On Friday, I was fed up and pissed off at the everyday, casual ableism endemic to everything from pop culture and fandom to exchanges with total strangers and things that have happened to my friends and me. So I started tweeting under #TheAbleistScript -- both verbatim things people have said and paraphrases of what they're essentially saying. Then a massive shitton of fellow disabled folks picked up the hashtag and began joining in, which is awesome, but also meant I lost a lot of my own tweets (because Twitter can be really hard to navigate for me, for cognitive access reasons). So I've put up the original tweets that I put out here.
Follow the entire hashtag and some truly fabulous contributions here!
"You can talk so obviously you experience absolutely no disability-related difficulties ever under any conditions." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"If a disabled person could present at a conference everyone would tune them out because they're not like THEIR child." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
After speaking about ableism/public policy: "Your story is SO inspiring. You must have overcome so much to be here." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Stop being so hypersensitive and looking for things to be offended by. Most people want to help people in your position!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"I understand that you're frustrated, but you really need to stop being so bitter and angry. No one will listen to you." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"We don't have enough inpatient beds for the mentally ill! Instead, we send them to jail!" #TheAbleistScript #InstitutionsAreIncarceration
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"It's great you're so successful! But don't you want severely disabled kids to have the same chance? They DO need a cure." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"If we have too many people with disabilities in the room, they'll take over this entire conference [about disability]." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"But why CAN'T you just find a different doctor?" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Your gender confusion must be a symptom of your autism and inability to understand social structures." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"If you have one kind of disability you have every other kind of disability too right?" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"LET. ME. TALK. VEEERY. SLOOOOWLY. SO. YOU. CAN. UNDERSTAND. MEEEE." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
To the one disabled person in the room: "That's a nice idea. Now let's focus on the real issues." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"But everyone worthy of a decent salary must be able to do 40 hours in the office every day, right?" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Stop going on and on about your problems. You're so attention-seeking." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"It wasn't misogyny or toxic masculinity. It was mental illness. We have to stop mentally ill people from getting guns." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Police officers who murder young Black people are part of white supremacy. White supremacy is a mental illness!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Why weren't you supervising that 30-yr-old disabled adult who went outside to smoke?! It freaked me out!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"That's so cute that this person with Down syndrome is in love. It's like kindergarteners who think they're in love!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"It is obviously impossible for someone with such severe disabilities to consent to sex. So it must always be rape." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"But why would we give THOSE people sex ed? They won't have sex. Anyone who has sex with them is a pedophile or predator." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"If you ask for accommodations in the workplace, it's a sign of weakness. Let's start looking for ways to get rid of you." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You must be afraid of ever having children. It would be so terrible if your kid had the same thing as you!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You are so brave. I would kill myself if I ended up like you." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You had a child? Don't you think that was incredibly selfish and irresponsible? What if the kid turned out like you?!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"I'm not talking about YOU. I'm talking about THOSE people. People who aren't in touch with reality or can't communicate." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"But there are just some kids that really don't belong in the classroom especially where they could influence other kids." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You need to learn how to act normal or no one will ever like you, you'll never have friends, and you'll die alone." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You're dating? Oh! Does your partner also ... um ... have the same disability?" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You can't talk about it. You have to hide it or no one will ever respect you or treat you as a peer again." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Women need legal protections for bodily autonomy. Otherwise we can't abort fetuses with defects and disabilities!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Sheltered workshops give people with severe disabilities something meaningful to do, a reason to wake up in the morning." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"We have to put limits on the ADA! Otherwise all these people are going to threaten to sue us for made-up violations!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Prisons are not the answer to mental illness. They need specialized treatment facilities." #TheAbleistScript #InstitutionsAreIncarceration
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You use the internet. I would give anything for my child to be able to. You have no right to talk about disability." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
Planning a disability conference: "Let's talk to parents of kids who suffer from this condition and some researchers!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
Progressive org plans rally; no ASL interpreter is there. "Stop trying to take attention away from the issues!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Fund suicide prevention for queer/trans youth!" "Legalize physician assisted suicide for ppl facing possible disability!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Paternalism is wrong. Except for the senile elderly, children, and the mentally disabled, who must not be competent." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
To disabled people: "You are valuable in society!"
*if you can contribute to capitalism and increase a company's profit
#TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
My autistic partner has public meltdown. "Can you get her to be quiet and maybe wait over there?" #TheAbleistScript
*they were misgendered
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"But I can talk to YOU. You're not like THEM. I almost forget that you're disabled. So I can be openly ableist with you." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"We have to be sure you're not just trying to game the system. Come back with a detailed doctor's note." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You're religious? That must be really reassuring, to know there is a bigger plan for why you have to suffer from that." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Let me pray for you! LORD GOD, please heal this person! Deliver them from this affliction! Make them whole!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You're in college. You're obviously smart, so you don't need any extra help."
You mean accommodations for equal access? #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
To person in wheelchair: "So, wait, is it even possible for people like you to have sex? How could you do it?!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"I never know how to act around people like you. I'm worried that anything could be taken as offense when none is meant." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"I can't understand your speech. Is there someone who can interpret?" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
Referring to people in their 30's through 60's: "The kids go to a program during the day where they do arts and crafts." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You're probably just calling yourself asexual because of low self esteem about how your body looks." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"It's awful the parent killed the kid. But put yourself in their shoes! Think of the stress! How much burden the kid was." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
We know who the show's villain is by the deformity or mental illness. #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
Very Special Episode Syndrome: New disabled character appears to teach main cast a lesson about kindness, disappears. #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
To person with life-threatening epileptic seizures: "I don't care if my flashing lights could kill you." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
When every disabled character has to have SUPERPOWERS or MAGIC to be on the show. (AKA savants or "hidden" genuises.) #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
When I mention I work in disability advocacy: "Oh, so do you have a relative or know someone ... ?" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
When independence is equated with moral character, and interdependence is discounted as co-dependence and weakness. #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
After every shooting: "Family says shooter struggled with mental illness." "We need better mental health services!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"THIS BOY'S KINDNESS TO CLASSMATE WITH AUTISM WILL BRING YOU TO TEARS. CLICK TO WATCH THIS HEART-WARMING VIDEO." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You mean you're a person WITH autism. Don't put your disability first." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Children with disabilities are treated so horribly in Korea/China/Japan. We do such a wonderful job here in the U.S." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"The couple tried repeatedly to adopt a child, but the orphanage kept trying to pass off children with defects onto them." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"No one will want to be around you if you complain all the time. No one likes miserable people." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"This person with mental illness is such a wonderful role model! Look how responsible they are; they take their meds." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"THIS MOM IS ON A BRAVE MISSION TO SPEAK FOR CHILDREN WHO HAVE NO VOICES OF THEIR OWN. READ HER INSPIRING STORY." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"How can you be so cruel and callous? She loved her son. She just snapped from the stress of having a special needs kid." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"She kept being raped, eventually had a kid. But don't worry; we solved the problem! Now she's sterilized." (Buck v. Bell) #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Save this African child from a lifetime of stigma. Donate now to give this child a real smile!" #TheAbleistScript #WhiteSaviorNotNeeded
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Wow, are you lazy or what! You're so young; you don't need to be taking the elevator if you're only going one floor." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Wait, you're ever NOT in a hospital or doctor's office?" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Why don't you see a doctor for that?" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You should definitely try this one amazing trick my great uncle used -- it cured him!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Being trans is NOT a mental illness. There is nothing wrong with US." #TheAbleistScript #DisabledANDTrans #NotAContradiction
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Welcome parents, siblings, and self-advocates." Because we only get to talk about ourselves but they talk about us all. #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You use the internet. Therefore, you are very high-functioning and have no idea what it's like to be disabled at all." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You don't want a cure... so you obviously oppose any funds/research for better services and supports." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Let me keep staring forever at this blind person using a phone screenreader!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
[sees little person in public] [picks up little person] [has no problem with this] #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
To someone in wheelchair: "People like you can't drive." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"What exactly is wrong with you? Were you exposed to toxic chemicals in utero?" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You must be emotionally damaged because you were in an orphanage." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Inmates find meaning by training service dogs to help disabled." #TheAbleistScript #WhenAccessDependsOnPrisonLabor #InterlockingOppressions
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"From 1 to 10, how much pain are you in?" ... "Okay, now tell the truth. I can't write scripts because you want drugs." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Wow, what happened to you? You used to be so strong and beautiful." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You can't let them make choices, because they'll just choose the easy way out. You have to choose for them." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"I don't care if it hurts your kid. You have to keep pushing your kid, because that's the only way to recovery." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Able-bodied/Neurotypical actor wins Emmy/Golden Globe/Tony for heart-wrenching portrayal of disabled person." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You're younger than me. Bend down and get it." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
Person sent to treatment facility instead of prison. "Wow, he got off easy!" #TheAbleistScript #InstitutionsAreIncarceration
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
.@Enceladosaurus "I must be exaggerating. I will wait until someone else confirms what I am thinking." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
Immediately after disclosing: "You're unstable and difficult. We just can't have you in this school/workplace anymore." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
Deemed high-functioning: You can't speak for disabled people (cause you're not)!
Deemed low-functioning: You can't think!
#TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"You can't judge him for being creepy/misogynistic/stalker. He might be on the autism spectrum and not know any better." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
I told a professor I'm autistic. He said, "Oh, I knew you had a behavioral issue of some kind." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
Suzanne Warren clearly says she doesn't like being called Crazy Eyes. Almost entire fandom always calls her that. #TheAbleistScript #OITNB
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
Asked for auditory processing accommodations. "If you have that, why would you even bother trying to learn a language?" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
[sees sighted deaf person signing] "Oh I know! We have just the right thing!" [hands them Braille menu] #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"These third-world countries are awful to disabled people. They could really learn from the U.S.!" #TheAbleistScript #WhiteSaviorNotNeeded
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"She spent all her Saturdays as a buddy for a local special needs kid. What an incredible heart she has!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Design a future -- a better future -- where the human race will be free of defects and disorders!" #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
Said to survivors who experienced violence directly: "Trigger warnings coddle people and let them hide from reality." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
"Your rape allegations aren't credible. You're mentally ill/take psychiatric meds, so you aren't in touch with reality." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
When you disclose food texture aversions: "Stop being such a picky eater." #TheAbleistScript
— Lydia Brown (@autistichoya) November 6, 2015
Follow the entire hashtag and some truly fabulous contributions here!