OMG reaction time, lets talk about Ablism.

 When I saw this clip, I was like this must be a setup but know it was a real reaction and I know that I am hypersensitive at times as well, and entitled, but to say that people who use wheelchairs aren’t paralyzed is just plain wrong and uneducated about disability. Both Strollers and Wheelchairs are mobility aids, and they are a tool.

We see in the Clip that the person is suffering from a valid health condition known as obesity, but I am fairly sure that she would be a part of the body positivity movement, this body positivity denies one fact, that  health isn’t health at any size, you can be thin and very unhealthy as I was for many years, but to be obese we need to point out some difficult and challenging facts that there is a higher risk of,

Heart disease

Stroke

Sleep apnoea

High blood pressure

Depression

These are just a few and it’s not healthy to be obese at all, a little overweight in case you get sick I got told by my own health professional that it’s actually better to be a little overweight than under if you get sick with Covid or other viral infections you have a chance to rest without trying to force yourself to eat.

But to deny a person or to get upset about people who aren’t paralyzed using wheelchairs seems to me to be very uneducated and actually very unhinged, when you hear the rest of what she is saying, There is a term called an ability wheelchair user and yes not everyone who uses a wheelchair is paralyzed but there are many different reasons for using one and it’s not your place to judge it as well as there are many different reasons for using a stroller with a child.

This is plain and simple thinking, Wheelchair equals paraplegia, or not being able to walk at all, some of the reasons can be, chronic pain, Pots, hypermobility issues, and fatigue as well as muscular issues.   This isn’t an exhaustive list and it’s just rude to ask people why they are in a wheelchair unless they are welcoming questions at an event.

It seems to me that this generation makes me question the level of rounded nonbiased education as by the time I was about 13 I knew that not everyone that can walk is safe too and that you don’t touch someone’s mobility aid or service animal.  I also grieve the loss of people wanting to work for something and to put others first when they need to be put first without neglecting our own needs this can look selfish on the outside but we need to remember that not everyone is educated about disability and this leads to greater risk of discrimination, exploitation, and even abuse, as not everyone gets the care they need to be paid for, and this is a great shame as well.

But this leads me to the fact that not all disabilities are visible, and some are hidden, and they deserve the accommodations just as much as people with physical disabilities.  Also saying that we should get rid of wheelchairs and strollers is saying that we don’t deserve to be in public and that is a very slippery slope thinking, but looking at the way that this person in the clip is dressed I think she would have a lot of circular uncomfortable thinking, because people aren’t exposed to healthy debate and education without bias and it seems to me that she is angry that she missed out on something, and I suspect that has to do with the rant about disabled people. The question I am then left with is why? 
Why does our very existence threaten your existence? Is it the possibility that you know that if you don’t change your diet and start moving your body you could end up in the same situation? It’s something to think about and the lack of education around mobility aids before she hit record isn’t a great look for her. So, I would suggest to this person that she goes and spends a month volunteering at a local day service for people with disabilities and she will have her eyes wide open to real oppression and disadvantage as a shop might not be accessible to a person because of their mobility aids or sensory needs.

So, let's step back and realize that if you have access to the internet, it doesn’t take all that much effort to educate yourself on disability. I hope this person has taken that step to be able to educate themselves as this really isn’t a great look, is on the comments for the trailers for Dr who the 70^th specials that have a person in a wheelchair I commented on and the representation and people are getting angry about “ forced representation” I think its DR who so I don’t think it would be shoehorned into the plot it’s Russel T Davies and he doesn’t do things by halves so I think that having people with disabilities on screens is a good thing. The next debate is going to be around having disabled actors playing these parts but we need to step back and understand that movie and TV sets are very high-paced sets and the actors are telling a story if they can keep up I don’t see why they can’t but it’s a bit more complex than just saying that disabled actors should play disabled roles that’s like saying only gay actors should play gay roles and it actually can type cast an actor and my come back is we are going to have a hard time finding a time lord or a vampire, so we need to cast the best person for the job and continue to educate people on what a disability really is so they aren’t making uneducated comments or videos like this one outing themselves as ablest.