IDPWD (International Day for People With a Disability) are asking for feedback on their 2024 event. You can submit the feedback here.
I thought my freeform comments at the end might resonate with some others (after all, they’re similar to the last post I published, which people seemed to resonate with). Instead of annoying copy paste across multiple threads/posts on social media due to character count limits, I’m pasting what I wrote below.
I still have a post about IDPWD and some other topics in my drafts that I haven’t gotten around to publishing yet, so I have a lot more to say on this topic when I get the energy.
Feel free to use it as the basis for your own reply if that helps you save any spoons.
My feedback:
Too often I feel disability themes are organised with the thought of the non disabled in mind. Eg “we can do it too” … well some days I can’t. I’m not less valid because of that. If feels like it’s all about portraying us as non disabled or “just as good” which feels like an archaic response.
I guess I’d like to see a more human rights approach and currently things feel too medical or social model.
If we’re going to theme things based on what society needs to learn about disability then they need to learn that we have inherent value because we are human, not just because we can lead or be a Paralympian or “inspire” or … any qualifying variables to view us as human and worthy should be removed as disability themes.