Disability Normal - The Twitter Version

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 :D - 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