Disabled people reveal annoying things others do when trying to

In an Ask Reddit thread that invited disabled people to describe their annoyances, more than 4,000 comments were gathered about how able-bodied people can end up being the opposite of supportive when trying to help. For example, many described how they were unhappy with being called an ‘inspiration’ or ‘brave’, as they felt it was patronising to be ‘praised’ for doing normal everyday things.

Another common complaint among those commenting on the thread was that people offering to help would often not take ‘no’ as an answer, persisting and assisting whether this was welcome or not. One person in particular commented that while they loved being helped, they always appreciated it when people asked first, as the majority of the time they were happy continuing what they were doing on their own.

'I don't want to be your inspiration, I want to be your next door neighbour’

Similarly, a number of disabled people and elderly stairlift users described their irritation at people taking control of their wheelchairs, likening the situation to asking an able-bodied person if they would like to be carried up a hill. ‘To most people, no matter how tired, that would be pretty damn weird and infantilising.’

An unforeseen number of people also expressed how they had previously been accused of faking their disability, especially when it came to using disabled parking spots. Also, disabled people who relied on mobility devices such as scooters also found that random people would sometimes suggest diets or losing weight.

According to an article on the Daily Mail, all 4,000 comments were made in the space of just one day, showing that there were many pet peeves of the disabled. Hopefully, this will now raise awareness of the issues that can be faced by disabled people, and will prevent able-bodied people from being potentially patronising in future.

Image Credit: Dominik Golenia (Flickr.com)

This content was written by Emily Bray. Please feel free to visit my Google + profile to read more stories.