What you need to know about the glue of disability online movements & advocacy: unity

I am not a disability studies PHD, nor am I a medical professional. So there are moments where I feel like an imposter when I talk about disability-related issues. Although there is something extremely valuable I bring to the conversation: lived experience.

As I mentioned before, I’m a person who lives with Dyspraxia. For such a long time, I also lived with a severe case of Anemia. The Anemia made me physically weak and prone to fainting every time I had my period. It started when I was 13-years-old and ended when I was 18-years old. I knew it had gotten really bad when I visited a nurse at my local community health centre. After noticing that I was really pale and the haemoglobin levels in my bloodstream were dangerously low, they told me to go to the hospital.

Several blood transfusions and tests later, an OB/ GYN prescribed the birth control pill and the Anemia has been non-existent ever since. I also have an inner circle where a majority are either neurodiverse or have some sort of mental health condition.

Not to mention, I’m married to someone with type one diabetes who was one of the founding trustees of the #insulin4all movement. I watched the movement grow and felt like I learned a lot from both the right and wrong choices of everyone involved.

Currently, I’m a major contribution to the events and projects of the Dyspraxic Circle wing of the #Dyspraxia #neurodiversesquad movement

Our community’s awareness week is in full swing, and I couldn’t be any more proud of the people involved. Although I’m also slightly afraid of what might happen with a crucial part of it: our ability to create unity.

Let’s start with why it’s a good thing.

The best part of all this is that we can challenge cultural and physical barriers. There’s something enormously beautiful about that in an era of COVID-19. Because staying far apart and covering our faces is normalized for everyone’s safety.

Making an intimate, emotional connection with another human being outside your own household is suddenly a risky…