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Disability awareness isn’t just about talking about the positives of your disability, and we also need to be talking about the negatives of disability, even if it makes some people uncomfortable. Non-disabled people sometimes get uncomfortable when disabled people talk about the negatives of a disability and will only want us to talk about what is good in our life, but if you want me to conveniently leave out everything that is hard in my life, you don’t want disability awareness but want feel-good content. It is important to talk about the negatives and positives of a disability because you aren’t being a very good advocate if you only give people half the picture. It is hard to talk about the negatives of my disability on public platforms because non-disabled people often get uncomfortable and leave ableist comments, but I wouldn’t be a very good advocate if I never talked about the negatives of a disability. The negatives of my disability do exist, whether I talk about them or not, and are a huge part of my life. Why do I talk about the negatives of my disability? In this post, I am sharing why it’s important to talk about the negatives of a disability even though it makes some people uncomfortable.
It helps disabled people feel less alone- When you are disabled and are struggling with your health, sometimes it feels like no one gets it because not all disabled people have someone in their life who truly understands. It is important to talk about the positives because the media tends to hyper-focus on only the negatives, and if we don’t talk about the positives of a disability, we are contributing to the problem. It is frustrating to be disabled, and talking about the negatives makes some people uncomfortable, but when we talk about them, it makes disabled people feel less alone. Non-disabled people sometimes think that talking about the negatives of a disability is bad and that we shouldn’t talk about them, but I think it can be helpful because it shows other disabled people that they are not alone in their struggles and makes them feel validated. You can tell a disabled person all day long that they are not alone in their struggles, but it can be difficult for some people to believe that unless they see someone struggling with the same thing. It is hard to talk about the negatives, but talking about them helps you connect with others because some people will be able to relate to it.
People need to see the realities of a disability- The media does a great job of hyper-focusing on the negatives of a disability and making people fear disability, which is part of the problem. It is hard to be disabled, but it is not as sad and depressing as the media wants you to believe, because you still can have fun while being disabled, and you just may have to do things in a slightly different way. It is hard to share the negatives of disability because people tend to see that as bad, but if we don’t share them, people will only see one side of a disability. I share the negatives of my disability because the only way people will have even the smallest understanding of how hard it is to be disabled is if we talk about the struggles. Most things about disability in the media are over-exaggerated and not true, and the only way we can show our non-disabled peers what it is like to be disabled is if we share the good and hard times of a disability. I am doing my audience a disservice when I don’t talk about the negatives because I am not effectively educating people on the realities of a disability.
People can relate to the negatives – It is important to talk about the positives of a disability, but it’s not the good times that make the most impact, and it’s the struggles that people can relate to. Disabled people need more support than non-disabled people because living with a disability in a world designed for non-disabled people is hard. You will not get that same kind of support if you only share the positives of your disability. Disabled advocates can make a huge impact by talking about their disabilities, but you aren’t going to make as much impact if people can’t relate to your content. Some disabled people are not going to be able to relate to your struggles, but a lot of people will, which is why it’s so important to talk about the negatives.
Talking about the negatives creates change- Change doesn’t happen when disabled people are talking about the good times in their lives, and it happens when we talk about what’s hard in our lives. Some people may think that talking about how you were denied access is negative, but nothing is ever going to change if we don’t talk about it, because people are going to think that our lives are great. Disability awareness isn’t just about sharing the positive moments, but it’s also about sharing the negatives because non-disabled people are never going to understand the barriers disabled people face if we stay silent about them.
It is hard to talk about the negatives of a disability because most non-disabled people see that as a bad thing. It is so important that we talk about the negatives of disability because not everything about disability is good, and not talking about the hard times is not disability awareness. As a disabled person, I hate how the media focuses on only the negatives of a disability, because although my disability has a lot of negative moments, it also has a lot of positives. I try to focus on the positives of my disability because you will be happier when you aren’t constantly thinking about everything you hate about your disability, but at the same time, I am not in denial of the negatives of my disability. I didn’t start my blog to inspire you, but I started it to break disability stigma and educate you. Awareness is about sharing the positives and negatives of a disability because when you do that effectively, it teaches non-disabled people how they can better support you and helps disabled people feel less alone. There is a time and place for inspiration, but when it comes to disability awareness, I am not here to tell you what you want to hear but what you need to hear. Why do you think we need to share the negatives of a disability? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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