this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2025
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disabled

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Welcome to c/disabled, an anticapitalist community for disabled people/people with disability(s).

What is disability justice? Disability justice is a framework of activism which centers disabled people of multiple intersections. Before participating in in this community, please read the Ten Principles of Disability Justice.

Do I count as disabled/a person with disability(s)? "Disability" is an umbrella term which encompasses physical disabilities, emotional/psychiatric disabilities, neurodivergence, intellectual/developmental disabilities, sensory disabilities, invisible disabilities, and more. You do not have to have an official diagnosis to consider yourself disabled.

Follow the Rules:

  1. This comm is open to everyone. However, the megathread is only open to people who self-identify as disabled/a person with disability(s). We center the experiences of disabled people here, and if you are abled we ask that you please respect that.
  2. Follow the principles of disability justice, as outlined in the link above.
  3. Zero tolerance for ableism. That includes lateral ableism. Ableism will result in a ban.
  4. No COVID minimization.
  5. Do not offer unsoliticed health advice. We do not want to hear about the wonders of exercise or meditation, thank you very much. Additionally, do not moralize health or "healthy choices".
  6. If posting an image, please write an image description for our blind/low vision comrades. (If doing this is inaccessible to you, DM one of the mods and we will help.)
  7. Please CW and spoiler tag discussions of ableism.
  8. When it comes to identify-first vs person-first language, respect the language that people choose for themselves. If someone wants to be referred to as a disabled person, respect that. If someone wants to be referred to as a person with a disability, respect that.
  9. Try to avoid using ableist language. It is always good to be mindful of the way language has been used to oppress and harm people.
  10. Follow the Hexbear Code of Conduct.

Let's kick back and have fun!

As of December 2025, there is a Matrix Chat Room that adheres to the same rules as the community. If you want to join, it is an invite only server. Just knock to join. Should you have trouble with the link, you can contact the mods for help: https://matrix.to/#/#Hexbear_Disabled_and_ND:matrix.org

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I have always been fond of music, especially when I'm feeling down. Now, I don't think there's enough popular songs about disability and how we struggle each day. But I stumbled across a song the other day that, while it's not about disability, I've been listening to quite often when I feel like I failed somehow. When all that's happening is really just me struggling and making it through another day, for better or for worse, I like to remind myself that I am perfectly incomplete, but I am good the way I am. I hope that maybe it helps you too.


Friendly reminder to please use

spoiler tags and content warnings [cw]Hexbear CoC
for sensitive content that falls under Hexbear's Code of Conduct. You can find the spoiler tag here:

After clicking it, just substitute the second "spoiler" with your content warning and the three underscores ( ___ ) with your sensitive content, and you're all done.


As always, we ask that in order to participate in the weekly megathread, one self-identifies as some form of disabled, which is broadly defined in the community sidebar:

"Disability" is an umbrella term which encompasses physical disabilities, emotional/psychiatric disabilities, neurodivergence, intellectual/developmental disabilities, sensory disabilities, invisible disabilities, and more. You do not have to have an official diagnosis to consider yourself disabled.

Mask up, love one another, and stay alive for one more week.

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[–] gingerbrat@hexbear.net 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

Hello fellow members of c/disabled. As already mentioned in a comment thread in this post, the mods created a short "Information Post" about Ableist Language on the site and the consequences of using said language. I would like for you to give us your input and feedback to the document. If you want anything to be included that feels like it's missing, you can send me a DM on hexbear or comment under this comment. I would like to ask you all that the comments in this thread be kept short, as this is the megathread and I don't want to clog it with too many administrative comments if possible. I will make sure to incorporate all feedback and input you have to the best of my ability. You can follow the changes through the document link: https://cryptpad.fr/doc/#/2/doc/edit/ XBOFfyoPSb0-l4vFySADdh+g/

Edit: I will be taking feedback in the next mega as well and post the link to the document again. Thank you again to everyone who already offered up feedback and input, I appreciate you taking the time to help make it better!

[–] Keld@hexbear.net 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I would argue that in the example about use of medical terms used as insults, it might be worth mentioning that one of the reasons it is so problematic is because of the associated stigma and because it makes it out as if the reason a bad act is bad is because it is an act similar to someone who is ill. When you say someone who is doing evil has to be crazy, you are insinuating not only that the only reason to do bad is because you are sick, but also that disabled people are inherently connected to evil.

[–] gingerbrat@hexbear.net 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Thank you for the input! How do you like this as a modification?

...are ableist outside of a medically diagnosed context. [Calling someone who commits something evil a psychopath/sociopath/etc., or using a descriptive word like insane/crazy, assigns an inherent evil to anyone suffering from associated conditions. In doing so, all disabled people of these groups are immediately labeled as evil.] If someone is treating you cruelly, ...

[–] Keld@hexbear.net 4 points 4 months ago

That sounds ok to me.

[–] Keld@hexbear.net 5 points 4 months ago (2 children)

The document you've requested has an invalid URL.

[–] 0x2640@hexbear.net 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] gingerbrat@hexbear.net 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Sorry, my bad, does it work now?

[–] gingerbrat@hexbear.net 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I changed the URL, does it work now?

[–] BountifulEggnog@hexbear.net 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Link has a space in it? It loads endlessly for me. removing the space or the " g/" part both give an invalid link

[–] gingerbrat@hexbear.net 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Try copying the spelled out link now, and delete the space between the two parts

[–] BountifulEggnog@hexbear.net 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)
[–] gingerbrat@hexbear.net 4 points 4 months ago
[–] Keld@hexbear.net 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] gingerbrat@hexbear.net 3 points 4 months ago

Try copying the two parts of the link and delete the space between them

[–] Salah@hexbear.net 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

It would be very helpful if there was an explanation included for the mechanism that makes usage of the mentioned words ableist. I can not give a better explanation to this but a very simplified example would be:

Using the phrase ‘blinded by’ normalises the idea that blindness is a bad thing that should be avoided. Blind people should have the agency over the connotation of the word ‘blindness’ and not be influenced by our negative usage of it to think that their condition is inherently bad.

It would be cool if there was an academic source on this mechanism.

It’s a lot to ask of any community to spell out exactly why certain things are bad for them, but unfortunately it is often the only way to get people to actually consider what you’re asking of them.

[–] gingerbrat@hexbear.net 4 points 4 months ago

I'll try to find an academic source tomorrow if I can, otherwise I think your two sentences are good additions that I've put into the document. Thank you very much for your input!

[–] Le_Wokisme@hexbear.net 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Using the phrase ‘blinded by’ normalises the idea that blindness is a bad thing that should be avoided. Blind people should have the agency over the connotation of the word ‘blindness’ and not be influenced by our negative usage of it to think that their condition is inherently bad.

this is quite strange to me, all sighted people are temporarily blinded on a regular basis and often in physically unpleasant ways that we avoid when possible.

[–] gingerbrat@hexbear.net 4 points 4 months ago

I think maybe we need to switch out "blinded by" with the example in the document "You'd have to be blind not to see it", as we explained that "blinded by" is something that can be non-ableist in context, while the second example can't be. Would that make it more understandable?