Disability Looks Like This!

[trouble]

sami mentioned this once, and it occurs to me every so often.

Maybe one day I'll start a tumblr called Disability: It Looks Like This! And it would be filled with images of people with various disabilities, both evident and non-evident. And it would combat the stereotype that people with disabilities only look like this picture, which is of a sad person in a wheelchair, in a corner, in the dark, next to a bed with a bare mattress, faced turned away from the camera, the very image of "sad wheelchair user is sad".

Maybe they'd be doing jobs! Or walking down the street! Or hanging with their friends! Or having a party! Or reading a book in bed! Or playing with their kids! Or getting married! or... whatever. Something. Giving keynote speeches as major conventions! Programming things! I don't even know...

I'm just very tired of "disability = sad wheelchair user looking sad".

Comments

[kiriamaya]

THIS IS AN AMAZING IDEA.

[trouble]

IT COULD HAVE PICTURES OF PEOPLE UPDATING THEIR TUMBLRS! :D

[kiriamaya]

YESSSSSSSSSS

omg I love you

[meloukhia]

Yeah, I'm very tired of pictures like that being used to illustrate articles I write. Ahem.

Also, this is a fantastic idea.

[shiyiya]

Dooooooooooooo eeeeeeeeeet. You could add other moderators too! I would totally submit pixors.

[tiferet]

That would be awesome.

[greenbirds]

*CHEERS*

Best idea EVAR ...

(I submit also: riding horses, skiing, kayaking, all manner of fun things...)

[trouble]

One of the things I really keep meaning to write about is the sheer number of Canadians with disabilities that Rick Mercer brings on the Mercer Report. He's had Rick Hansen bungee jumping, one of the many curling teams made up of people with disabilities, the mayor of Vancouver who is a paraplegic... and he just kinda has them on the show without any "look, I'm doing a very special crippled episode!"

He just... shows people with disabilities doing stuff, and having political opinions, and living lives, and it's awesome.

I bet the mayor of vancouver would go kayaking - he goes on hikes in the woods.

[vass]

Or that stock photo I keep seeing everywhere of the sad girl clutching a teddybear, and on one site she's autistic, on another she's depressed, and so forth.

[badgerbag]

LOL yes. I also see people come to my blog looking for photos of kids and wheelchairs and I know they are looking for the SAD FACE

[kaz]

This would, like, make me join tumblr.

[avendya]

I want this to be a real thing! I would submit photos of myself! (... er, that would mean I'd have to take photos of myself. But you know.)

[jesse_the_k]

You could take sad pictures of sad toes? *grin*

[jackandahat]

That's not my life. That's far too tidy to be my life. Where are the piles of books, or yarn invasion? Where are all the stray socks, I ask you?

Pffft.

[kerrypolka]

That picture made me laugh at my desk, because of how amazingly over-the-top the filtering and lighting and body language and just EVERYTHING is. IOW: I would support this Tumblr!

[automaticdoor]

Remember that picture of my mom and me on my DW? We're both PWD. I think it should be submitted ASAP. I would love to put in pictures of myself and my friends with disabilities. It would be AWESOME.

[verity]

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR EDITED COMMENT ESPECIALLY YOUR ICON DEAR LORD

I want this tumblr now! I will submit pictures of myself with a teapot on my head!

[automaticdoor]

ONE OF MY BFFS CAME UP WITH THE BEST TITLE/POSSIBLE URL EVER: rethinkability.org. The URL is free both as that and on Tumblr and there is no one else using that as a name. He also has disabilities and is AMAZING.

[silverhare]

Great idea! I have depression, but also - I can be caught smiling. *eye dart* Like, all the time. Suspicious or what?

[silveradept]

I support this idea wholeheartedly and hope that there's already one out there in existence that you can say "Hello, let us join forces" to.

[plazmah]

This is quite possibly the greatest idea ever! If someone does it, I volunteer to help!

[susanreads]

That would be awesome! (Do Tumblrs have RSS feeds? Since I don't have a digital camera there's not much point in me joining Tumblr.)

[trouble]

They do! I have subscribed to a tumblr feed or two in my time.

[shiyiya]

a) Yes, they do
b) What does owning a camera have to do with anything? My camera's broken. I use the hell out of tumblr. It's not just for pictures :)

[brewsternorth]

Sounds like an aces idea!

There must be some really good action shots from the last Paralympics or two - it'd be a reminder that PWDs are sportspersons as well. (And they never seem to get much coverage in the mainstream media.)

[annaham]

I love this idea.

[ironed_orchid]

I love this idea, and remember, with a tumblr like that you can ask readers for contributions, which means you don't have to supply all the images yourself

[ginny_t]

♥

[umadoshi]

That would be AWESOME.

[torachan]

That would be awesome!

[allies_person]

LOVE this idea.

[sami]

I too approve of this idea that I apparently had at some point!

[laughingrat]

That would be extremely awesome.

[theelusiven]

I really love this idea.