Girls Using Walking Sticks

No, I certainly wouldn't want to buy into conspiracy theories.

But I equally wouldn't want to ignore an issue just because of being afraid to raise it in case I was called names for doing so.

This works both ways.

I feel for the tired workman. I also feel for people of any age with a genuine disability. But from what I’ve seen, imaginary illnesses are part of a whole set of victim-status conditions, including gender dysphoria, claimed by certain people, as part of a current fad.

It's not exactly great if you're seeing young people with walking sticks and you're (general you're) automatically using it to buy into conspiracy theories about social contagion and people who are trans.
Transphobia (for want of a better word) really does harm everyone, it seems.
Even those who are disabled now.

Me neither! Although I prefer to use a crutch as it’s more comfortable, and no one bats an eyelid to someone my age using a crutch. When I used a normal stick, people were always asking why I had one. (MS)

If there are lots of young women walking around with walking sticks are we supposed to ignore it? Not ask any questions at all?

Noticing a sudden general trend shift in a particular population isn't a bad thing, surely? What if something is going badly wrong and it is being ignored?

Hugely disappointing article from Stock. People seriously don't know what ambulatory wheel chair user means.

People with disabilities do not need this crap.

I agree. Speculating whether "they're more able than they make out" is 🙄
Surely that just completely misses the fact that some people who are disabled and use wheelchairs/sticks or whatever can have days where they're better than others? Doesn't mean they're bound to them all the time otherwise they must be putting it on which is what's being insinuated!
Horrible thread all round really.

I just don't think it's safe to speculate about individual cases. I am not a doctor and don't know the individual's medical history.

I do think though that one can legitimately remark on the massive increase in numbers which may suggest that their might be some sort of psychosomatic origin of a social contagion, in the same way that there has been with gender dysphoria and more recently with Tourette's

I think it’s perfectly fine to speculate actually. If someone regularly posts vastly contradictory information should we never question it? I mean I haven’t done anything other than mention it in the context of the thread, which I think is entirely reasonable. It’s the entire personality of many of these TikTok creators: it’s ok for people to wonder.

My grandad, when he was in his late 90s, could very slowly climb stairs and walk a short distance but amazingly, for longer journeys (more than 50m), he needed a wheelchair.

People lucky enough not to have a disability themselves and ignorant enough to not know anyone with a disability should keep their unhelpful comments to themselves, including and especially such renowned medical experts on disability with a huge platform as, checks notes, philosophers and authors.

I don't think we should be speculating about a particular individual's disabilities. I posted the link above which contains the video as it is mentioned in the Stock article.

This article mentions the same tiktoker I mentioned upthread. I got absolutely slated and have only realised now that my post which actually detailed what she did has been deleted, no idea why, it was factual, as is my belief that she is far more able than she makes out. Her TikTok is an absolute eye opener. I have no idea what’s going on but it seems to be some sort of trend for some people.

This link has the video Kathleen Stock references:
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/wheelchair-user-goes-viral-climbing-223500815.html

The young woman in the video also says that she has autism and Tourette's

This has been picked up by the media today

https://www.facebook.com/share/1b48uVjcXB/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I have definitely noticed it increasing in the last year especially on TikTok. I fear this might be a trend.

Archive version. https://archive.ph/OMv9c

Hood read, thanks

Kathleen Stock on this subject in The Times today

https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/young-women-walking-sticks-gen-z-disability-2ssv95mws

Damn, why didn't I think of that? 😄

Are you sure you aren't just identifying as disabled?
Instead of sticks you could just identify as able bodied and then you will magically get better

Absolutely, and I'm so glad we live in more enlightened times. You wouldn't think it'd be hard for people to grasp the facts you outlined here, would you, but apparently some people do struggle to comprehend these things even in this day and age. I'm off now to swap my purple floral stick for a standard grey NHS-issue one lest anyone think I'm committing the cardinal sin of not being ashamed that I sometimes need a stick... removes tongue from cheek 😂

Absolutely this! The pp you were replying to here sounds very frightened of anyone who looks/behaves differently to how they do. I wonder why?

Girls and young women are struggling massively. I'd rather they had an external and useful crutch than internalise society's messages and do permanent damage to their bodies. They have all their lives to throw the stick away, when they are strong enough to stand on their own two feet.

This thread is misogynist, ableist and ageist.

Well my son had a serious injury earlier this year that left him unable to walk much for quite a long time (note, although a teen, he didnt just identify as injured and his crutches weren't just a fashion accessory) and he had to miss a lot of school because the classrooms werent accessible. And that's a quarter of the way into the 21st century

This is a bit of a quantum leap. I had a classmate with a serious disability. She wore a caliper on one leg. Of course she wasn't denied education or confined to an institution because I'm talking about the 20th century not the 18th.

Social contagion..... Or feeling more confident to be open about it and gravitating towards people with similar experiences?

Quite a few of my friends also have serious chronic conditions. Not because we have all copied off each other but because we have bonded over shared understanding and battles.

Until had a wheelchair I spent a lot of time housebound. As electric wheelchairs have become more affordable and accessible many more people with my condition have them not because we "identify and weak and feeble" (what nasty wording) but because they open up the world for us.