Confused about self identifying as disabled.

[directsunlight]

I'm just trying to get my head around this.

Claire Cunningham self ID's as disabled - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Cunningham

Does identity override reality? Is this woman physically disabled, or not? Does it matter, as long as she says so?

I am genuinely confused.

I don't read that as she is self identifying as a disabled person like you can self identify as male/female ect
I just read that she identifies as a disabled person which is a bit different and a choice about identity.

If it puts it in any perspective, -
I have a spinal cord injury. It's serious and I am without any doubt a disabled person, although I would never outright say that.

I choose to identify as mango melons, sometimes "hi I'm mango melons and I have a spinal cord injury" (if I need some help or adaptation
But never "hi I'm mangomelons and I'm disabled" as I believe that would be letting the disability take over my individual identity and letting it win.
Other people are happy to have disabled as their identity, there is a lady with the same injury as me that hashtags disabled mama on Instagram. She is disabled by definition but it is also her identity whereas it isn't mine.
Unsure if that makes sense but I read it as disabled and proud it is my identity iyswim

I think it makes perfect sense a lot of poeple with disabilities feel that way & also for me it changed in my life.

When I was much younger (child / teen / yong adult) I was very hostiel to the "disabled" label, now I have come to terms with things with the passing of many years I am comfy in saying well yes I am disabled.

It's also tricky as disbaled makes poeple think "wheelchair" and if you don't use one then it means lots of questions which is tedious and can be upsetting.... This is probably less so these days but 30 years ago was very much the case.

I mean these days I think people don't think disabled = wheelchair / obvious and quite severe disability >

But it was that way more years ago.

The Disability Model divides disability & impairment as separate issues. Roughly speaking the impairment is the affect on you personally ie physical, mental health, learning disability, ASD, while the disability is the social barrier (Oliver). Not everybody who is disabled agrees with this (Tom Shakespere has a really interesting take on this) There is also the discussion about people who have "Mental Disabilities" (catchall term for Mental Health. Learning Disability, ASD)

I'm afraid people do still think disabled = wheelchair.

I know several people who have been verbally attacked when legitimately parking in a disabled bay because they don't have a wheelchair.

It's also tricky as disbaled makes poeple think "wheelchair" and if you don't use one then it means lots of questions which is tedious and can be upsetting.... This is probably less so these days but 30 years ago was very much the case.

I use a wheelchair and rarely get even a cursory glance. My OH who's blind, suffers seizures and has arthritis gets all manner of shit. She got to a point she was telling these people why. It's the older generation, I'd say 60+, who do it most. Told her it's none of their business and since I tell these idiots to fuck off.

Crosspost. Yes, we park in disabled bays and get the verbals. It stops if I'm getting out and wheelchair appears. If just OH all bets are off and she has been verbally savaged, again 60+ the majority.

Self identify or "identify as" means "I'm pretending to be".

sometimes people identify as disabled, because they make you jump through so many damn hoops to get properly diagnosed

For instance, I self identified as autistic before I got my diagnosis.
Didnt mean I was previously not autistic (but neither did it mean that I was campaigning to get rid of the system of diagnosis either, even though I would like it to be less painful to even get referred)

As someone diagnosed with HIV, I don’t regardID myself as disabled - I’m probably fitter than most people my age. However I am protected under the Equality Act 2010 as having a disability to prevent discrimination and make certain allowances in the workplace, as are other conditions.
www.aidsmap.com/The-iDisability-Discrimination-Acti-and-the-iEquality-Acti/page/1497533/
A disability is classed as 'A physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.' so if someone has to use crutches due to osteoporosis, so it would be a reasonable assumption that she has a disability.

I think perhaps people are thinking too deeply into every time they see the words “identify as”.

I have a condition that is very disabling in some people, (wheel chair, really restrictive) but is not so much in me. (reduced ability to walk far without pain at certain times, eg one day last week could not complete supermarket trip as sore and weak and wobbly and cut short the trrip, had to sit and recover a bit before walking to the car, day after, completely different, only a bit sore, if I thought about it and easily distracted)

it is weird, I am definitely not "able bodied" in that I need some minor adaptions (seating mainly and somewhere to park within a reasonable distance, but not blue badge distance short), but also would not be disabled bodied either, I am more at the able end, and if had to chose either or, would pick that.

it could get worse, it might get better as hormones settle down again. who knows.

I have some chronic health issues. Initially I hoped the would be temporary or impact me less. Recently I’ve started to realise I need to make and ask for accommodations, and not be in denial about the impact. Discussing with a friend the amount of pain I’m in on a daily basis which is my ‘normal’ helped. So I am in the process of Self-IDing as disabled. I can walk (painfully at times) so it’s not obvious to outsiders, I cover up and even lie about my pain. I don’t think this sort of ‘process’ is unusual for people with chronic health issues.

I worked for a while for quite a progressive company who was doing well financially. They actually asked staff to say if they had a disability and explained that some people might not have identified themselves as disabled. But if they told the company and clarified what the disability they had was, there was potential to get equipment or extra assistance to help. I suppose they were asking people to out themselves as disabled. They werent trying to get rid of people by the way.

I think perhaps people are thinking too deeply into every time they see the words “identify as”

I suspect this is the case. Prior to the whole tra ideology kicking off I would have thought that "identifying as" meant that you were the thing you were identifying as just not yet diagnosed (autism) or qualifying for benefits (some other disabilities) or not immediately obviously from a particular ethnic background.

The problem is the TRAs are teaching people to read "identifying as" with great suspicion, because effectively in the tra movement identifying as (a man identifying as a woman) is a lie.

well and the TRAs are trying to remove the necessity of a diagnosis at all, which does not compare to any other health condition or disability.
Self IDing as autistic is one thing if you truly know you are but dont want the hassle of pursuing a diagnosis, but in order to gain specific autistic support or disability benefits for example, your self ID means very little, and quite rightly so.
People are now seeing this as just more and more identity politics and are weary of it

I saw an interesting documentary a while ago about people with Body Integrity Disorder: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_integrity_dysphoria It’s a condition where sufferers want to lose a limb, go blind or deaf, or have some other sort of disability. There were a small number of surgeons who went with their wishes and removed limbs which was just shocking. So yes, it’s possible to identify as disabled.

Just because you have what society decides is a disability doesn't mean you identify as a disabled person.

It took me a long time for my brain to catch up wit my body and describe myself as disabled. When you have a medical condition that progresses from mild to severe there is no single point you say, "oh right as of today I'm disabled" so if you have MS it can start as something with very little impact on your life and progress to taking over your life.

There are also disabilities that are worse in certain situations, some Deaf people identify as a linguistic minority not disabled.

nevermorelenore that's kind of different

people feel that the real them is differntly configured - often seems to be about limbs
they are nto actually disabled though no matter how much the ID (unless you count the issue which leads to them having such a disconnect which you might well do)

once they have had something chopped off so their body meets the disbaled body they have in their head then of course they actually have a disability

There was a woman who persuaded a psychologist to blind her, I think
Once that was done she was of course actually blind

There are different measures of 'disability' - there's the (incredibly strict blue badge test, the PIP test and what is considered a disability at work... and many more no doubt).

Criteria include how long something might last for (2 years +), how much it affects you etc. Some disabilities are always changing, and people really struggle to understand why sometimes I might have crutches and other times now. They ask annoying questions like "oh, are you cured/no longer disabled now", when it's that I'm having a good day. On bad days people tend not to see me as I might not be able to leave the house.

Psychologically it's hard to identify as disabled, even when outsiders might all be in agreement that you are. So basically it is not clear cut at all.

My Occupational Health doctor at work list me as disabled under the Disability Discrimination Act, but even then comments that that's only his view and these things are never decided until decided in a court of law (i.e. if I had to take employer to court for breaking the DDA), and even then, the disability status would only exist within the meaning of the DDA, it wouldn't affect blue badge status etc.

I've preferred to not identify as disabled generally, but now realise I need to sometimes, for example using my OH report to get a disability card from my train company, meaning I can have a bit more authority when I ask to use priority seats.

Some measures look at the amount of adaptations needed to help you deal with every day life. Until I was asked specifically to look at this and list everything, I considered myself to be struggling through but not disabled (at least on good days).... once I listed all the little changes I needed and had quietly implemented, I realised that pretty much every part of my day requires a small adaptation, though it had become so normal I didn't even realise.

YY

I have to "identify" as disabled when it's fire alarm time at work. Other times, at work, it doens't impact (office job). Apart from the rare occasions when it does! Usually related to team building stuff which is annoying as questions about why isn't X joining in are obvious frequent and stressful and also of course missing out on "team building" due to a disability is pretty depressing!

I was talking to DH the other day and saying that if you don't have a "thing", then you look at the news andd services and can easily assume that people with the "thing" are very well catered to and even getting "special treatment". While if you have the thing, it's obvious that most of it is lip service and useless. Do eg workplaces saying oh yes disability but sounding teh all clear end of fire drill before disabled poeple have made it out (and not caring when that's pointed out) and not being included in "team building" are my examples.

This applies with all of this stuff race sex age etc and it's the people who don't have things that they see as getting "special treatment" who are arsey about it and some of them have seen this opportunity to ID "in". Of course what they dont' get is that the "special treatment" is not actually there - their perception is that it's all sunshine and extra job opportunities and havign special equipment and god only knows what but the reality if of course that it's not like that at all.

I've been stopped by BA cabin crew, who, because I don't "look" disabled didn't feel I should be in the special assistance group at the airport, even though I had (1) self-identified as needing it, (2) sent details of my disability. They actually tried to stop me going on the plane with the group, or getting help I needed. It is VERY embarrassing to have to explain your medical history in a queue of hundreds of people.

fuckers

but of course these days some people will say OHO I will self ID as disabled and get on the plane first / or without a queue / or whatveer it is that happens

They can try that but they won't be allowed to sit in the emergency exit aisle

Which is exactly the sort of thing -

outisder sees "special treatment"

like at work I can go in the emergency lift rather than walk down loads of stairs oh lucky me!

apart from in real life chances are people operating lifts would fuck off to save themselves as would everybody else and I'd be stuck... they don't think of that though!