Introduction: awareness, kindness, allyship and language
I, like you, am surrounded by loved ones and friends with disabilities and differences to the neurotypical. Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, OCD, EDS, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Anxiety and Depression (diagnosed, regular & life-altering), Arthritis, Vertigo, Dementia, and maybe more I don’t know about. I have people in my family who use a wheelchair or walking stick.
Disability is everywhere. Disability is normal. Disabilities deserves to be understood, respected, and included in all spaces.
There is more to “disability” than you may realise. Many disabilities and differences are invisible and cause significant everyday struggles for individuals expected to just live with it. Our world, at least the society I see, the society at large, is not equipped to support all disabilities and differences. Therefore, many individuals will suffer every day simply because of systems ill-equipped to support them.
Remember that inclusion and safe spaces are good for us all, not a burden or extra step to consider.
1 in 4 people have a disability and just because you don’t suffer or identify with one today, it doesn’t mean you never will.
I feel it’s important to amplify the voices of these marginalised and underrepresented groups when I don’t belong to said group myself (though I could be classed as neurodivergent as I suffer with depression and anxiety and am medicated for it). Therefore, here are some people to follow and books to read to better understand the disabled experience and advocate for safe and inclusive spaces for all of us.
People to follow
My friends and fellow authors:
Louna Stone – neurodivergent
Hannah Davies – chronic illness
Online creators I follow:
thisstoryaintover – YouTube -> open about her bipolar experiences, depression and mania
Steph – YouTube -> physically disabled (not specified in her videos as far as I’ve seen)
Chronically Jenni -> physically disabled
Jessica Kellgren-Fozard – YouTube -> physically disabled and neurodivergent
Zara Beth -> also on YouTube, autism, Tourette’s Syndrome, chronic pain, part time wheelchair user
Wheelie_Good_Life instagram -> physically disabled
https://www.youtube.com/@morehannah -> Hannah Witton, youtuber, wears a colostomy bag
Savannah Brown -> autism
Blair Imani Ali is a BRILLIANT educator on all topics and issues faced by marginalised communities:
Book recommendations
Non-Fiction:
- The Anti-Ableist Manifesto by Tiffany Yu
- Sitting Pretty by Rebekah Taussig
- Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Alice Wong
- Strong Female Character by
- It’s Not What It Looks Like by Molly Burke
- Against Technoableist: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement by Ashley Shew
- Different Not Less: A Neurodivergent’s Guide to Embracing Your True Self and Finding Your Happily Ever After by Chloe Hayden
- Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann & Kristen Joiner
Fiction:
- Follow and watch Starry Steph on YouTube as she has MANY to share!
Sincerely,
S. xx
S. R. Crawford 
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