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?

Im not sure this is recent, Ive worked with a lot of ASD teen girls in my career and often they hang around outside A+E as a gaggle and group, presenting with illnesses and symptoms now and then, also ordering aids like wheelchairs or limb supports, other walking aids (not seen walking sticks before but lots of crutches which do tend to be pilfered out of hospitals)

Shit, who knew collecting diagnoses was trendy? I've got some to spare if they want. I certainly don't want them.

Yes. I work full time as well. In a demanding, professional job. Sorry to disappoint everyone who think I must have got my diagnosis just to get benefits and never work.

I mean you can’t just say you have this stuff, there’s proper tests and diagnosis.

Apart from fibromyalgia probably which I don’t have and I don’t particularly agree Dd has even though her rheumatology consultant said she had it. Sadly I wasn’t there at that appt as I’d have questioned it. She was diagnosed with EDS and fibromyalgia at the same appointment which seems bonkers seeing as EDS causes pain and fatigue and I thought fibromyalgia was when you couldn’t find a cause for pain and tiredness. But I digress.

i had a tilt table test for pots. My blood pressure and pulse reacted in a way that most peoples wouldn’t. I have bad dizziness, every time I stand up everything goes black for 20 seconds or so.

DD has EDS and POTS. She was diagnosed at 10 after her first surgery. She's since had more surgery. She's on heart medication to stop her passing out. Unmedicated, she passes out daily. She has real problems with her ankles and knees and sees the OT and physio regularly. She also has problems with her bladder and bowels which need careful management.

Yes she walks with a stick on bad days.

I'm really not sure how to feel about this thread. I don't know whether to be amused that she's on trend or bloody angry at the suggestion that she's somehow a fraud.

In general I'd assume a medical need.

If theres hordes of them with walking sticks, unless teenage girls have dramatically changed sonce the 90s I'd be much more inclined to think its a form of attention seeking rather than self defence...

Quite. I’m quite happy to offload mine if anyone wants them. Spent many years trying to get rid of the buggers and finding a way for them not to define me.

I used a stick for a while before I had my first hip replaced. I found people were mostly quite impatient with me, so I don’t know what benefit they’re seeing!

When I had to switch to crutches, the difference was startling. They’re missing a trick.

I bought one recently as I have some degenerative changes in my foot that can all of a sudden cause me issues weight bearing. I’m not young though and I hate it, it’s folded up in a bag only to be used if my foot goes. It does sound like attention seeking in the circs OP describes

DD's heart rate goes from 50 to 140 just standing up. She's had some nasty injuries from passing out.

DS presents a bit differently and only passes out when he vomits or if he's ill. Annoyingly, he carries on vomiting while unconscious and then has "seizure type activity", flinging the sick bowl across the room in the process and usually injuring himself.

Oh how I wish EDS were a fashion choice.

I don't know whether to be amused that she's on trend or bloody angry at the suggestion that she's somehow a fraud.

I don’t think anyone is taking the piss out of those who are genuinely disabled. They’re annoyed at those who perhaps really are pretending to be, not least because it does a disservice to those who have genuine problems.

No, what does those of us with genuine problems a disservice is threads like this mocking people who use sticks.

I have autism, ADHD and EDS, all diagnosed. I don’t have a stick or a lanyard and I have a job.

No, what does those of us with genuine problems a disservice is threads like this mocking people who use sticks.

You are missing a context. No one is mocking anyone just for using a stick, that would be ridiculous. They’re criticising those who use them for attention seeking purposes when they don’t actually need them.

I am so sorry, that's a lot for your DD to cope with.

extra grotty if people decide it will be fun to mock her as well

But how does anybody know? DD is 18 and has a stick. She doesn't look "disabled", whatever that means.

Until I read this thread I didn't realise that people might assume it's a fashion choice or bandwagon jumping. It's utterly exhausting being disabled, knowing that people out there are making such assumptions just makes life that bit harder.

But they don't get to decide who is and isn't "actually disabled". That's what is so grotty. And makes people with invisible disabilities feel vulnerable.

Agree.

It never helps to make sweeping generalisations about people like this.

My Mum stopped wearing the lanyard because people would sneer at her and she got even more questions when all she wanted was for people to NOT ask her why she needed to use the Disabled toilet (she has a stoma and normal loos don't have the room to set her things out to change the bag). It really is nobody else's business that she shits out of her stomach but the amount of people who demand to know is unreal.

People at the moment seem to just really enjoy being stereotyping, judgmental, hateful shits.

Exactly

And , I can kind of see why disabled people decide to do things like dye their hair because it takes so much guts to use a stick that actually sometimes it's nice to draw people's attention to something else.

I use pretty (and expensive) jewellery for this purpose, but not everyone has that option or preference.

Well unfortunately that is caused by a large cohort of people who do use aids, of many varieties, without genuine need for them.

The problem isnt the fact that people are talking about it. The problem is that people do this. Nothing any of us can do about it, but it shouldnt be that eveyrone has to shut up about it either.

Its not appropriate for people to behave like that, inventing symptoms and disclosing illnesses that they havent actually got and unfortunately there are people that do this.

Exactly. When you need to use the disabled toilet but know there's a good chance you 'll face raised eyebrows, or tuts, at best, and an aggressive challenge at worse, it makes sense to wear something that flags to people that you might have an invisible disability.

It's horrible that this is a source of mockery

I wear a sunflower silicon wristband instead (you can get them from the same charity) and I just have the lanyard in my bag in case my speech is bad and I need to explain my condition to a member of staff

No, I don't blame them, I blame the people who think they can look around and decide who is, or is not, "genuinely disabled" just by looking at them

I got out of my mobility scooter and ran to chase a piece of paper that had blown away the other day. It didn't mean my disability is fake. I felt dreadful afterwards. And without the scooter I would not have been able to do the day out (a big trip round a zoo) at all. I am sure there were people looking and judging. That's on them . My neurologist knows my condition is real and how it presents.

God mumsnet is a disgusting, judgemental cess pit.

They don't have to guess. It would be enough if they stopped judging.

I've noticed this too on the tube - young women with sunflower lanyards and walking sticks. Last week, one was asking a man to give up his seat as she wanted to sit. He was about my age, late 50s and he looked like a builder as his clothes were splattered. He looked absolutely shattered! She was around 20.

I've seen 10 in total. I did wonder if it was some some of TFL disability research exercise as they were all girls and youngish (under 35) except 1 young man.

Is this a thing then?

Quite a few years ago, there had just been a big announcement on the news about cracking down on fraudulent benefit claims or something....anyway, the next day so many people were walking around ASDAs with sticks. Can't think why 🤔