People can be disabled AND mean to other disabled people. They can be ableist, they can be abusive, they can be wrong.

A friend who is paralyzed ended things with me when I became an ambulatory wheelchair user. She said I had no business being in a wheelchair if I could walk.

I used to date a deaf person.

I know some basics, but when I asked them if they’d like me to learn sign language, at a school in a course, they said no, because as a hearing person I’d be invading their culture.

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They then excluded me from everything by only meeting with other signing deaf ppl & I’d just sit there and not understand a thing.

They were angry when they found out I had been watching YouTube videos to learn more so I could understand, even tho I couldn’t sign.

We broke up.

I used to have a classmate who wore braces and was in a huge amount of pain all the time. She could be a wheelchair user and mostly pain free, but sees wheelchairs as bad things & stigma’s and all.

When she found out I had embraced the wheely life, she got jealous & offended.

My blind friend who I used to travel to school with by public transport, said she liked my company & she felt safe when I was guiding her. It costs a lot less energy when someone helps guide.

She got told off by her blind father for not being independent and liking a “handler”.

My aunt who has arthritis and hasn’t worked a single day since she was 40 (good for her), says I am a lazy, exaggerating, attention seeking b*tch for working part-time, using a wheelchair and having a disabled parking permit.

I am too young.
EDS is a hoax.
I need a psychiatrist.

My mom, who has fibromyalgia (and is likely an undiagnosed EDS patient with less obvious symptoms than me) was told by her friend “we all get pains when we get older, just suck it up”

When she said she had had these pains all her life, her friend told her she’s mistaken.

Parking in a disabled spot at the city hall, a man parked next to me and came over to my car to see if I had a disabled parking permit.

I had not put it in the window yet and he started yelling that I had to move.

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When I took the parking permit from my purse, he yelled that he still deserves the spot more than I do because he’s older.

Told him that if he can stand around and yell at me, he probably doesn’t need anything more than I do right now.

He. Was. In. The. Spot. Next. To. Me!

Woman in a wheelchair let her about 2. y.o. kid run loose on the narrow sidewalk. I came around the corner in my chair & tried to go around the child but it bumped into me & fell anyway.

The mom yelled at me that if I’m too **** to use a wheelchair, I should just **** myself

My brother’s girlfriend (Epilepsy +) decided just looking at me & my splints, without knowing my conditions or limitations, that I should not be allowed to drive a car.

Every time we meet, she asks if I have ran over or killed any people yet.

I know it’s jealousy but ugh

My partners friend has Crohn’s disease, cancels on him a lot. That’s fine, we know it can happen.

My partner has migraines at times. He one day woke up feeling miserable, tried to cancel his plans with this friend.

Friend got angry
We haven’t seen or hear of him since.

When I was still mostly walking with my cane, I used the accessible toilet stall so I could sit down and get up easier, I was in a shitload of pain back then.

Got scolded by a waiting wheelchair user because I was obviously well enough to use a normal stall

Obviously. #EDS

I got frustrated with a woman walking too slowly in front of me, she wouldn’t let me pass with my wheelchair either. She walked with a rollator.

I took back some speed & calmed myself tf down because that used to be me! I used to hate ppl trying to rush me or push past me.

For most folks it’s difficult to relate to others, even when they are like you.

It’s hard sometimes to be a nice, understanding person, especially when you’re dealing with stuff.

Try to be patient, have empathy. Step back. Don’t judge. Shut up. Well done! being nice is gold.