What To Do When Someone Leaves An Ableist Comment On Your Blog Or Social Media

Ableism is everywhere, and disabled people are not only getting hearing ableist comments in real life but also online. What is ableism? It is a form of discrimination and social prejudice with the belief that the abilities of non-disabled people are superior and that all disabled people need to be fixed. Ableism can negatively impact a disabled person, and it’s something we all can work on because anyone can be ableist, even disabled people sometimes struggle with. As a disabled person, I have had people say ableist things to me in real life more times than I care to admit, but now that I am an online disabled advocate, I also experience them online because when you blog about your disability, people sometimes think they are entitled to everything. Ableist comments are unhelpful and can be very harmful to the creator and anyone who happens to read that comment. How do I manage ableist comments and keep everyone safe? In this post, I am going to talk about what I do when someone leaves an ableist comment on my blog or social media.

I try to ignore it- As a disabled blogger, I think that some people leave rude comments on someone’s blog or social media for attention, but I don’t believe that everyone who leaves ableist comments had bad intentions and knew their comment was ableist and said it anyway. Sometimes I think that people have good intentions and leave ableist comments without knowing that it was ableist and very harmful. I am able to control what comments are made public on my blog because I have my comment section set up for moderation, but I can’t control the types of comments people try to leave on my blog. Ableism negatively affects me, but it is the reality of being a disabled creator, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. I try to ignore ableist comments because if I took every ableist comment as a personal attack, my mental health would be negatively affected, and it can be so helpful to learn to let it go. As a disabled creator, I try to ignore ableist comments and remind myself that most people have good intentions and lack understanding. Sometimes people leave ableist comments that make me angry and bother me, but most times I try to ignore them.

If people are willing to listen, I try to educate them- I don’t respond to every ableist comment because I don’t have time for that, and sometimes I don’t think that it is going to make a difference. If someone leaves an ableist comment on my blog or social media, who I think had good intentions, sometimes I will call them out and educate them because sometimes people will be willing to listen. Some people you cannot change, but I don’t believe everyone who leaves ableist comments had ill intentions, and sometimes people aren’t aware. My job as a disabled advocate is to call out ableism because you can’t expect people to do better if you are always staying silent about it. It is so important to call out your friends’ ableism when you think they might listen because awareness creates change. Non-disabled people often do not know what ableism is and would not be able to recognize it, and the only way we help them be less ableist is by calling it out.

I delete ableist comments– Some people who leave comments are trying to be kind and did not realize the harm in their comment, but not everyone who leaves ableist comments has good intentions. Ableism negatively affects disabled people, and you can’t change everyone because sometimes people don’t care and think they are entitled, and there is nothing you can do to change their minds. In those instances, I delete comments because reading ableist comments every day negatively affects me and anyone who happens to read that comment. I have my blog’s comment section set up for moderation to have complete control over what comments people are made visible, so it’s a safe space for everyone.

Turn off your comment section- I love reading comments from readers, and don’t receive a lot of ableist comments because I am not a super popular creator. Disabled creators who have a larger follower count than I do sometimes will get significantly more ableist comments than me, which can negatively affect them. If you are getting a lot of ableist comments that are negatively affecting you, you can also shut off your comment section. As a disabled creator, I have my comment section set up for moderation, but I still allow people to comment because the downside of shutting off your comment section is that it prevents anyone from commenting, not just the trolls. Disability advocacy should not negatively affect your mental health, and if it does, turning off your comment section might be your only choice for improving your mental health.

Disability advocacy is very rewarding, but sometimes it can negatively affect your mental health because you have no control over what people comment. I have strict comment policies to ensure that it is a safe space for everyone and to protect my mental health. Disabled people will always get ableist comments online, and you can’t always change people’s minds because sometimes people don’t want to change. I read every comment, but not every comment is made public, and if it violates my comment policy, I delete it because I can’t enjoy content creation if my comment section makes me angry. I have very clear policies for a reason because if I didn’t, who knows what types of comments people would be leaving. Your comment section should make you lift you up, and if it doesn’t, it might be time to clean things up a bit and delete some comments. Do what it takes to protect yourself because your mental health will be affected if you don’t have boundaries. Ableism is everywhere, especially online, because people tend to have no filter on social media, and it is okay to block people who don’t make you feel good about yourself. What do you do when someone leaves an ableist comment on your blog or social media? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.

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