Introduction / Disability, Identity, & Definitions
I’m going to write about disability on here. Because of this, I figured I’d make this post for clarity.
I identify as disabled. I have both chronic illnesses and mental illness. I know some people (unfortunately) think disability *only* means “physical, visible disability” — but I am not one of those people.
I also try my best to respect the fact that not every person with a chronic illness or mental illness identifies as disabled. However, if they try to tell other people with their condition that they can’t identify as disabled, that’s when I take issue with it.
The disability community advocates for people with all kinds of disabilities — including invisible & chronic medical conditions and mental illnesses. So even if they choose not to identify as disabled, they will still benefit from the work advocates do. That’s fine! Just, as I said before, don’t tell other people with X disability that they can’t call themselves disabled just because you don’t see yourself that way.
I think there are a lot of reasons some people who would fall into the category as disabled would choose not to identify as such, ranging from “understandable” to “based on misconceptions” to “flat out ableist.” I’ll skip analyzing the understandable reasons as those likely vary from person to person, but I’d like to at some point explore the ones rooted in misconceptions & ableism on here at some point.
It’s worth noting that identity can change a lot in just a few years. I remember in 2014, I considered myself “able-bodied" due to both misconceptions about disability & my desire to downplay my symptoms of chronic illness. At that point, I had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia since I was 11, but nobody told me that I could identify as disabled — and that being disabled doesn’t mean your life is always tragic and full of hardships without any joy. It took about a year of learning about disability (and that it includes chronic illness & mental illness!) for me to start identifying as disabled.
More on this topic later, though. I’ll try to write more soon , even if nobody reads this, because I think it will help motivate me to write in general.