woof central

Water activities 🌊

before this change, the way to tell the difference between an account that was deacivated versus one that was banned by tumblr was simple: if a deleted account's username was formatted as [original username]-deactivated1234567 (any sequence of numbers) then it was deleted by the account's owner, if that text wasn't present then it was banned by tumblr. now that this grace period's been implemented, however, this added text to the username won't appear on deactivated accounts until the 30-day period is up.

which brings us to gooseworx.

if this change wasn't in effect, we would immediately know whether she was banned by tumblr or if she chose to deactivate of her own volition. there would be no debate on whether this was yet another transmisogyny-inspired banning of a transfem, through mass reporting from "tadc critical" (which are, frankly and for the most part, gooseworx harassment) accounts or staff just being mad at a transfem being transfem too loud and openly.

this update leaves room for debate in this situation. this update gives tumblr plausible deniability.

with them being increasingly held to account for banning transfems en masse "for any reason or no reason at all" (actual quote from the emails received by some transfems in the most egregiously blatant targeted banning of transfems yet), what do you think's more likely- that @staff implemented this update just now out of the goodness of their hearts, or that it was designed to make it less likely for them to get caught next time, and give them more wiggle room to ban transfems as prominent as gooseworx?

i know which answer's most likely. @staff has burned up too much good will for me to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Scenario: you see someone in a wheelchair fall out of their chair, and you have the ability to help.

1. Approach and ask "are you okay?"*

2. Next question if they say no, are vague, or open to continuing conversation** is, "is there anything I can do to help?" Or "what can I do?"

If they say no to help, then that's the end, just leave and go do whatever you were doing!

If they ask for help or say they are mildly injured, ask "what would you like me to do?" And wait for an answer before doing anything! If they seem dazed or confused, they might have hit their head or had another medical event*, or they might just be like that due to regular disability. Be patient.

Do not touch the person unless they say to, or they are like, unconcious in the middle of the road, ya know?? Wheelchair users usually have conditions that mean being handled improperly can severely injure us, you could cause much more damage than the fall.

Some things they might need you to do:

Bring their wheelchair closer (mine went about 5 feet away after it dumped me)

engage the brakes of the wheelchair

hold wheelchair steady if it's an unsteady surface (mud, hill, ramp, wet, etc)

offer an arm for them to hold onto to get up (them grabbing you, not you grabbing them) or move another solid item closer for them to use (i.e. a chair) [only do this if you physically have the ability to!]

If the terrain is rough (i.e. a parking lot), they *might* ask you to push their chair to a more stable area once they are back in their chair

nothing

Something else

Do what they ask, NOT what you think would be helpful. If for some reason you have to do something (i.e. you can't stop oncoming traffic and need to get them out) ASAP, tell them what you plan to do

Keep in mind they might also be D/deaf, have a communication disability, be stunned after the fall, have a head injury, not trust other people, etc. Be patient and treat them as a person with autonomy and agency! They might need to just sit on the ground for a few minutes to recover before trying to get back in their chair. They might want everyone to leave them alone. They might ask you to call someone specific. Their chair might have broken and that can be extremely distressing. All of this is like if your legs spontaneously stop working when you're out and about!

A lot of wheelchair users (NOT ALL) have ways to get into their chair on their own once the chair is close enough and brakes engaged (but it's hard from the ground!). Here's what brakes look like on a lot of manual wheelchairs, in case they ask you to lock the brakes. They're levers on each side and pushing the lever pushes a bar against the wheel to hold it still.

ID: A manual wheelchair with the brake levels circled in red and labeled "user brake levers"

*There is also the possibility of course that a person fell out of their chair due to a seizure or other medical event, so that is why it is important to ask if they are okay. If you saw them hit their head, tell them so. If they had a medical event, follow protocol for that, I'm not gonna get into it here (thought I could).

**sometimes a person will be clear after the first question i.e. "I'm all good thanks" clearly means they do not need you to ask another question, you can just leave them alone. Keep walking and don't stare. A lot of the time people will be a bit banged up but be totally fine and able to manage on their own.