Girls Using Walking Sticks

This thread was thoroughly nasty when it first appeared, and is still nasty.

You see more young people with walking sticks now because in the past young disabled people would have been largely housebound or institutionalised, and in a number of cases quite possibly dead.

Provisions for disabled people are better across the board now. When I was a kid, the schools I went to had absolutely no provision for wheelchair users at all, completely blocking them from mainstream education.

I have drawn the conclusion that some of the posters on this thread either have remarkable photographic memories or are taking detailed notes of the appearance and dress of every young person they see using a walking aid. How else are we to account for the minute descriptions they are able to give of strangers they have passed in the street. A casual glance seems unlikely to yield such a thorough portrait which suggests some of the posters on this thread are spending a great deal of time and energy documenting the appearance and movements of unknown people they pass in the street and using the data they collect to support their weird theories about what disabled people are supposed to look like.
This strikes me as oddly obsessive, outrageously judgemental and a bit intrusive, but if it is how they enjoy spending their leisure time then each to their own I suppose.
I would also like to know which medical qualifications these posters have which apparently allow them to accurately diagnose a stranger's disability or lack of one with a single glance. I assume they must be experts to be sure of their correctness.

You don't even know these people! Yet you "know" that they're all just "pretending" to be disabled as it's "cool" and they just like to "copy everyone else." 🙄

I honestly don't even care if some teens are using sticks as a fashion accessory. If it makes it easy for the teens who need one to use one then I'm all for it.

It's not a 'fashion' accessory as such though. It's an accessory that they've convinced themselves they need because they identify as someone feeble and chronically unwell, whether they are or not. That's not fashion, that's a form of social contagion that points to an unhealthy mindset.

Was it Chappell Roan?

There is an awful lot of talking at cross purposes on this thread. It's always the same with contentious subjects like this. Some people understandably get very defensive but they seem to want to keep talking about the instances where your point isn't relevant, rather than focusing on the main topic of the thread, which are the instances where it is relevant.

Whoever they are, the trend they set will originate on TikTok.

You left out Tics, Tourette's and Dissociative Identity Disorder.

The girl I referred to back when this thread started, who I spotted with a walking stick, was wearing exactly that Manga inspired look. She did look very thin and delicate, but other than that, not obviously in need of help to walk. She was wearing those massive chunky shoes so I can assume she wasn't too unstable on her feet. They are not a great choice for someone with mobility or balance issues, after all.

Honestly igt seems like you are being massively, deliberately naive.

People are not morons. If all of a sudden there is a totally unrealistic number of young girls using canes, it is not fucking abelist yo wonder why.

When they seem to have a very similar fashion profile, of course that seems odd, it's statistically unlikely.

If this is the same cohort who seem to be using identifying issues to claim privilege ok n other axes, of course that will raise bloody questions.

I was at a concert last year with a mainly NB audience. I have never seen that many canes outside a seniors home.

If you expect me to buy that this is because these young women are as likely to need them as 80 year olds then I think you are being deliberately manipulative.

It's clear that many of these young people have no disabilities at all

How is it clear, though? Is it the fact that they're young? That they don't dress or wear their hair conservatively "enough"? That they're standing with one (or heaven forbid, two) other people who are disabled?)
As for a "huge surge", maybe people are just feeling that they can be themselves more nowadays, that they don't feel they have to hide? As people on the thread with disabilities have already said that they feel they can be open more.

How do you "know" who's faking disabilities or not? 🙄
If you're young and/or with blue hair it seems you're fair game to be disbelieved.

I honestly don't even care if some teens are using sticks as a fashion accessory. If it makes it easy for the teens who need one to use one then I'm all for it.

A lot of adjustments that disabled people need rely on other people making some kind of adjustment - giving up a seat on public transport being an obvious example. The person giving up their seat cannot verify that the disabled person needs it, so trust is a big factor.

If people perceive that a lot of teenagers are using sticks who do not need them, it is going to make life much worse for those who do.

But you aren't going to be able to judge which is which.

My family can tell when my symptoms are flaring, through the subtle signs they understand - my speech begins to slur a little, my eyelids drop a little. But to everyone else I would look like a healthy adult (and, back in the day, a healthy teen)

I've lost count of the number of fuckwits at my very large workplace who don't know me at all but see me get a lift to go up one or two floors and cheerily make a joke about "being lazy today".

Or the people who look at me like they have found me out when I get out of the wheelchair and walk a bit. My walking looks completely normal because i have been resting in the wheelchair

I honestly don't even care if some teens are using sticks as a fashion accessory. If it makes it easy for the teens who need one to use one then I'm all for it.

I object to fake disabilities - not real ones.

I am a physically disabled adult. Before that I was a physically disabled teenager and before that a physically disabled child so, forgive me if I am wrong, but I am guessing I may be more qualified to comment on this subject from personal experience than you.

I actually think that people with disabilities will find it significantly harder to see what is happening now and view it objectively because of their experiences.

In the same way, in the sex/gender debate we have seen so many adult trans people say that young children who say that they have dysphoria should always be believed and affirmed, because that's what they would have wanted when they were younger. But they are blind to the social contagion aspect and don't see the harm that is caused by blind affirmation. They downplayed any suggestion that this might be something different, and said that people who were not trans did not understand/there was just a moral panic.

Would a person who actually has Tourette's be more qualified to discuss the Tourette's social-media driven contagion that took place a few years ago?

This isn't about why young people who already use sticks are choosing brightly-coloured sticks or outfits. Until a few years ago, I had only occasionally seen a young person with stick, and if they had happened to choose a brightly-coloured one or had bright hair I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. But it's the massive increase in numbers that makes me think there is something else going on here. If you don't live in a big city with a student population won't have seen this phenomenon and won't get why people are concerned.

We seem to be talking at cross purposes. It's clear that many of these young people have no disabilities at all. If I had a disability I'd love a cool crutch . Or a sturdy blackthorn stick. Or whatever.

If there's been a huge surge in the number of disabled teenagers, surely that is worthy of comment? Likewise if there has been an epidemic of , neuro diverse , selectively mute , ADHD . But it does look more like social contagion.

There’s a lot of different points being made in this thread and I can see why offence is, at times, being taken.

I think the thrust of the thread was to shine a light on a subset of girls who identify as needing walking sticks, rather than having these recommended by healthcare professionals.

Often these girls self diagnose POTS and connective tissue disorders. They tend to find a sense of belonging with each other, with these self diagnoses forming a major part of their identity.

I am a physically disabled adult. Before that I was a physically disabled teenager and before that a physically disabled child so, forgive me if I am wrong, but I am guessing I may be more qualified to comment on this subject from personal experience than you.
I have been immediately obviously disabled all my life, having been born without eyes and with multiple joint deformities. I never had the luxury of 'downplaying' or hiding my disability which must mark me as a failure in your eyes since you seem to think that making our disabilities as invisible as possible should be the goal for all disabled people.
I adopted a bright and distinctive style of dress as a teenager in an attempt to establish an identity for myself beyond being primarily seen as a 'blind girl', though this wasn't quite as effective as a distraction technique as I hoped. It does mean, however, that I fell into the group of teenage weirdos with brightly dyed hair and wacky clothes you are accusing of faking disabilities here and I can tell you, with some certainty, that adopting a quirky dress sense does not magically render one able-bodied. I did not miraculously sprout eyeballs the day I first had my hair dyed! Disability and individual style are not mutually exclusive concepts which appears to be the conclusion you have, somewhat bafflingly, reached.
If you are genuinely interested in why young disabled people may choose to adopt alternative forms of dress then please see my post earlier in this thread. I hope this will help you not to make knee-jerk assumptions about every young person you see carrying a walking stick while not dressed in dowdy clothes.

Everlore This reminded me of an incident that happened to me a few years ago. I use a crutch when I'm out and about as I have quite bad osteoarthritis in one of my hips. Whilst queuing at the tills in a shop with my DD,a member of staff opened another till whereby the woman behind us nipped round in front of us. My DD said to her it would have been nice to let my disabled mum go first, seeing as she was actually in the queue in front of you. The woman said 'If your mum can't cope with standing in a queue for a few minutes,maybe she'd be better off staying at home,in bed'. For once,I was lost for words.

Love those. Such a strong look. I've seen Yungblud in something similar. My son is a bit too old now but if he'd been 16 or 18 now, he and a few of his friends would definitely have gone for that look.

My son has started wearing skirts. Yungblud has done a range for Weekday which includes a denim "kilt."
https://www2.hm.com/en_gb/productpage.1342150001.html

I love a kilt on a man, and I'd be totally up for seeing a blokey version of dresses and skirts for boys and a fashion trend that really took off. It would certainly take the wind out of the sails of those people with penises who think that the simple act of putting on a dress or a skirt automatically defines them as a woman.

So what would you rather? People hiding their disabilities more, maybe not in your face as much in case you find it disconcerting?
🙄
This thread is sick.

Has anyone else noticed how everyone seems to be 'blindsided' today?

I overheard a woman at work say 'I got home and she'd bought Tetley instead of Yorkshire and I was totally blindsided.'

Seriously, over a teabag? It seems to be the 'in' word at the mo.