get Jinxed

Sometimes using a wheelchair means you can no longer get to the places that used to be important to you, and not because of man-made inaccessibility. I have sat with someone as they cried because they could no longer visit the place they had scattered a loved one’s ashes because not even the most expensive wheelchair in the world could handle the terrain. As much as I wanted to, my wheelchair meant that I couldn’t position myself in a way that would allow me to give them a proper hug. In that moment, our wheelchairs felt more like heavy weights than freedom.

And sometimes wheelchairs are like the legs of someone who can walk but would maybe benefit from a wheelchair themselves. Sometimes wheelchairs are exhausting and painful and you’re counting down the time before you’re able to be lifted into bed. Sure, like painful legs, you can do more with them than without, but constantly performing gratitude for something that hurts you is exhausting. And again, not because you need a better wheelchair, but because those are the limits of your body and the technology that exists.

Adults with Down Syndrome fuck. Adults with Down Syndrome SAY fuck. Adults with Down Syndrome watch porn. Adults with Down Syndrome drink. Adults with Down Syndrome do dangerous things for the fun of it. Adults with Down Syndrome do stupid things.

Autistic adults fuck. Autistic adults SAY fuck. Autistic adults watch porn. Autistic adults drink. Autistic adults do dangerous things for the fun of it. Autistic adults do stupid things.

Adults with Cerebral Palsy fuck. Adults with Cerebral Palsy SAY fuck. Adults with Cerebral Palsy watch porn. Adults with Cerebral Palsy drink. Adults with Cerebral Palsy do dangerous things for the fun of it. Adults with Cerebral Palsy do stupid things.

Happy disability pride month to Mad people

Happy disability pride month to people whose disability was caused or worsened by psychiatric meds

Happy disability pride month to people who caused or worsened their own disabilities

Happy disability pride month to people who self-harm

Happy disability pride month to people with eating disorders

Happy disability pride month to people who use substances

Happy disability pride month to people with self-injuries stims

Happy disability pride month to people with trichotillomania, dermatillomania, and other body focused repetitive behaviours

Happy disability pride month to people with self imposed factitious disorder/munchausen syndrome

Happy disability pride month to people with BIID

- brought to you by the same person who said that nurses have never experienced being an unmedicated chronic pain patient, so the problem is invisible to them.

Yeah, sure, we should be mad that drug seekers forced the poor innocent medical professional industry to over prescribe pain meds rather than actually do their fucking jobs,

and then completely cut everyone off from the only pain management those lazy fucks were offering when they realise they'd fucked up

Causing all those people, still in pain, to look for relief elsewhere because like fuck did they introduce any kind of pain management while they were merrily kicking patients off the painkillers that let them semi function

Maybe, if there was proper pain management for chronic pain patients, a system in place to support drug addicts, and less judgemental fucking stuck up "you're a Fat Brown Woman who's pain I don't believe so I'm calling you a drug seeker" medical professionals, we wouldn't have this problem.

"Needy, unable to cope" (<- you try coping with chronic pain)

"Comfort seeking" (<- you mean.. having a preference for not being in pain.. how criminal)

"Using or trying to obtain drugs on a long-term, chronic base" (<- do you understand what 'chronic pain' means.)

"Asking for pain med then returning to sleep."

"States he’s level 10 pain, but does not appear to be in pain (or ‘5= on appearance)." (<- it is well-known that chronic pain patients tend not to display pain in the same way as acute pain patients)

"Dramatic response to pain" (<- notice how this directly contradicts the comment above. you cannot win)

"Gets IV med, then leaves unit to smoke or walk around" (<- wow requiring medication and then going off to do something you needed pain meds to be able to do is so suspicious)

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.

No access info for any of the venues

Box office is inaccessible

Google “[festival name] accessibility”; get info on their “accessible pricing” (pay £1 less if you want to). No mention of free tickets for essential carers

Do a lot of disability detective work; most venues don’t have wheelchair access

One claims to be accessible, look inside: “we’re an accessible venue. There are three steps to get in, but we can help you with those”.

“Everybody welcome*”