Beppilepsy

NEVER harass someone for using accessibility aids - such as a disabled parking space, mobility aids (wheelchair/walker/crutches/cane), a service dog, soundproof headphones, etc. - just because you think they “don’t look disabled.”

Disabled people exist at all ages, races, sizes, genders, economic classes, etc., and we all look different!! Sometimes we will not match the stereotype in your head!

Most disabled people need certain aids in some circumstances and not in others. If you see someone using an aid only part of the time, that does not mean they do not need the aid! And yes, this includes wheelchair users!!

There is no such thing as a service dog certification or registry in the United States. In the United States, if someone brings a service dog into a business and it’s not being disruptive, legally, you must allow it. You have no right to try to decide whether it’s “really” a service dog, and pestering a disabled person to determine whether YOU think they’re really disabled is harassment. If, and only if, the dog is disruptive, the establishment can ask its person to take it outside. That’s it.

When you try to catch “fakers”, real disabled people suffer.

Your harassment of disabled people “just to check they’re not a faker” and your attempts to “shame fakers” make it harder for us to exist in public. There is already so much scrutiny that comes with being disabled, and the constant hunt for “fakers” makes it so much worse.

Add in the fact that violence isn’t unheard of when someone thinks you’re “faking”, and the fact that disabled people literally avoid using medically necessary aids out of fear of harassment, and the whole thing becomes a very real safety concern.

The next time you want to shame someone for having a disabled parking tag you think they don’t need, or for standing up out of their wheelchair, or anything else – think about whether you’re comfortable taking the chance that your harassment is going to make a real disabled person less safe.

On the tiniest chance you catch someone willing to face constant ableism for the super fun time of pretending to be disabled (assuming anyone would DO that), your scrutiny is still adding to a culture where disabled people are constantly treated with suspicion.