This Is What Ableism Looks Like
A real-life example of what ableism and micro-aggressions look like in action
Death by a thousand paper cuts
For the record: I am white, which gives me privilege I did not earn. I have not experienced systemic racism.
I am Deaf, neurodivergent, and female-presenting, so I have indeed experienced ableism, audism, and sexism. These usually come in the form of micro-aggressions: subtle ways in which neurotypical and non-disabled people uphold their privilege over marginalized groups.
Rather than one or two overt, obvious, significant incidents, those of us who are both marginalized and privileged often experience a multitude of micro-aggressions. These wear away at us until we lose our patience with society’s ableist bullshit, and then people wonder why we’re “freaking out” over a minor inconvenience.
Newsflash: It’s no longer minor when it happens every damn day.
Deaf Awareness
March 1 - 7, 2022 was Hearing Awareness Week, and I think rather than promoting awareness about hearing loss, we need to make Hearing people more Deaf Aware. More importantly, we need to make larger corporations and institutions more Deaf aware.
Aware that we, Deaf and Hard of Hearing people, exist in the world.
Aware that we, Deaf and Hard of Hearing people, deserve equal access.
Story time
You might be wondering what prompted my mini diatribe today, well let me tell you about my recent experience.
In my role as an advocate and coach for neurodiverse individuals, I also tutor neurodiverse students, including those with various learning disabilities. I quite enjoy it.
I live in the country and my clients can be from all over the place, so we often will meet somewhere in the middle.
A fantastic local resource I’ve discovered is some of our public libraries allow us to book tutoring rooms for free. They’re little meeting rooms and they’re great.
The only problem is…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Neurodiversity MB to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.