>My previous blog post has inspired quite a lot of chat on twitter with various people sharing their own disability normal things. Here’s the list: (I’ve not linked the accounts because it would take FOREVER but you can search for them on twitter using the names listed or by searching #DisabilityNormal
Falling up stairs – SpazGirl11
Spilling food – SpazGirl11
Not being able to find a coffee shop without a step – Batsgirl
On the bright side, orders brought over to my table in Starbucks rather than standing around waiting – Batsgirl
filling in a form within an hour of it dropping through the door – but having to wait 3 days to be able to post it back – Batsgirl
Encyclopaedic knowledge of the opening/delivery times and phone numbers for local takeaways – Batsgirl
Being on first name terms with staff from three different train stations – FunkyFairy22 (me)
Dropping something and not being able to pick it up because you already dropped the easireach – crimsoncrip
keeping floors clean not for good housekeeping but because you spend so much time lying on them – Batsgirl
Choking on water – FunkyFairy22 (me)
Buying FABULOUS shoes in the safe and certain knowledge that you don’t HAVE to be able to walk in them 😀 – Batsgirl
almost permanently having a “builders bum” because your trousers always slip when you transfer – FunkyFairy22 (me)
Being invisible when you go out – CrimsonCrip
having it be your fault when someone walks into your wheelchair. Even though you tried to warn them. – FunkyFairy22
Being asked personal questions by random strangers, who think its ok to ask you when they wouldn’t ask a noncrip – CrimsonCrip
Complete strangers trying to take over pushing you and then acting insulted when you very firmly and loudly say NO! – FunkyFairy22
when people realise I’m a disabled parent of disabled child “oh god, how do you cope?” never “can I help?” – LonAitwalker
people in various city centre shops know to keep an eye out for my son and have my mobile in case he escapes – LonAitwalker
when over ten pills a day are considered standard, and over 15 is “recommended” LonAitwalker
Having to limit fluid intake at strategic times when an accessible toilet is knowhere to be seen – CarlFThompson
When you go out with friends to a show being asked if you ‘really’ want to sit with your friends or is crip only ok – CrimsonCrip
medic read story to my son to calm him as I was loaded in ambulance. Child wants me to be ill again so he can come back – LonAitewalker
when getting together with friends who are all crips requires feats of culinary wizardry to make sure no one gets ill – LonAitewalker
when getting to where we need to be takes forever because the lift isn’t big enough for three crips, two who are in chairs – FunkyFairy22
Dust is like Kryptonite – crip_tic
Crossing the road in a diagonal type way to find a dropped curb on the opposite side. Or going on road for ages – FunkyFairy22
psuedo-acquaintance saying “oh it’s fine for YOU to eat cake, I don’t imagine you date much since you’re….you know.” – LonAitewalker
Setting security alarms off when entering & leaving shops, holding up hands & saying ‘it’s the ‘chair’ whilst going a bit red 🙁 – GentleChaos
crossing the road at a dropped kerb, to find someone parked across dropped kerb on other side – BigPawedBear
having to ask someone for help to get money out of cashpoint – BigPawedBear
getting urge to hold my cane out like a lance and joust with another powerchair user- don’t tell me I’m the only one! – LonAitewalker
asking shop assistants, “what else other than “insert product here,” do you sell? as i can’t see 2 browse the shelves – BigPawedBear
Paying for your groceries then realising u still have 2.5kg of potatoes on luggage bars of wheelchair :S – GentleChaos
The train inspectors are scared of YOU! – CarlFThompson
Being pathetically grateful for kind supermarket cashiers who fend off the impatient customers behind me & take time. – CatONineTails
Having to play “guess which lifts are broken today” when trying to get to college/work – Dannilion
Being glad your powerchair is fixed because you can go out and you want to go to Drs about a niggly thing – FunkyFairy22
Your attempts at losing weight waved away with “no one expects you to be thin, you’re in a wheelchair” (true story) – FunkyFairy22
Finding that I flip between being invisible & the most interesting thing in the world when just nipping out for a sandwich. – GentleChaos
knowing more about how “the system” works than the people who work in it. – FunkyFairy22
Done this before but… People assuming that I automatically know every other wheelchair user in the town. – GentleChaos
Being told to easy your lunch when it’s not been cut up for you and it’s out of reach anyway – Dannilion
all my friend’s theory is getting enough of us together = one “whole” person so we tackle things in groups – LonAitewalker
Having call buttons and emergency pulls that are too high to reach – JohnUK89
watching children with autism flock to son and speak secret language-talk as if they’ve known each other for years – LonAitewalker
Getting the giggles coz someone walked into a bench/lamppost/step coz looking at me not in front of them. – GentleChaos
Being told I’m “brave” for doing my grocery shopping, or something equally unexciting. – MargoJMilne
the assumption: if I can garden/paint/cook I’m not in pain. Medicine cabinet says otherwise. Bang goes a theory – LonAitewalker
My neurologist asking my opinion of recent research on my condition – MargoJMilne
People saying ‘oh you’re speedy’, ‘do u have a license for that’, ‘ooo mind my toes’when rolling down street in my ‘chair. – GentleChaos
the relief of meeting rheumy who works with bodybuilders and knows I don’t “just need to lose weight” – I outlift HIM. – LonAitewalker
old ladies in their 70’s walk ahead of me on a hill and smirk when they pass me up. Damn it. – LonAitewalker
People insisting on “helping”, usually in supermarkets with my chair, when I’ve already politely declined. – RantsfromRon
Strangers stopping you in town to ask about your chair then wondering “how do you manage the loo?” – FunkyFairy22
Complete strangers thinking they have some sort of right to ask about your medical history – MargoJMilne
Bein chased by kind people who want 2 give me a brollie & then gettin soaked whilst explainin I cant carry it – GentleChaos
Carers and others who think we will conform to their timetables – CrimsonCrip
When you mention coming off your medication (agreed w/ GP) and someone on twitter asks if its a good idea – FunkyFairy22
When you have a folder on your PC full of standard letters to deal with discriminatory service – OneOffDave
@MargoJMilne I know what u mean… It’s worse when ur at the Post Office and everyone turns around to listen…lol – PositiveaboutMS
Nice people offer to put groceries onto conveyor, you say thanks but no, they do it anyway – MargoJMilne
When you get better health advice from fellow crips on twitter than from your doctor – IncurableHippie
Your friends toddler has a dolly with a walking stick named after you – IncurableHippie
total strangers grab my son and yell at him to “behave” – ex having to step in before I throttled them – LonAitewalker
Having to take eight years to explain each of my 3 developmental disorders – Kitty_B_Good
Coming round in A&E claiming you are 18 and have no children, as your confused son looks on! – Romilagupta
not using feel-good “gift of disability” or “reclaiming” words. I’m disabled. If that makes you uncomfortable, cope – LonAitewalker
Ok, time to pass out from new meds for a while #disabilitynormal – IncurableHippie
People visibly panic when they see you with other disabled people in a group – IncurableHippie
Crossing the road at a dropped kerb, to find there isn’t a dropped kerb on other side – anjak_J
telling child to clean some lego off the floor of his room has turned into all day ordeal of meltdown refusals – LonAitewalker
Some services and facilities are so bad that complaining becomes the norm – CrimsonCrip
Convincing your friend’s brother you’re cured just because you stood up – FunkyFairy22
two hours of prep for 10-minute appt makes GP visits moot, so we skip them – that doesn’t mean we’re “better”! – LonAitewalker
People describe you as having “no social skills” because you complain often and don’t take shit – FunkyFairy22
Getting strange looks when you use your prosthesis to stop lift doors closing – OneOffDave
clicking refresh on twitter a lot because a) it’s all the social interaction I tend to get and b) it keeps me awake – LonAitewalker
You ask your PA to help you put on a party outfit – you’re not going out for 10 hours, but only have 1 care call a day – Batsgirl
The term #spoons has entered your daily vocabulary and friends have no clue what you are on about – OneOffDave
Stop The World I Need a Rest – a Disability Normal Blog post by Latent Existence
Taking longer to get ready than your teenage niece but somehow failing to look at all as if you’ve tried 😉 – GentleChaos
Changing sides of street at high speed to avoid being blessed by random preachers in Cornmarket, Oxford #wheelchairuser – GentleChaos
you’ve referred to yourself as ‘a bit crippled’ then realised you offended the able bodied person you were talking to. – StickmanCrips
being prayed at and ‘faith-healed’ by complete strangers; or kissed by homeless alcoholics with sandpaper-like faces. – Eridanus