Disability hate on MN

"One has to wonder why people would obsessively post on certain topics without any skin in the game, especially when they make statements that are blatantly incorrect. Their knowledge tends to be poor. "

Lack of knowledge can be understandable. We generally all exist within echo chambers of a sort.

But rejecting people's experiences & instead relying on anecdote (often constructed with a bit of imagination and a lot of bias) is not.

We use 'spoons' here, too. Me and DD both have EDS as well as Autism. (So it works for physical debilitation as well as being emotionally / mentally drained) Healthcare professionals frequently thank us for educating them in reference to spoons. We liken it to batteries. It's really helpful to get across how fatigued you are and how little energy you have left to engage.

DD knows when I don't have many spoons left as I lose my words. We say that our words aren't wording any more, or that our brains aren't braining.

I'm sorry people can be such arseholes on here 😡

I've noticed an uptick in ableism, as well as islamophobia and racism in the past few months. I've also reported posts and been told to challenge it myself.

@DimplesToadfoot I'm sorry that you are so upset. Please remember you don't know who these people are, a lot of them are nasty saddos who are just spoiling for a fight on here and want stick the boot in to someone, anyone, because their own lives are lacking for whatever reason. Don't let them upset you. Remember you can just turn off your phone or whatever, or hide the thread or change your username to escape them. They have no affect on you in real life. I get so I've had enough, someone kept having a go at me the other day, they just wouldn't leave it alone. If they met me in real life I bet they wouldn't dare speak to me like that. They hide behind a keyboard. Don't let them make you feel bad. Dh and I claim disability benefits and there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. They can only make you feel bad if you let them x

Yes, and you can bet your bottom dollar MN won't look into that either. Instead, as the GE draws closer, there'll be the usual cosy lunchtime chats with various 'concerned" politicians not answering the questions they don't like

One has to wonder why people would obsessively post on certain topics without any skin in the game, especially when they make statements that are blatantly incorrect. Their knowledge tends to be poor. Anyone can post on any topic but we see the same names who are like a dog with a bone. They’re not prepared to listen or learn, just spouting their uninformed views. What do they get from it, I wonder?

Free speech does not mean freedom from consequences. MNHQ own this website and are entitled to make up the rules. However, I would be interested to see how some of these posts would actually be considered if someone took it higher. I am not saying they should but I am curious.

Something “non ableist” does not mean it is tolerable or palatable. In some ways, I am glad the unpleasant posts remain because it shows that person in their true light and it means people like me get to reply. I’m not asking for censorship, I think the posts should stay so people cannot backtrack.

I don't think that MN is a safe place for lots of other people as well.

Yup, and I remember a poster who had children with disabilities being called a window licker lover . Posters were being stalked round the boards

Thank you for this

I'm on disability benefits. I didn't ask to be hurt and left permanently disabled during an armed robbery while quite ironically I was at work working. I didn't ask for my partner to be murdered and my house to be burned down, yet every post bashing me, Yes I do take them personally, makes me feel like I'm the actual criminal here and I'm being punished over and over, if I had my way I'd be dead now, instead I'm forced to exist, in a world full of hate and pain, it's nothing less than torture. If I was an animal my owner would be prosecuted for this!

I've had to walk away from mumsnet and put my phone down, as I'm ready for jumping off the nearest motorway bridge

@TheFunHasGone I think one regular poster was banned at that point too for "over reporting" the shitty comments.

One of those threads was mine. The one about PIP being replaced by vouchers. One person really had it in for me, calling me uneducated, saying I was scaremongering etc I'm a carer for my dh who has severe mental health issues and I actually said I wasn't trying to scare anyone but I was merely wanting other people's opinions as my dh is terrified.

Mumsnet have always advised posters to challenge it themselves, I doubt they do the same with racism

Years ago it came to a bit of a head and loads of the regular posters who did challenge it left or name changed and , it wasn't worth the aggro . It drains you after a while and shouldn't be our job

I'm getting my autism assessment in July after being diagnised with ADHD in Feb. Everywhere I go I face discrimination!
I look normal
Why do I want a labal
I'm just focussing on what I can't do
Everyone is a bit autistic
Why do you think you are autistic

It just goes on. I have {PTSD and cPTSD from years of abuse and trauma because I'm different and people have made my life hell. I'd like not to have to relive my trauma and justify my very existence to every ignorant arsehole I meet. I cannot believe women and mums on here are attacking actual single mums, caring for disabled kids and begrudging them the care and support they need and are entitled to.

It has shook me to my core. How dare people behave like that to others less fortunate than themselves. It isn't the benefit claimant's fault that other people's wages are so poor, nursery fees and housing prices are so exorbitant is it???

I didn't have the spoons to get involved

This is just a brilliant phrase. I've never heard it before!

I find myself in the unfortunate position of having 2 disabled, adult children. They were both born apparently healthy but have sadly developed disabilities as they got older. They have very different disabilities. They will never live the life of a healthy person. I wish with all my heart that they were fit, well and making their own way in the world. No one would want our lives. And then I am informed that they should not have any benefit that would improve their lives, which are already sad, and which will become worse if PIP is removed. But I suspect that the millionaires who make up this government don't care.

Trust me, they do. There’s a very narrow window of tolerance on here in which to have a baby.

Well said. I reported the thread about 2 disabled kids and a single mum getting benefits as I was so upset by the ablist and sexist comments. They got worse and worse. thread is still there though!

Mumsnet isn't a safe place if you're disabled, a single mother or on benefits.

Thanks for posting this, I didn't have the spoons to get involved yesterday, but I've seen the ignorance/ableism and if anything it seems to be getting worse.

Trying to educate the bigots is exhausting at the best of times. Some support is sorely needed in making sure these comments are dealt with.
I'm all for debate and education but there are people on here that seem to take pleasure in spitting unfair, inaccurate "insight" into things they know nothing and care not to educate themselves about.

If I'd have wanted to become an educator, I'd have signed up to be a teacher. I'm just a person who has lived experience and deserves not to be insulted or have my family insulted by people on here. Just like everyone else who these posts offend.

I can assure you I have reported multiple flat out transphobic posts and they have been left standing.

I didn't see the blame the victim cancer thread thank fuck or I may have been banned for my response.
I have spent today on mumsnet quite a lot partly because today was the day of my telephone appointment with my oncologist to tell me the results of my latest scan for my stage 4 cancer and I needed the distraction whilst I sat here feeling sick and clammy with terror.
It sometimes seems the vile idiots attacking disability here are jealous of the "easy life" us benefit scroungers have.
I am happy to start a day in the life of thread if it I thought it would change attitudes but I think I would be bashing my head against the wall. Maybe some might generously decide I am one of the "deserving disabled" with their huge insight and knowledge based upon the daily wail/ some bloke said down the pub/ all poor people simply don't work hard like Sebastian and I do insights but it would still achieve nothing for the vaguely described but strongly hated "undeserving disabled".

The number of people who don't realise that PIP is not means tested or dependent on being unable to work is astonishing!

I get pip but i try not to say anything on here about it because last time i did i got told to get a job.

Disability hate and young mum hate.
Really gets on my wick.
Ive seen some comments about young mums and it makes me rage how can Mn allow such awful things to be said is beyond me but no one blinks at someone having a baby at 50.
Same as someone with a disability that cant work but then they can bring SEN in to everything they type.