OrdinaryVoid

My top 10 orange magical girl (boy in this case) designs:

there is a difference between disabled with a visually average body & disabled with limb, face and/or chest wall differences.

there's a difference between disabled with sensory difficulties or sensitivities & disabled with a sensory disability that prevents you from percieving that sense.

there is a difference between disabled with occasional communication differences & disabled and unable to communicate without a device, an interpreter, or at all

there is a difference between disabled and struggles to shower & disabled and cannot maintain basic hygiene without intervention

there is a difference between disabled and has difficulty walking & disabled and cannot walk a single step, no matter what, no matter when

We need to start commenting under other people's posts about how to properly warn for flashing lights and eyestrain. We need to be emailing and calling companies about their possibly triggering advertisements that could induce seizures. We need to stop tolerating ableism and start speaking up for the more vulnerable.

Also, stop putting epilepsy warnings. That's like saying "warning: schizophrenia" on a post including unreality or "warning: dyslexia" on a post with a typing quirk. First off, the disability mentioned isn't the only group of people that this could trigger. Second, it doesn't truly get the message across and instead makes it worse for those with the disability-- scrolling through the epilepsy tag on Tumblr should get you to view the content of other epileptic people, but no, you just get a bunch of flashing lights and eyestrain, even though you could instead tag for, oh I dunno, flashing lights and eyestrain.

Executive dysfunction comes from a lack of available dopamine. Common advice is wrong. You need to provide your own dopamine before you can start. Otherwise you're trying to run your car on empty.

"But what if I still don't do it" well you already weren't getting it done anyway. Now you have a little treat. Try again later.

You deserve kindness and care even when you aren't being productive.

I usually suggest this technique as a "Reverse Pomodoro." In the original Pomodoro, you work for 25 minutes and then take a break for 5 minutes (the times vary, but that's the essential ratio). People with executive dysfunction often find this insurmountable, and they get even more frustrated, and then the task seems even more difficult. So instead, flip those times.

FIRST, spend 25 minutes doing something energizing and engaging that you like to do. Not scrolling social media passively, not watching tv, not napping. Try something like colouring, doing yoga, running/walking around the block, talking about your favourite tv show with someone in real time, playing with the dog or cat, making and eating a lovely sandwich, hula hooping, something active. Having a little treat absolutely falls in this category!

(on the subject of little treats: refusing yourself food until you do work is for fucking Puritans and you can be kinder to yourself)

Then, after 25 minutes (or however long it takes to eat the sandwich or finish the yoga routine, it doesn't have to be exact), spend 5 minutes writing (or doing whatever you're struggling to start). Most people can coax themselves into doing something they find difficult for five minutes, if they have already filled up the joy/energy/engagement bucket. You can put a timer on for the 5 minutes if you want, or if you find that annoying, just work for as long as you like.

The other key is: don't push yourself to keep going when you're frustrated or tired—that will just reinforce the negative belief that you already have, which tells you that this task is painful to do, and needs to be avoided. If you've commonly had to force yourself to do this kind of task, that's likely part of why you think of it as painful and have trouble starting it now. Also, you should just, at a basic level, try not to put yourself in pain for the sake of productivity. So just do it till the good feelings run out. Then start hula hooping or colouring again for another 25 minutes. When the tank's refilled, try another 5 minutes of work, if you can. Adjust times to taste.

Two-Spirit

Two-Spirit is a term created by Indigenous peoples of North America in 1990 to bring together the diverse gender identities and sexualities that exist within their cultures.

It is not a single gender. Each nation has its own traditions, names, and ways of understanding these experiences.

For many communities, Two-Spirit people held important social, cultural, and spiritual roles before European colonization.

The term should not be used by non-Indigenous people, as it is specifically connected to the cultures and experiences of the Indigenous peoples of North America.

Irawhiti (Māori)

Irawhiti is a Māori-language term used by some people to describe transgender or gender-diverse experiences.

The term is part of the contemporary revitalization of Māori language and culture, allowing Indigenous people to describe their identities through their own cultural frameworks.

Although it may be translated as "transgender" in some contexts, Irawhiti carries meanings connected to Māori cultural realities and should not be understood simply as a copy of Western gender categories. ( Flag design by Irauí on Tumblr. ) @irawhiti

takatāpui (Māori)

Takatāpui is a Māori term used by Indigenous LGBTQIA+ people in New Zealand.

Historically, the word referred to an intimate relationship between people of the same sex.

Today, many Māori people use the term to express both their Indigenous identity and their gender or sexual diversity.

More than a specific sexual orientation or gender identity, Takatāpui connects a person to their culture, ancestry, and community.

The term is part of the Māori cultural revitalization movement and demonstrates that gender and sexual diversity can be understood through Indigenous perspectives, not only through Western categories. ( Flag design by Irauí on Tumblr. ) @irawhiti

Māhū (Kanaka Maōli)

Māhū is a traditional Hawaiian cultural identity associated with people who embody both masculine and feminine qualities.

Historically, māhū people held important roles as educators, keepers of knowledge, healers, and transmitters of cultural traditions.

The arrival of colonization and Christian missions attempted to erase these identities, but many Native Hawaiians continue to preserve and revitalize the māhū identity today.

Māhū is not simply the Hawaiian equivalent of "transgender" or "nonbinary." It is a distinct cultural identity deeply connected to Hawaiian history, culture, and spirituality.

Tibira/ Tybyra

Tibira is a historical figure documented during the colonial period.

According to interpretations by Indigenous researchers and collectives, Tibira may be understood as a man who had relationships with other men, or as a person who lived with a feminine gender identity or expression, challenging the norms imposed by colonizers.

Their story is remembered as an example that gender and sexual diversity already existed among Indigenous peoples long before colonization. ( Made by me )

Çacoaimbeguira

Accounts of the Tupinambá people mention the çacoaimbeguiras.

According to interpretations by Indigenous researchers and collectives, they may be understood as women who had relationships with other women, or as people who lived with a masculine gender identity or expression outside the norms imposed by colonization.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/05/what_state_prisoners_get_to_wo.html

(bitch who's never had brownies butts in the lesbian conversation)

That list might say things like “Paint a picture. Go birdwatching. Finish that great novel I started reading. Call my grandma. Learn to bake a cake. Visit my sister. Play piano.”

“I should not be struggling this much to do things that I want to do and have the time, space, energy, and skills to do. Actually, when I list it all out like that, I should not be struggling at all to do those kinds of tasks.”

start in the middle and massage away towards your hairline

follow along the brow and above the forehead

rub your temples and cheekbones while you're at it, any sore points

Been a while, huh guys?

“Native people used to live in this National Park” No. They still do.

“Native people used to tell these stories-” No. They still do.

“Native people used to use this plant as a natural remedy-” No. They still do.

to live in this National

Park” No. They still do.

people look at wheelchair users and think "well you're sitting down all the time that doesn't take effort" no actually it does. pushing a manual chair takes a lot of fucking effort, especially without a power assist. repetitive stress injuries are a huge problem manual chair users encounter all the time. going up hills and ramps is so deeply fatiguing.

this doesn't just apply to manual chair users btw. power chair usage can also be really exhausting, especially for people with complex seating needs. going over bumps and cracks can trigger many symptoms such as spasticity, pressure sores are common, even just sitting upright can be exhausting for many people.

for manual chairs the sitting part by itself might be somewhat similar to sitting in a car, though there are key differences, mainly the length of time being a relatively short car ride versus using a wheelchair up to 24/7. you also have to consider that wheelchair users are very very likely to have conditions that affect the ability to sit upright comfortably for an extended period of time. some people, such as those with SCIs, have poor trunk control (trunk sort of means abdomen) which means they may slump down in their seat (there are ways to mitigate this via the way ones chair is set up but i digress). people with hip problems can develop pain or dislocations due to the position ones hips must be in, as a few examples. for me personally i get bad soreness and fatigue in my legs from having them bent at that angle, i can only truly be comfortable with my legs fully elevated. and even with my $600+ cushion it starts to hurt after a while.

this is even more of an issue for power chair users, especially those with group 2 or 3 chairs. pressure sores like i mentioned are exceedindly common, especially for people who are very likely not be able to shift positioning independently, which is why things like tilt and recline exist, to take pressure off those spots (among other things like decompressioning the spine). someone who uses a massive bespoke powerchair may still experience extreme pain or other symptoms while sitting in their chair, and the only place they can actually be somewhat comfortable is in a special bed. its not relaxing to get to sit in a cushioned powerchair all day every day, because the people that need them often cant tolerate sitting for more than a short period of time.

and we havent even started talking about actually moving in a wheelchair. we cant talk about manual chair use without talking about repetitive stress injuries. your arms are not limbs that are designed for ambulation, they don't have nearly as much muscle as your legs and as such it is much harder to use your arms to get your body *and* often very heavy medical equipment around. is not an easy task even on completely smooth, flat, even ground, and given that the majority of ground that is traversed by the average person is neither smooth, flat, nor even, it's all that much more difficult. and again you have to consider that wheelchair users are disabled people who, more likely than not, have some sort of body systemic disorders that affect more than just the legs, which can make pushing all the more difficult. someone with me/cfs might push themselves into a pem flare. i have eds which is a large part of why i need my wheelchair, but it also affects my shoulders which means i get a *lot* of shoulder pain. ive got torn tendons in my shoulders and ive only been using my chair for 2 years and change, with a power assist. there are some people who desperately need a wheelchair but genuinely cant use their arms, shoulders to self propel without extreme pain, and powerchairs are prohibitively expensive, so lots of people just go without even though walking is extremely difficult.

and now we must talk about the difficulties of navigating the world around us *on top of* the difficulties of using mobility aids in the first place. imagine being completely barred from like half of the places you want to go to, and half the places you can actually go are like at least 4x as hard to navigate due to narrow aisles/paths, blocked aisles/paths, people that seem to lose all sense of spatial awareness when a wheelchair user enters their vicinity, cracks and bumps and other hazards, people leaving objects in the middle of the path, "accessible" entrances/parking spots being very out of the way, lack of automatic doors, lack of accessible (CLEAN) bathrooms, i could keep going.

theres also the fact that human bodies receive a lot of information about their surroundings via proprioception, which gets very messed up when you're in a wheelchair. you no longer have access to the movements that your body does to understand the space its in, which makes navigating the world even more difficult because we don't have that sensory feedback. and for a population who is way more likely to deal with brain fog and other cognitive impairments you can see why this takes a lot of mental energy on top of physical.

there's even more that i could talk about but this post is already quite long. here's a link to a reblog my friend made that has some sources attached to it about repetitive stress injuries and other complications that might also be helpful.

as a conclusion, wheelchair usage requires a lot of effort, physical and mental. it is usually better than not being able to go anywhere at all, but not always. so keeping all of that in mind, try to share some extra kindness to the wheelchair users in your community.