Girls Using Walking Sticks

[Arran2024]

I saw a post about this on X this morning. Apparently it is a trend.

Anyway, I went into town this afternoon and sure enough, I saw a number of young women with walking sticks. None of them looked like they were leaning hard on their stick, just kind of walking along like it was a big umbrella.

Is anyone else seeing this?

Again, do we have ACTUAL HARD EVIDENCE that people are pretending to be disabled?

We need to be very, very careful about assuming that people who appear to be physically disabled are not, in fact, physically disabled.

I do not think that we get to judge people using walking sticks as essentially making it up for effect and then call it 'eroding the meaning of the word disabled'. That feels like a dangerous road to go down.

It's not that people are 'pretending' to be disabled. There is no hard evidence of that.

Instead it's more of a change in society where we have become very individualistic. People define their identity rather than society. It used to be society defined you as disabled/non disabled. Or male/female but now it's become more about how individuals see themselves.

All Disabled people are genuinely disabled in that they define themselves & identify that way but the definition & 'identity' have changed.

Breaking down stigma & awareness of hidden disabilities has been a great thing but I think there does need to be some debate around 'disability identity'. When 'gender identity' emerged we were told we must never ever discuss or criticize it & that has led to more problems that is now harming young people & society is trying to fight back.

Disability identity has the potential to cause similar problems.

It needs to be discussed out in the open in a constructive non-hateful way in order to protect the next generation of young girls growing up

No, they are not being intolerant. The issue has been that some people wanted to turn the thread into something it was not. It was not intended as a place to share disability experiences, but a place to discuss the recent trend /upsurge in young women using walking aids, and why they might be doing this.

The issue is a little more complex and nuanced than people simply " pretending" to be disabled. The issue is how people form identity and the sorts of things they form their identity around. What these identities mean, and what they are meant to communicate.

Feel free to produce some evidence of this trend / upsurge.

Spoiler: not likely, because it’s not really a thing - and you’ve been asked lots of times by lots of people, but still nothing

Meanwhile - you’re still not the thread police and still don’t get to dictate the direction of discussion in a chat board by chasing off people with different viewpoints.

Feel free to produce some evidence to the contrary.

There are medical professions on this thread telling you it’s happening. It has been noticed by more than one poster.

Plenty of posters have 'testified' to this observation already.

i'm not policing the thread so much as countering your assertion.

If you look at some of the hashtags on SM. Audhdproblems, babeswithsticks, babes with mobility aids, Neosticks etc there are a lot of Audhd women posting with their Neosticks. Yes obviously Audhd does not mean people cannot have other physical disabilities but the trend does seem to be among women identifying as Audhd & carrying a Neostick. They are vague about how the stick helps them manage autism, ADHD, dyspraxia etc.

It does seem a sudden & very bizarre trend & there is nothing wrong with noticing it & discussing what the causes could be.

Things like long COVID & the sudden increase in illnesses like EDS, POTS, MCAS etc in young women could all be contributing factors & there is plenty of evidence to show these really have increased but little explanation of causes.

Anecdote does not = evidence

”its true cos we said it on mumsnet” isn’t it

Unless this board is accepting hearsay as proof all of a sudden? Not very in keeping with how things usually roll in FWR

Of course not.

The only person demanding scientific evidence is you!

Everyone else has noticed a trend & is a bit baffled by it & wants to discuss it.

It's not a science forum to discuss evidence based studies.

There probably does need to be some research. I know of several studies looking at social contagion in young women if you are interested & have access to scientific/medical journals. I am happy to give references if you are genuinely interested in research but I think you are just gunning for a fight because people disagree with you.

Sticks help with balance. It’s such a mystery why that might be helpful to people with dyspraxia - also known as “the clumsy child” condition.

Shiny fun-looking sticks get talked about and shown off more on socials than grey NHS sticks. Shocking news.

Some young people benefit from using sticks, and are being visibly happy about having shiny sticks instead of awful ones. What? No, really?!

The pushback on this thread is against the presumption that there’s a surge of faked or somehow inappropriate stick usage by “young blue haired women” and that said surge will be harmful to disabled people in general.

It’s a fake panic being used to drum up hostility and suspicion towards young women going about their lives harming no one. And that’s a pretty weird (and awful) flex for a supposedly feminist stronghold of mn.

“It's not a science forum to discuss evidence based studies.”

Gosh, I must have imagined all those threads and posts reeling out studies, statistics and research papers on this board then. My bad.

For example an advert for Neosticks (pretty sparkly sticks/canes) which are the favored brand for Audhd young women.

The girl in the ad is a wheelchair user soust have a disability other than Audhd but does not mention that anywhere. Instead 20+ hashtags all related to Audhd, ADHD etc to get maximum exposure to people in these groups.

Why market a sparkly , plastic walking cane to these groups if they aren't the target market.

You just posted an image of a specific identifiable wheelchair user, inviting scrutiny of their choices of hashtag?! What can you possibly think that adds to the discussion, in exchange for sending people to that profile to join in your scrutiny?

Social media schedulers often use a built-in set of hashtags that are added to all posts by default. Maybe it’s that. Or maybe that person likes to attract traffic from people interested in those hashtags? There’s just nothing to see here.

Disabled people are not obliged to disclose their medical situation in order to participate in public, including when they want to show off a disability aid they like.

There are quite a few disabled hashtags in that ad, along with the ADHD ones. She's in a wheelchair, she doesn't need to tell you her disability. And all the talk about people having identities, is there something wrong with that? Does everyone have to fit some social norm now?

So much this. I’m gobsmacked at this being turfed up as “evidence”

Brands like to have hashtags on sponsored posts to get traffic from audiences that like to buy their products. Surprise!

Love to see #AmbulatoryWheelchairUser in there. It’s a concept far too few of the general public are familiar with. Along with the concept of bright young things and fashionable women having disabilities that benefit from having a stick!

No of course she doesn't have to but it is definitely bizarre to list a load of irrelevant disabilities. Why be secretive about a physical disability then shout out your Audhd to the world.

Plus putting them as hashtags in sponsored content gives maximum exposure of the advert to people who engage with those hashtags

Very odd to deliberately market a sparkly plastic stick to Audhd women when until recently there wasnt a link to mobility problems.

What do you suggest as the reason for Audhd women increasingly using pretty sticks? I am genuinely interested.

Is it the breaking down of stigma & them looking pretty & sparkly meaning women feel better about using a stick that they had previously struggled without? Is it an actual increase in sickness & disability in young women & young women with Audhd in particular?

But why on earth have a list of completely irrelevant hashtags.

Audhd women are the ones who are suddenly using walking sticks & there's nothing wrong with exploring what the possible reasons are.

I don't know how anyone can tell if someone else is disabled. What does that mean anyway?

E.g., if it takes me five years to get a diagnosis that then meets the criteria for collecting a disability benefit, when do I become disabled? Is it from the time I first notice the symptoms that are later diagnosed as a disabling condition? When symptoms start bothering me significantly? When I first seek a diagnosis? When I finally get a diagnosis? When I get approved for benefits?

I think many people would say that I wasn't disabled until I got my diagnosis (at least during the time I was still seeking one). But I might be even more disabled before my diagnosis if the diagnosis helps me cope with the disability (e.g., through physiotherapy, meds, proper walking or other aids, etc.)

She posted it herself!

Literally on several social media platforms.

It's hardly sharing private content!

I do think there's been a breaking down of stigma and disabled people are finally being out there and proud. Also there is better diagnosis so people who may have struggled and stayed indoors are now finding their communities and feeling more positive about themselves. Id much rather have a nice sparkly stick and young people have always had coloured hair/ accessories etc. I'm sure most of us on here had some pretty tragic fashion choices when young! It's what young people do, they're finding their personalities. There are many illnesses and conditions where using a stick would be helpful. And people will always gravitate to identities and group, e.g. women on here have a GC identity and gravitate to the same events and conferences etc.

But they’re not completely irrelevant hashtags at all - that’s just the angle you want to push. They’re hashtags related to the condition she mentions in the post, and to her disability status.

And I think you know perfectly well that posting an individual on this board is likely to send more people to that profile to go dig for more “evidence” that she’s somehow contributing to this supposed concerning trend.

I’ve seen this too, the young girl I see a lot doesn’t limp and in fact is very speedy I had wondered what it was about!

Yes I think those are plausible reasons

My mum for example who is now in her 70s has had rheumatoid arthritis since young adulthood & battled without using a stick or blue badge when she would have benefitted from them because of how it was seen. In that respect it is definitely positive.

The rise in women and girls with Audhd does ring alarm bells for me though. I remember raising the link with autism & Trans especially FTM but was shouted down & accused of hate at the time. That has turned out to be proven. There are obviously links with EDS/POTS/Fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue in young autistic women but something must be driving the decline in physical health in young women other than reduced stigma - the rise in PIP claims, the numbers out of work etc (and yes I believe these are genuinely disabled people)

I run a group for women who have neurodiversity and/or mental health struggles. It's been running for over 20 years. It was rare to see someone with a stick but now about a third of young women bring one. Neosticks are the must have brand. Is that right for a company to heavily target a vulnerable group? They are expensive but don't offer anything over cheaper sticks other than the glitter, colours, light up, glow in the dark etc.

Sticks used for balance and stability can, and do, speed up walking, and prevent or reduce limping. That’s actually kind of the whole point of using a stick.

Limp reduction is a major reason physios advise using sticks or crutches early. Once a limp becomes habitual it’s harder to correct, and sustained limping causes skeletal damage over time, as well as making you much more prone to falls.

Spread the word on this to help society do better on understanding disability and use of mobility aids - every little bit helps reduce the stares, questions and wondering that makes it so hard to accept it when you’re young and get advised to use an aid.