"Brain damage" only sounds like a harsh and offensive way to describe brain injuries because people constantly use it as an insult. It's a totally neutral descriptor of what it is. I have brain damage. My brain is damaged. It's not ableist to call it that, it's ableist to call people you don't like brain damaged because you think it's an inherently bad thing to be.
seeing supposedly 'neurodivergent friendly' creators (who are usually Autistic/ADHD) stigmatize NPD, ASPD, and any PD under the sun makes me so angry. like they think 'neurodivergent' means 'Autism and ADHD' when the creator of the term meant for it to be a term for anyone with a different neurotype INCLUDING PDs, schizophrenia, psychosis, and all the disorders people love to treat horribly. i've had people tell me that the term was originally intended for AuDHD only so people are just using that definition but... definitions change. i thought autistic people knew that. i thought we were familiar with this. but not when it comes to demonized disorders... ok.
(p.s. it's really easy to just say Autistic, ADHD instead of 'neurodivergent' when you're only catering to Autistic and ADHD individuals)
Is there anyone else who doesn't remember the "before my TBI" time? Like, you were super young (I was eighteen months) when the TBI happened, and there was never really a "before" for you, this has just always been your reality?
I wish there was a law against strobe bike lights. Last night i literally had a seizure because my boyfriends roommate got home when I was outside, and suddenly the yard was strobing.
Like okaay, TV rules were changed cuz of that one episode of pokemon that gave kids seizures right? So how come its chill that people can ride around through town with strobe lights attached to their bikes? What if a kid is in a car behind you and has a seizure? What if someone is walking down the street and suddenly your bile is the reason they are in the back of an ambulance?
As someone with photosensitive epilepsy, I've been taught my whole life to avoid the flashing triggers. When things are flashy online youre told to just avoid the internet, when stores have bad lights dont shop there, no clubbing or parties because there will be strobes. It feels so unfair that even when we go out of our way to avoid seizure triggers, people still will find a way to make your world smaller and smaller.
Even on a not epilepsy note, they are literally more unsafe for bikers because the strobing light makes it harder for night drivers to tell how fast and where exactly you are than a non blinking light......
Hey if you’re schizophrenic/psychotic I just want you to know that you’re a wonderful person and that you deserve so much better than the demonization, marginalization and stigmatization you face in this society.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but
👏Narcissist is not a code word for abuser👏
👏 Sociopath is not a code word for abuser👏
👏 Psychopath is not a code word for murderer👏
Not every shitty person is shitty because of a disorder that pop psychology likes to demonise. Slapping a label on every shitty person out there is ableist toward the NPD/ASPD sufferers who are just trying to get by. Stop it.
people acting like accessibility tools are an inconvenience to them and would rather they not exist are annoying little shits. no, the captions aren’t ruining the movie. no, that ramp isn’t making your life harder because you have to go to the side entrance. abled people are so entitled to think that other peoples accessibility is a nuisance, especially considering disabled people rarely get the same kind of access abled people get automatically. equity is not oppression of the privileged
He doesn't have "the brain of a two-year-old," he has the brain of a forty-year-old man with IDD
disabled adults don’t have “the brains of children” they have the brains of adults with disabilities. just because you can’t understand the difference doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist
Have you ever been writing a disabled character and wished there was just one great source on as many pieces of adaptive technology, medical equipment, accessibility devices, and whatever else have you as possible? Have you ever spent hours scouring the internet trying to find a source with everything your disabled character might need?
Well, have I got a site for you.
Rehabmart is an online store with a catalogue of thousands of rehabilitation, medical, and accessibility devices, ranging from simple things like canes to major medical equipment like cardiac catheterization items, all listed with what the items are, what they do, and even how they help certain symptoms or non-specific conditions. All of this is sorted neatly into several dozen simple categories on this page here. The information provided on the site may not answer your every question, but it's a fantastic starting point for the largest range of items I've ever seen from one source.
Consider checking it out.
(Disclaimer, I am endorsing this site as a writing aid, not as a place to buy medical equipment online. Please only buy equipment from sources you can trust to be safe.)
Came across a video of a guy showing other wheelchair users how to get up and down escalators in a manual chair, and my God, the comments were just filled with people, or rather 2 very dedicated people yelling "This is SO DANGEROUS!! You should not be showing people how to do this!!! You will never need to do this because everywhere HAS to have lifts!!! Its the law!!!!" Over and over again.
Like tell me you've never gone to a public place with/as a wheelchair user, lol. Even in countries like America that have the ADA and Australia that has the DDA, you aren't garuenteed accessibility. You should be, but the unfortunate reality is that just because it's the law doesn't mean businesses/people will listen.
If I didn't know that escalator trick in uni I'd have probably missed so many classes I'd have had to repeat a year because the lift at the local train station broke at least once a week, and the ones at my local shopping centre I think worked maybe...twice the 3 years I lived there. Like obviously, it should be more accessible and lifts should be available because not everyone can do that trick, but why are you getting mad at disabled people for working with what we've got? Get mad at the people breaking the ADA/DDA, not us.
Disabled people aren't these fragile little flowers, nor are we children that need protecting from ourselves. If we are using the escalator, we can handle it, I promise.
Activities to cope
There are many ways to cope with pyromania.
A few activities one can try that are relatively harmless are:
- watching fireworks
Be it watching videos, or watching them at any events near you
- watching chimney fires
There is always, if you have it, a channel on tv just for a chimney fire, there are plenty videos on YouTube for just that, and if you have one yourself that's even better. Of course this can extend to bonfires and campfires as well.
- watching candle flames
Safely lighting candles in your own home is a very easy accessable activity. Tea lights and other candles are pretty inexpensive and easy to find at dollar stores along with lighters and matches. I recommend scentless candles.
- watching flame art
There are many videos on YouTube around artists who involve fire in their craft, from flame eaters to charcoal artists or match artists and more.
- burn paper scraps or old homework
Safely burning small bits of paper or papers that no longer surve a purpose to you like years old assignments, preferably doing so over an ash trey or better yet in your backyard, and watching the flames eat away at the paper can be fine.
- igniting a lighter
I mentioned this one in a few previous posts and it's one I do frequently myself, turning on a lighter and watching the flame it creates. Be careful not to ignite it around anything flammable and if you try touching the flame do not let your fingers linger on it long, a short motion over or through the flame is relatively harmless. Though the slower you are and the more you linger a surface burn on that spot will show up. So be very careful.
- watching fire on the news
There are (sadly) always reports of house fires and forest fires, you can always turn on the news and see if there's a report that day or search for old recordings of such online.
- the gas stove.
This one only works if you have a gas stove, and it's one I urge you to have a lot of caution with. But turning on the gas stove and watching the blue flames on the burner can be alright. In fact you can cook something with it like popcorn or eggs if you feel like it. snack bonus!
- hot coals
Hot rocks, hot packs or anything that heats up if you don't have access to hot coals can be fine. While none of it is actually fire, you do get to feel the heat and warmth of something and for some this can be an okay fix even if temporary. Please be very careful with what you put in the microwave or leave out in the sun.
Are there any activities you do? Do you have a favorite?
What other ways do you cope?
Raven, he/him, 20, multiple disabled (see pinned for more details.) This is my disability advocacy blog
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