on the topic of disabled characters, though, i think a LOT of artists give characters mobility aids that their character wouldn't actually benefit from using.
i'm sort of having a mild brain fog moment rn so i can't fully articulate what i'm on about, but i think a lot of able-bodied artists view things like canes and crutches as interchangeable. and they often don't know enough about the wide range of mobility aids to make an informed decision about what their character might actually use based on their disability
i also think that aids like walkers and rollators are sort of viewed as "cringe" on some level, and many people view them to be "just for old people," so many artists will opt for giving a character who has full-body pain and fatigue a cane (which, in many cases, can potentially WORSEN full-body pain) instead. and a lot of people don't realize that most wheelchair users are able to walk, so they don't consider it an option for characters with chronic pain
idk it's kind of frustrating. i've genuinely never, ever seen a character that uses a rollator before. not once. i cannot name a single one. i know of multiple ocs who are described to have full-body pain, dizziness, and fatigue that are drawn as cane users and are never shown with wheelchairs or walkers, though
it's also sort of sad? i've been diagnosed since i was twelve years old, and i only heard of rollators LAST YEAR. and that was only because i saw one irl and immediately asked what it was. i wonder how many disabled people out there don't even know it's an option solely because they're completely underrepresented online and in media
if you're a creative with a disabled oc, PLEASEEE check out this link. it's a very nice and detailed guide for telling which mobility aids suit someone's needs best. it's incredibly important to make the right choice for your character! mobility aids tell you a LOT about someone's lived experience. picking the right one will communicate to your audience #1 what your character goes through #2 that you UNDERSTAND what your character goes through!
something to add on to this a little, from personal experience, is that a lot of people don’t give their oc’s multiple mobility aids as well.
for quite a few people, they have different mobility aids for different days and levels of pain, obviously not everyone does, but quite a few people do. (i don’t for example, but i’ve been debating on getting a wheelchair or a walker for really bad pain days, for when my cane doesn’t cut it)
if you have a cane user, how often do they use it? do they have a wheelchair as well, or crutches? are they a full time user? can they afford multiple mobility aids?
having that diversity adds to the last two points of the post, and it can really show how much disability is a spectrum
Another thing worth considering is giving someone who's missing at least part of one leg or has a lower limb difference both prosthetics and a wheelchair. So on higher pain days they use the latter, or when for whatever other reason their prosthetics don't cut it. We actually wrote this one for one character before we realised we are physically disabled funnily enough.
As for arm and hand difference or removed upper limbs, hooks are a lot more practical than most prosthetic hands. So are any devices that, for example, help hold a pen by attaching it to an arm that didn't develop past the elbow. We simply don't have the technology yet to make realistic or complex hand prosthetics worth it for many disabled people.
And remember that white/seeing canes are also mobility aids, and that not all blind people use them. Blindness is a spectrum, and many people have enough vision left to navigate the world without one. Or a service dog is better suited for their needs. Seeing canes are also much longer and built differently than walking ones, because they have different purposes. One is for feeling the ground and the terrain, and the other is meant to support the weight of your whole body. So the tips are completely different too.
