Josey Pickering
Bio
Autistic, non-binary, queer horror nerd with a lot to say.
Achievements (8)
Stories (331)
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It’s okay to say Disabled
July is Disability Pride Month and on the eve of this years Disabled Pride Month, I’ve got a few things to say. I am disabled. I’m not special needs. I am not handicapable. I am disabled. Not some kind of fluffy word filler because you can’t bring yourself to say it. Disabled is not a dirty word, it’s not contagious. I see it often with parents of disabled children who are not disabled themselves. All they are teaching their children is that saying the word disabled is almost as dirty as saying a cuss word and that we should sub out for something softer and gentler. They act as being disabled makes someone less than, and imply that being disabled is something you just can’t say. How can you advocate for your children who are disabled, if you can’t even say what they are? I am both a wheelchair user and autistic. There are times where I will explain to someone that I am autistic to explain the way that I talk or my behaviors, and I will be met with something like that’s not all you are! You don’t look autistic! Or some other sort of comment that they think is a compliment when really it’s just an ableist micro aggression. Being autistic is a primary part of who I am and if you strips that part of me, I would not be the same person at all. Telling someone that their disability does not define them is not the type of compliment you think it is when a disability is often a part of how they function and exist within society.
By Josey Pickering2 years ago in Humans
No, she’s not my mother!
It’s inevitable. I’ll go through my notes after a doctors appointment and someone will have written, “mom/mother said.” My wife is not my mother, seems like a strange thing to say to your doctor’s office, but it’s become something of the norm for my partner and I. I’m autistic and deal with intense bouts of social anxiety, especially with strangers. I have a long list of comorbities and other illnesses and see a varied medical team in a regular basis. However with every office and new nurse or doctor I see, I’m met with the same assumptions. My wife must be my mother and therefore is my parent and caretaker. Some might just laugh this off and think it’s funny, but when it happens to you all the time… it gets old very quick. We always introduce ourselves as spouses to anyone on my medical teams, and yet it still continues to happen.
By Josey Pickering2 years ago in Pride
Parahoy Ahoy!
My father was right. There was a peace in the middle of the ocean like no other. A chance to look at night skies unblemished by light pollution. Just a pure net of darkened hues pinned up by stars of various luminosity and size. It was magic I’d never truly experienced before. There, accessible from my own balcony, were both the lullaby of ocean waves and sky full of stars to wish me to sleep. He told me stories about nights at sea, but he didn’t mention how beautiful it was to wake up to a morning sky over a calm ocean. There was a peace I needed waking up each day at sea, and that peace is part of why going on a cruise with my best friends will always be my favorite vacation.
By Josey Pickering2 years ago in Wander
