This is why representation matters. These kids see able bodied adults all day every day—they hardly ever get to see themselves in the adults around them who are doing things and living fulfilling lives. They are often framed as helpless, on a lower level than everybody else
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They deserve to see that they can also grow up and have ambitions. They should also be asked what they want to be when they grow up, and encouraged to go for it. Shown that it’s possible.
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This is also why ACCESSIBILITY IS IMPORTANT. If I couldn’t drive, I’d rely on public transit. The subway has no stairs in my area, so I’d have to rely on things like Uber—and we all know how that goes.
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So I *wouldnt* be able to do it if I couldn’t drive and didn’t have my car. Not because *i* can’t, but bc there are so many barriers in place due to ableism and lack of access. There is a lot that we can do when we’re given the right support and the right tools.
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If I didn’t have an attendant at school to help with notes and gettingnaround my very inaccessible university, I wouldn’t be able to be a teacher. This is why accessibility matters.
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Also—that was a question I was asked several times yesterday (“how will you be a teacher if you’re in a wheelchair?”) This one convo ended with me explaining this in a way that blew MY OWN mind when I first learned it, which is: I’m literally just a person sitting down.
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When it comes to sickness? Lots of teachers get sick. Lots of teachers have chronic conditions I know that the wheelchair itself is a very specific thing. It’s seen as some sort of “end”, like a barrier or obstacle that can’t be crossed—as if a chair has the power to change me
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This is also why I’m going to ask non-wheelchair users not to chime in here—I understand invisible disabilities, I literally have one. I’m an ambulatory wheelchair user. No one sees my dislocations. I’m only visibly disabled when I’m in my chair.
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But what I had to go through mentally when I needed go start using my chair was hard. What I went through and continue to go through socially and environmentally is hard. And these kids are going through it too.
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People limit you when they see you in a wheelchair. Your environment limits you. So I need you to understand that *that* is what I’m talking about right now. That’s allowed to be it’s own conversation.
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Trans and disabled creator, activist, & student teacher. Founder of Non-profit Let’s Get By Together 
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Sharing ab EDS & Neurodiversity (ASD+ADHD)