For clarification's sake btw no my name is not Dimitri that's the name of the oc in the project's art ☠️ Made this piece earlier but I have a lot more to say about the topic because oh boy if anything fills me with primal rage it's ableism so thought I'd talk about it more here So for those who don't know me, I'm Quill, an artist who you might have seen from things like soas, lbm, etc. I also happen to be someone whose (extremely likely to be) disabled. I say extremely likely because I haven't gotten a diagnosis yet, however I am pursuing one and literally all signs point to me having the disorder that causes me to be disabled. I won't talk too much about what's going on with me since I plan on making a project on my main once I get the diagnosis, but in simple terms my sleep-wake cycle is longer than 24 hours, which is what the sleep-wake cycle for most people is. What does this mean for me? Well it means that my sleep schedule is constantly shifting, I have zero bedtime routine unless I want to go crazy from stress, I'm awake longer than 16 hours and sleep longer than 8 hours, etc. So as you can see, my circadian rhythm really really dislikes me and this is how it's been for kind of my whole life, it's just that only in the last few months I've began realizing that what's been going on with my sleep is an actual thing and not just me being weird. But anyways with context out of the way, onto the rant. I've noticed that a lot of times people will minimize someone's disability just because it's not visible or because it isn't affecting every moment of their life in every way possible. And I just can't put into words how like?? angry that makes me?? Just because you can't visibly see that someone is disabled or that they aren't in constant 24/7 pain does not mean that their disability is any less serious or debilitating. Take me for example: because of my messed up circadian rhythm, I am unable to have a schedule or routine (which is something that I need most days), I have had to cancel out on plans with irl friends multiple times because my sleep schedule wasn't in line, and I will likely be unable to hold down a job that isn't self-employed unless I have accommodations. And to see people think that 'oh you don't have it as bad as THIS other disabled person' or say 'it's not that serious, just deal with it' is really, REALLY disheartening and just fills me with so much anger man. Heck, 'subtle' ableism like this is why I'm unable to get a diagnosis, which is something that I'll NEED if I ever want to hold down a job in the future. If you think these kind of things or try to pit the struggles of disabled people against eachother, then please educate yourself a bit more. I'm not mad at you specifically or attacking anyone in specific, I'm just really really tired of hearing things like this.
