That brings us to the end of our week long discussion. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed answering questions, sharing your thoughts, knowledge, ideas and experiences and supporting and encouraging each other so openly and generously. It is through the sharing of lived experiences, especially the harder and more yucky experiences, that understanding can be enhanced and in so doing, creating a path toward improved support and the willingness of others to listen without judgement to those experiences that can facilitate those improvements to support, and lead to a more inclusive and accessible word for everyone. A huge thanks also to those who have supported and read along thoughout the week.
@chibam I've really appreciated your perspective and the ideas you've shared about how disability is defined, both as a general concept and individually for yourself. Thank you also for enlightening me, and I'm sure many others, to the differences between internal and external impacts. I feel like it's a super important distinction.
@BPDSurvivor, your careful attention to and knowledge of nuances in language is amazing! I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from the knowledge you have shared as well as for your highlighting of positive elements of what may seem to be exclusively negative experiences, such as exploring both the harmful and helpful impacts of assumptions. For me, it's served as such an important reminder that even when something may seem all bad, it's not necessarily and that there is choice, such as the choice to look for positives hidden in the thick of negatives.
@still_bookish, I've really appreciated the knowledge and experiences of disability you've contributed to the discussion and your dedicated attention and commitment to accessibility and inclusivity generally. It is because of the attention paid to such things by people like yourself that improvements are made to enhance accessibility even further and in so doing, promote more inclusivity than there was before.
@Appleblossom thank you so much (again) for sharing so openly and honestly about difficult and traumatic experiences with horrible things like shame and stigma. I know what you've shared will help reduce feelings of isolation for others who have or are experiencing similar things.
@periwinklepixie, thank you so much for highlighting and sharing the impact internalised ableism can have as well as the impact of finding community through identifying as disabled. The power of your sharing may well shine a beacon of hope for others struggling that it is possible to effectively challenge something as tricky to battle as internalised ableism.
@Rhye, I super appreciate the way you've highlighted some really important points for us throughout the week and shared some great things along the way, both resources and snippets of your experiences. It's people like you who amplify voices that may otherwise struggle to be heard.
For my part, I'd like to leave you all with a few links to other resources and further reading (or in some cases, viewing) that may be of interest, compiled of research and also what some have shared through the discussion.
Resources
Further Reading/ Interest
If there is anything you know of that isn't listed, please feel free to post about it, whether that be stories or other resources. And of course, you are more than welcome to keep the discussion going for yourselves if this is something you'd like to do. I have no doubt there are many more things to be discussed, some in deeper detail and countless invaluable perspectives yet to be shared and/or heard. This is just the beginning! 😊
