CN: general discussion of disability, and ableism; brief discussion of racism, chronic illness, the pandemic, and eugenics. Today’s article is a first for Yopp: We have our very first interview! The wonderful Denny Upkins had the opportunity to connect with Alice Wong, an amazing disability activist who I’ve admired from afar for several years, and we are lucky enough to get to read the results of that connection. If you’ve been looking for some disability …Read More
Tag: ableism
What Is Plurality/Multiplicity?
CN: extensive discussion of plurality, dissociative disorders, mental health, and the impact of trauma, ableism; brief discussion of amnesia. For every type of marginalization you encounter, there will be an invisible barrier to understanding the humanity of those who face structural disenfranchisement that you do not. Even beyond gaining the knowledge that these structural inequities exist and have been forced upon an innocent group of people, we still carry with us a tendency to view …Read More
Hanging Out with Your Autistic Friend: A Guide to Social Inclusivity
CN: extensive description of the experience of autism including ableist treatment, triggers, and sensory overload. Mention of ableist term. Autism advocacy as a branch of activism is something I’ve learned a huge amount about just in the last few years, and one of the repeating problems the community faces has been how any “advice” on interacting with autistic people that’s published in large scale media sources, is exclusively written by neurotypical or allistic (the opposite …Read More
Ableism Bingo: Things to Never Say to a Disabled Person
Note: In addition to being a source of education, this post announces Yopp’s brand new merch store on Zazzle! To start buying, check out our new merch page or skip straight to buying products that support Yopp on our Zazzle store. CN: Extensive and detailed discussion of social ableism and victim-blaming & gaslighting regarding health and ability; use of ableist language & slurs for educational purposes, and mention of suicide. If you ask someone dealing …Read More
Happy Disability Pride Month!
I haven’t gotten in the habit of keeping track of when special days or months are related to social justice topics so it took me by surprise when I discovered that July is Disability Pride month! Given that, I quickly changed my publishing schedule around to prioritize a big disability-related project I had been working on but… it’s not done yet. So in the mean time, in lieu of a new blog post this week, …Read More
The Problem with Misrepresenting Oppression as Just Part of Life
CN: extensive discussion of the mechanics of oppression, oppression-based violence and discrimination, and racism; brief discussion of ableism, sexism, trans-antagonism. Note: This article was published after the first week of Black Lives Matter protests but it was written back in March. Due to seasonal health issues, from mid-May until September I am rendered almost completely incapable of writing new material which meant that I could not write a response to current events. A guest article …Read More
Adjusting to Social-Distancing & Other Lessons from Chronic Illness
CN: Extensive discussion of the experience of chronic illness, the emotional experience of living during the pandemic, brief discussion of ableism, grief, and financial hardships. The era of Covid-19 has been a strange time for folks with chronic illness. For anyone with pre-existing conditions that make catching the virus more dangerous, it has been a scary time with the already high stakes that surround our health getting even higher. But recently, everyone else’s world has …Read More
How Physicians Can Be Better Mental Health Resources
A note before today’s guest post: Today’s article was submitted and written before the Covid 19 crisis reached the US. At this moment, all medical health professionals are maxed out on what they are giving to the public to keep us safe, and we are deeply grateful to them for the risks they are taking and sacrifices they are making daily. This advice, as most things on this blog are, focuses on looking at longterm …Read More
Redefining Disability: An Identity of Adaptation and Creativity
CN: extensive discussion of ableist cultural narratives Before 2014, I knew very little about the concept of disability or disability activism. Believing myself to be able-bodied, I had been protected from the whole world of problems disabled people face as a result of a society that isn’t built for them. My journey to identifying as a disabled person was anything but clear cut. Before the injury that flipped my life upside-down, I thought that my …Read More
The Problem with Slurs
CN: In-depth discussion of the usage and purpose of slurs and the common defenses for using slurs; discussion of racism, sexism, anti-gay bias, and classism. Warning: There will be a couple of slurs written out in full in this article. They are written this way to maintain clarity in a purely educational piece. I made a point to limit how many slurs I used and to avoid using any slurs that would be particularly egregious …Read More