Involved in a really interesting discussion about disability & language & identity. It makes me want to say some stuff about why I prefer 'person first' language ('person with a disability' not 'disabled person') & how I view my disabilities wrt my identity (1

I have an extremely rare visual disability. In my entire life I have met maybe 4 or 5 people with it, and that was only because Vision Australia arranged the meeting. The odds of me meeting someone else w achromatopsia in everyday life are miniscule (2

I interacted occasionally with other kids with low vision as a child, at special events & camps, but I never came accross anyone with whom I felt I had a lot of shared experiences or common culture. I didn't bond. Nothing special or positive was created out of my disability (3

I had my share of infuriating experiences though. Typical kid teasing & rudeness. Adults insisting on accomodations that werent helpful or wanted & not asking me what I *did* need. Being rewarded when I did stuff 'in spite of' my disability or made it less visible (4

So my experience of disability has been a bunch of unwanted attention, people projecting things & not seeing me. My abilities *should* be value neutral characteristics like my hair colour or height. *Other people* have made them a source of aggravation that I have to talk about(5

So you'll have to forgive me if I don't want to foreground them in my identity. I am not ashamed of them. I don't think people with disabilities should be forced to pretend they don't have them. But equally I don't think I should have to make mine a keystone of my identity (6

If I didnt have to have people looking at me through the lens of disability - both people without disabilities & people within the disability community/activist space - *I wouldn't*. It's something I'm forced to do because society sucks (7