11 Things You Might Know to Be True If You Have a Disability

When you live with a disability or health condition, you generally know things that able-bodied people or others just don’t get. For instance, people who use wheelchairs don’t always use them — and it’s actually not shocking to see someone using a wheelchair stand up.

No two disabled people are the same, but we’re constantly subjected to stereotypes or misunderstandings, questions about our disability and shallow representations of disability in Hollywood, often played by abled actors.

Hollywood representations are what inspired Imani Barbarin, the communications director for Disability Rights Pennsylvania, to start the hashtag #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow on Twitter. Barbarin recently wrote a blog post on her site, Crutches & Spice, about able-bodied actor Bryan Cranston playing a disabled character in the new movie “The Upside.” She wrote:

Among my many major qualms with the entertainment industry… they seem too comfortable with profiting off of disabled stories while keeping disabled people on the sidelines.

(Isn’t it ironic that storylines about how disabled people can do anything are always on the screen, yet their justification for not hiring us is because we ‘can’t do it?’)

Barbarin told The Mighty people were angry after reading her blog post, saying those with disabilities “have nothing to add to Hollywood productions and that we should just be grateful at all for representation.”

“Depictions of disabled people are often one-dimensional and devoid of the grace and nuance with which we live our lives,” Barbarin said. “Hiring disabled people and letting us be involved in our narratives would help give the community a more multi-dimensional voice.”

So, adding to that voice, Barbarin created the hashtag Thursday, which has since gone viral.

We don’t like accepting help because you always make it into a “thing.” #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow

— Crutches THEE Spice ♿️ (@Imani_Barbarin) January 18, 2019

Make sure to look just disabled enough so that people believe you but not so disabled that they think you're a burden. #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow

— Crutches THEE Spice ♿️ (@Imani_Barbarin) January 18, 2019

If you're a plus person, no matter what's happened or what you need, its because of your weight. #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow

— Crutches THEE Spice ♿️ (@Imani_Barbarin) January 18, 2019

Others started sharing not only things that disabled people know to be true but also things people without disabilities probably don’t think about or understand because they don’t have the same perspective.

There are a lot of amazing, talented, beautiful disabled people who continually get passed over for jobs, internships, roles, and contracts because people think we’re not able to do the job, that our work is niche, or that accommodating us is too hard #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow

— Elizabeth Roderick (any pronouns ok) (@LidsRodney) January 18, 2019

“What’s wrong with you?” is never a good question to ask. #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow

— Shannon Dingle (@ShannonDingle) January 18, 2019

Lots of doctors and specialists and acronyms. #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow

— Shannon Dingle (@ShannonDingle) January 18, 2019

We can either be the “poor thing” or the “inspiration” in society’s eyes. No in-between. #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow

— Elizabeth M (@hypo_awareness) January 18, 2019

When you talk about being disabled and advocating for disabled people, there will always be one damn abled person who asks “What’s your disability?” As if you have to ~prove~ your experiences by giving out private and sensitive information #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow

— The Return of Pink Hair Taylor (@Taylor_McKell97) January 18, 2019

People are going to speak to you like a child regardless of the fact that you are responding clearly, concisely, and with the knowledge you obtained from your college degree. #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow

— Keah Brown (@Keah_Maria) January 18, 2019

I’m literally looking right at you but you’ll ignore me to speak to the able-bodied person I’m with about me as if I’m not. #thingsdisabledpeopleknow

— Keah Brown (@Keah_Maria) January 18, 2019

#ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow Marriage isn’t in the cards because you want to keep your income, independence, and your insurance because there’s no way your partner’s insurance would cover how expensive you are.

— Aster (@Gayforsempai) January 18, 2019

What would you add?