - What You Should Do - made with the mask trope in mind, but could be applied more widely - Magical Cure - made with blindness in mind - Including Healing Magic without Disability Erasure - Why is the Cure Trope Bad? - How to Do a Scary Disability Reveal without being Ableist? - Disabled Character Recovering, but without Disability Erasure - Killing off a Disabled Character without Doing an Ableism - Writing a Disabled Villain without Doing an Ableism - What is Fetishization of Disability, and what Isn't - Not All Sign Language Users are Mute and American

Mobility Aids

[large text: Mobility Aids]

- General Overview - Overview, but with More Options - not writing advice, educational - More Detailed Look at Crutches and Canes - Magic Mobility Aids - Tips on Writing Wheelchair Users - Writing a New Cane User - "But Mobility Aids Wouldn't Exist in my Fantasy World" - Basic Information on Service Animals - Should My Non-Modern Wheelchair User use XYZ instead of a Wheelchair? - Accessible Wizarding for Wheelchair Users - Fidgeting with Wheelchairs - Pet Peeves for Cane User Characters - Wheelchair user trying to navigate Inaccessibility - Walkers and Rollators

Other Disabilities

[large text: Other Disabilities]

- Writing Characters with Tourette's Syndrome - Introduction to Writing Characters with Speech Disorders - Writing Little People (characters with dwarfism) - Dwarfism and Fantasy Stories - Stereotypes around Characters with Dwarfism - Writing and Drawing Burn Survivors: basics and resources - Caring for a Burn Scar: the everyday things - On Chemical Burns - Writing Characters with ASPD - Writing a Character with Russel-Silver Syndrome - Complex Dissociative Disorders Terminology: A Basic Primer - What to Consider when Writing about Pollution-induced Disability - Portraying Psychosis + Review of Jinx from Arcane - Difference between "Nonverbal" and "Nonspeaking" - Stereotypes and Tropes around Characters with Gigantism - Writing Guide for Characters with Schizophrenia - Everything Except Hallucinations

Making Your Content Accessible to Disabled Readers

[large text: Making Your Content Accessible to Disabled Readers]

- Why add alt text? - Image Descriptions Tutorial - Writing Image Descriptions for People Who Can't Write Them - "But how do blind people even use alt text" - How to Tag Your Posts (Tumblr) - ScreenReaders and Color Text (Tumblr) - FanFiction Accessibility

Recommended Blogs/Sources

[large text: Recommended Blogs/Sources]

- @blindbeta - @cy-cyborg - @a-little-revolution - @mimzy-writing-online - @writingdrugs - @vitiligo-is-not-a-trend - Fantastic website for any historical needs

[tiffbaxter]

Can finally show off my full lesbian piece for Classics But Make It Gay III!

And for some context about my piece, it's a reimagining of this illumination from the Codex Manesse (13th C) The lead couple are butch/femme lesbians and their two friends are both non-binary, as shown with their clothing which mixes masculine & feminine styles. Also as you can see I wanted to make one of the lead figures visibly disabled and so she uses mobility aids based on those i’ve seen in other manuscript evidence from the medieval period.

Thank you @novaandmali for including me in this lovely project; if you want to preorder a copy you still can here.

[vanillabat99]

I am preparing for a Big Trip in a few months, and one of my concerns is navigating airport security as a disabled transgender person. I do not have my name and gender marker legally changed, I am many years into HRT, and to the average person I am visibly transgender but not in any identifiable "direction". I am physically disabled and use mobility aids. I will be flying to America, if that makes any difference.

What should I expect from airport security as a transgender person?

Should I try to present as closely as possible to what my government paperwork says?

What should I expect from airport security if I am getting disability assistance through the airport?

The name printed on my prescriptions is not my legal name, will that be an issue with security?

I will likely be transported in a wheelchair through the airport, what will they do with my walker/other mobility aids?

Will I have to take out any piercings/change to non-metal jewellery beforehand?

I am working with my doctor and my therapist on my other concerns for the trip, but these are things we haven't been able to sort out (or that I simply forgot to ask about at my last appointment). However, any additional advice and information is greatly appreciated!! I want to be as prepared as possible and I am determined to make this trip happen :3