I suffer from fibromyalgia and scoliosis as well as depression, anxiety, and ADHD. I am most certainly disabled. And this is a thread about how, no matter how well meaning you are, you can oopsie your way right into ableist behavior out of sheer ignorance.

Disabled people are not all the same. Not all disabilities, even if given the same title, affect us the same way. I can walk. I can be pretty active, actually. Many disabled people can. But for those who r in my boat, often that few hours of being active can affect them for days.

It is a privilege to go for a hike without having to worry if you’ll be able to move for the rest of the week. It is a privilege to assume that just because a character is active and not openly effected every minute of the day, that character is not disabled.

It is a whole heckin’ lot of privilege to assume something like that when the author is #ownvoices. I’m speaking from experience. I’ve written stories with #ownvoices rep. My short story, One Headlight, was about depression. Another, One Percent was about scoliosis.

My upcoming sequel has PTSD rep, and another book I’m working on has Chronic Illness rep. So I’m no stranger to having to correct people, sometimes even editors, when they assume I’m being inaccurate when I’m simply describing my body’s particular manifestation of the disability.

I’ve seen it happen plenty of times. I’ve seen it happen to other authors, I’ve seen it happen with other #ownvoices rep.

I guess if I want you to learn anything from this thread, it’s that 1) disabilities can look very different from your perception of them to those who actually have them, and 2) BELIEVE PEOPLE WHEN THEY TELL YOU THEIR EXPERIENCE.