Untitled

Own Voices was coined by author Corinne Duyvis in the 2010s to describe autistic representation by autistic people, in a time when the bulk of fiction about autism was by Autism Mom types. I’m pretty sure she was riffing on the slogan Nothing About Us Without Us, which is best known in disability rights circles in English.

Because it was a twitter hashtag it VERY quickly took off in the midst of (extremely necessary!) discussions by members of groups like We Need Diverse Books, who were advocating for the inclusion of marginalized authors in publishing, particularly publishing of children’s literature.

HOWEVER. The problem with hashtaggable slogans is that they are just. Not very nuanced! Even Duyvis herself has expressed frustration with some of the directions the hashtag ended up taking, eg publishers wanting work by marginalized authors ONLY as OwnVoices, which is to say, ONLY if they were Dealing With Their Marginalization. Black author but the book is just a fun romp and it isn’t about Black Issues? No thanks. Queer author doesn’t want to come out of the closet? Well then it isn’t OwnVoices is it? Better harass them out of the closet to make sure we are doing Rep correctly.

And as this thread calls out, the trend did not take into account that having an identity may not equal being knowledgeable about that identity (of course also because Identity Categories are not monolithic!).

If you are only here to harass me, fuck you. I hope you find better things to do in life then be an asshole to people online. You all are the very reason I no longer feel comfortable being on the internet.

Hi we're the cosmic disaster system. we are a P-DID system and our major fronter is our host Nova. We are a minor.

DNI if you are pro radqueer, anti para, christian/support christianity or an asshole.

Anna (Human Form): For Those Who I Love…

For my Town… My Family… My Friends…

Khartoum Aid Kitchen

*checks wiki*

Please help me and don't ignore me.

I'm Bilal. I suffered a severe injury in the war, resulting in the loss of my eye and a large part of my intestines. More than 18 cm of my intestines were severed. My home and workplace were destroyed, and I'm now unable to support myself due to the injury. I'm completely helpless. I'm not asking for much; we're living a living hell. The bombing never stops, and the suffering never ceases.

We live in a dilapidated tent, and my tent has been bombed several times. Now my children have scabies due to the lack of hygiene and the sand.

I'm just trying to care for my children and provide them with the bare necessities. Please, if you can't donate, you can share and talk about my suffering.

My name is Suhaila, and I am a mother of five children.

I spend every moment beside my little daughter Mira's hospital bed, holding her tiny hand and praying that she survives. Mira is undergoing urgent surgeries, and her iron level has dropped to just 6, leaving her little body dangerously weak. She urgently needs medicine and specialized medical treatment. We have been told that she needs treatment abroad, but the border crossing is closed, and she cannot leave to receive the care that could save her life. As her mother, I feel helpless as I watch her suffer, unable to give her the treatment she desperately needs.

At the same time, my family is living through another heartbreaking tragedy. Our home was completely destroyed, my husband was injured and can no longer work, and my children have gone for days without enough food. We have almost nothing left to eat, and every day they ask me for food that I cannot provide. We are living under constant shelling, surrounded by fear, with no safe place to go. My children are hungry, my family is exhausted, and we are simply trying to stay alive.

I am begging you with all the strength I have left—please do not turn away from our pain. Your donation could help provide Mira with the medicines and treatment she urgently needs and help my family buy food to survive. If you cannot donate, please share our story with others. Your kindness could save my daughter's life and give my children hope during this unimaginable hardship. Please don't let Mira be forgotten.

✅ Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is (#724). ✅

Donation link

I get SSI but most of it goes to my abusive grandma who demands it due to us being allowed to live with her, rest goes to doctor or therapist I must see.

Grandma does not allow us to eat, use or touch anything of hers she doesn't want us to taint it with our corruption and vile souls. She has anger issues and strikes out easily, she abused my mom mentally and let her husband physically abuse her. We used to live on our own in a house... that had holes in the walls and floor next to no plumbing and a bad exterior.

But we've been stuck here ever since then.

We desperately need food for the kids, for my family, for my grandma's cats aka ours as she feeds them shittu, cheap garbage. I can starve whatever I've done ut since childhood, but please think of the kids. It's a lot to ask but uf you have anything yo spare please share. We're in desperate need of help we havent had help in week.

Because under the post about giving minors the right to medically consent, people are spreading a ton of misinformation on this - largely because they just do not question the stuff they just assume are "normal". Which here is: "kids are all afraid of needles and therefore if we let them consent or not to medical proceedures, they would just not consent and not get vaccinations, because needles hurt".

And, look. Here is the thing: no, needles do not actually hurt a whole lot. And while, yes, certain procedures that involve being stabbed by a needle hurt more if you are younger for a bunch of reasons... that is actually not the main reason children fear needles. Because, again: the pain is not that bad. And most kids, especially young kids, whose motor skills are still developing, usually will have a bunch more hurting scratches, bruises and the like at any given moment than there will be pain from the needle.

No, from what research can tell, the main reason kids are afraid of needles, is more that for many of them needle procedures are very traumatizing. And that is largely because of the consent issue.

Imagine you are a person who is still pretty darn new to that whole human thing. So for one, yes, your brain is actually not that great in understanding what pain is dangerous and what pain is a safe limit of pain. So yes, someone intentionally hurting you (like with a needle) is really kinda scary. But then there is also the thing where this person hurting you is not telling you why they are doing. The people who you normally trust with keeping you safe (your family) is betraying you, by just holding you down and scolding you for crying over it. Or maybe it is not your family, but some strange nurse who is holding you. And while you are scared, because someone is intentionally hurting you, while someone else is restricting you, the adults around you are telling you, that your emotional reaction to this is actually bad and you are wrong for reacting that way. They might in fact lie to you and tell you that something that is insanely scary to you is "not that bad", instead of just understanding that it is super scary to you. And that is then what you start to expect whenever you see a doctor prepare a needle: people holding you down, hurting you without reason, and telling you that you are wrong for being upset, actively gaslighting you.

We have research on this. And this research is pretty clear: most kids are actually somewhat okay with needles, if you inform them why you are doing it, allow for them to have their emotions, talk to them about their emotions, and allow for them to set at least some conditions.

And frankly, I hate how many people just accept the framing of "kids are naturally afraid of this because it hurts". Like, folks, I know y'all are fucking Americans and that in your culture it is kinda normalized to like put kids into like some sort of fortified hamsterball to stop them from like doing typical kids stuff. But... let me tell you: if you do not do that, kids will actually very regularly engage in dangerous play that they know will often end up in injuries that are going to hurt. And, no, they are not to dumb to understand that. The kids know that this is what might happen because of their play. They actually just take the risk. Yes, they will cry if they get hurt, because - again - their nervous system is still calibrating how it relates to pain. But they will likely do that thing again and again. I can tell you: I fell down a tree so often during my childhood, and I still climbed it. Again and again. So did most kids I knew. Like, fuck, we lived next to a forest. We played "Tarzan", and tried to go along paths without touching the ground. And we fell. A lot. And we still did it.

look up “child life specialists”

— the profession is fully dedicated to supporting kids and families in the health care setting, and a significant portion of that is educating kids (in a way they can understand, developmentally) and making plans With them to make the experience easier!

And there is SO MUCH research out there! If you explain to kids what’s going on, they need less anesthesia, get better quicker, and have less medical trauma— which leads to a willingness to accept preventative care in the future!