Disability awareness is important for disabled people because disability affects us and disabled people are always advocating for more disability inclusion. Disabled people and sometimes their families are often the only people advocating for more disability inclusion because people tend to think that they don’t have to because they aren’t disabled themselves. Disability advocacy is not only for disabled people, and everyone should be doing it because anyone can become disabled and accessibility benefits everyone. Most of my advocacy work is online because I am not able to drive and it’s the only way I can advocate for other disabled people. There are tons of disabled people online spreading awareness, but content creation is not for everyone, and you don’t have to be a content creator to advocate for disabled people. Some people do not want to have a public life, and that is okay because although that is the life I have chosen, not all disabled people will do the same things as I do. You can still be an advocate without posting anything online because there are a lot of ways you can support the disabled community. How can you be an advocate for disabled people if you don’t want to be a content creator?
Share a post from a disabled person- Most disabled people who are advocating online have no support system and are looking for a community that understands what they are going through. Content creation is not for everyone, and not all disabled people are going to feel comfortable talking about personal health issues online, and that is okay. You don’t have to put yourself in uncomfortable situations if you don’t want to, but you can share posts from others. Disabled people sometimes struggle to grow their brands online more than non-disabled people because people are ableist and think that they don’t have to care about disability until it affects them. Most people have social media to connect with their friends, and one of the easiest ways you can help disabled creators grow their brands is by simply sharing posts you enjoyed. People need to see articles written by disabled people to understand how our disabilities affect us and it takes two seconds to share a post. Sharing posts created by disabled people is one of the easiest ways you can spread awareness with little effort.
Call out inaccessibility– Online advocacy is important but we can make the most change when we call out inaccessibility in real life. If you are out somewhere and you see someone blocking an accessible parking spot, you can politely approach that person and let them know they are creating barriers for disabled people that can be dangerous. You can’t force someone to listen to you, but you can do your part and educate them because sometimes non-disabled people don’t realize they are creating barriers and will be thankful that you called them out on it. Don’t be rude about it because people will likely not listen to you when you have an attitude about it. Education is important because we can’t expect non-disabled people to know everything, and the only way we will get more disability inclusion is by talking about it. If you are out at the store and see something that could negatively impact disabled people, call people out on it because you never know who is willing to listen.
Buy products from disabled business owners- Disabled people can be as good of a business owner as a non-disabled person, but often it is more difficult to grow a business when you are disabled. I mostly blog for fun and do not sell any products, but there are a lot of disabled people who do have paid services. If you know a disabled person who is a business owner who sells products, you would benefit from buying from them and telling your friends about it is an easy way to support them. I love supporting disabled business owners because when you buy from disabled people, you are supporting accessibility and inclusion.
Use inclusive language- There are a lot of terms, such as wheelchair-bound and handicapped, that are considered ableist and that some people may consider it offensive. You can’t control the language that people use on TV, but you can control what comes out of your mouth and use inclusive language. I think that it is so important that we use inclusive language because when you are not using terms such as wheelchair-bound and say wheelchair user instead, people sometimes are curious and ask questions. Inclusive language opens up conversations that we need to have and creates change. If you are constantly using offensive language that everyone uses, nothing is going to change because people won’t see a problem with it.
Advocate for your loved ones at the doctor’s office– Disabled people sometimes struggle to get their doctors to take them seriously because doctors often assume we can’t speak for ourselves. I am able to advocate for myself at the doctor’s office because no one knows my needs better than I do, and I only need someone to drive me. It can be helpful to have an advocate with you at the doctor’s office because sometimes doctors are more inclined to listen to caregivers than disabled people, even though it should be the other way around. Advocate for your loved ones at the doctor’s office or any public place, because sometimes it can be exhausting for me to have to constantly explain my needs to people. I am capable of advocating for myself, but if I am with people, I don’t always call things out right away because I like to see what my friends and family are going to do.
Disability advocacy is important, and you can make a lot of impact online but you don’t have to be a public figure to spread awareness because there are a lot of ways you can make a difference without being a content creator. Disabled people shouldn’t be the only ones calling out inaccessibility and we need non-disabled people to do it too because people sometimes listen to non-disabled people more than disabled people, even though it should be the other way around. Disability awareness isn’t only for disabled people, and we need help from non-disabled people because we need to normalize disability and end the stigma. If there is one thing I want my non-disabled friends and family to know, it’s that you are not exempt from advocacy because you aren’t disabled. If you have a disabled loved one and want to make their life easier, advocacy should be even more important to you. How do you advocate for disabled people without having a public life? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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