r/YouShouldKnow • u/LtSoundwave • Jul 19 '20

Other YSK That many people with a disability consider their aides (wheelchair, etc.) an extension of themselves. You should ask before touching or moving them.

Read this article and was surprised to hear how many people struggle with this. Even if you are trying to help, you should ask first.

www.bbc.com/news/disability-49584591

42.1k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

916 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

10

u/[deleted] Jul 19 '20 edited Jul 19 '20

I'm just so confused. You're not supposed to touch other people's stuff without the social context being one where people are touching other people's stuff, in the first place.

It seems like this is more of an exposé on how we treat disabled people as objects to be acted upon, as opposed to sapient beings that can move themselves.

3

u/GayHotAndDisabled Jul 20 '20

Yeah, this is very much it. I use a cane part-time (my joints dislocate easily, so I only use it when my legs are bad but my shoulder is good) and the difference between how people treat me when I'm using it vs when I'm not is absurd. People treat me as smarter, they are nicer, and they don't talk down to me as much (or use their baby/dog/customer service voice as often) when I'm not using my cane.

Even people who have seen me use a cane before!!! If I'm not using it I am suddenly "full person" instead of "object/child"