Having rambling thoughts lately about how one of the big barriers to most pubic-facing disability discourse is that the majority of people think of disabilities as being 1) rare 2) debilitating. And that's before we get into thoughts about "rising above" disabilities.

Whenever accomodation/help comes up, there's always this accompanying assumption from much of the crowd that people truly deserving help or accommodation are RARE. And if an accommodation would help too many people, then that must mean it's not a real disability.

For example- flexible work start times would be wonderful for people with a huge array of sleep-interfering disorders. That's sleep disorders themselves, a ton of mental illnesses, pain disorders, etc.

So many people would benefit that clearly this isn't for the "real" disabled people. Because if enough people struggle with something, but haven't utterly and publicly collapsed, then it must be something people can "overcome", and therefor it's not a real accommodation.

This also shows up in creation of rules, regulations and laws that would disproportionately affect people with disabilities. Well, if we assume disabilities are vanishingly rare, and probably everyone who has them is housebound and essentially absent from public life-

Then these rules are "fine" because in the unlikely chance that someone would be present & affected, then some exception will somehow be made, because clearly such requests would be so unusual that exceptions would be easy.

If the requests turn out to be plentiful, they're fake.

Disability in all it's forms is actually INCREDIBLY COMMON.

But a number of factors combine to mask that from public perception.

1) the narrative of rarity
2) the expectation of "fakers"
3) the huge barriers to diagnosis
4) the risk of exposing ones disability publicly

5) the massive variations between different disabilities, in different people, in different situations, on different days, across the lifespan, with various access to help and care
6) the aversion people have to claiming any form of disability due to the above

it all contributes

I'll give you an example. I have a chronic pain issue. I have an old injury affecting my spine/nerves which has, in the past, caused fainting, vomiting, extreme fatigue, and pain so bad my doctor offered me narcotics.

It took almost FIFTEEN YEARS for the cause of the problem to be found. During which it varied wildly in severity. Once it was found, it took another full year for me to develop a regime of care to handle the symptoms.

Two weeks ago, you could have walked past me, hauling around a 40lb toddler, gardening, wistfully wishing for the archery range, and you never would have thought about disability.

This week, I have run headfirst into "desperately overdue for the chiropractor", which is closed because of Covid. This snowballed into difficulty doing my physical therapy at home as I normally do.

Today, I am a proper disaster with it.

Other things that have dominoed into fucking up my care regime: travel, a flu, a sudden growth spurt in my daughter, a small fall, gardening too close to when I need to see the chiropractor, trying a Pilates class that one time.

Shit just happens sometimes, and then, oh yeah, we all get to remember that I have an actualfacts disability.

I have never.

Ever.

EVER.

Had an employer treat any request for accommodation with anything but suspicion.

I WORK IN HEALTHCARE. IN THE SOCIAL SERVICES SIDE.

I also have hearing/audio problems that you only notice in very specific settings, & which also lead to me spelling as well as a 3rd grader, tho I was reading at a college level in 4th grade. Mostly, you won't ever get to see the effects of those.

A lot of people have minor cognitive disabilities that affect a small area. They usually just say they're "bad at math" or something. Few have the access to testing and fine tuning that I had. They wont tell you they're disabled, they'll usually just hide/avoid those tasks.

Disabilities can happen in absolutely any way that the human brain or body can go wrong. Sometimes you can see them in action, mostly you can't. Most people with disabilities are still out here, interacting, living lives. They should be taken into account, always.

Someone has pointed out that when people hear "disability" they've often been conditioned to think about it in terms of screening for who will receive disability benefits and has been deemed totally unable to work. I think that's exactly right and exactly the problem.

The system described exists almost solely to REJECT people. To tell people they aren't disabled ENOUGH. That informs a bizarre, biased, binary mindset about whether someone is "really" disabled, with a single, fixed focus of measurement.

Instead of a complex web of ever-fluctuating needs, wants and influences. It silences those who don't meet that very high and very mono-focused bar, and "others" those who do meet it.

To end on a macabre but true reminder: good health is always a temporary condition. for everyone. It is also a sliding and imprecise spectrum.

How you thrive or fall against the backdrop of that spectrum if often a matter of resources, not will.

Once you see disabilities in all their range and forms, you realize that disability is normal, it is ubiquitous, and it deserves to be taken into account in far, far more of our decision-making processes.