One of the things I find most frustrating as a disabled writer is the way media loves disabled characters, but only through an abled lens. Even when we’re the protagonists, we’re expected to satisfy abled people’s curiosity and tiptoe around their comfort zones about what our lives are like.
I want to write disabled characters without focusing on “how did they get disabled” or any mechanics thereof. I want to write characters to happen to be disabled and that’s a character attribute, not the central plot. I want to write characters without naming their specific disability because I want them to be relatable to anyone with the same challenges. I want to get super specific sometimes too – I want to write about a character with EDS because you never see that represented in media. I want to write characters who are neurodivergent and physically disabled at the same time. I want to write a character who sometimes uses a wheelchair and sometimes crutches and braces like me instead of picking one for this story because it blows their minds when our mobility is fluid.
I want to write all these things because I think we need them, and it’s so frustrating that the reason the hole exists is these stories aren’t getting told because the people in charge want to keep selling us “Billy got in an accident and now has to Come to Terms With Disability” as the only disability narrative.
If I'm your savior, then you're mine. 