This feature in Victoria University of Wellington's student magazine (Salient) is so good.

"Disability is not just something you experience. It’s something you are expected to perform correctly."

https://www.salient.org.nz/post/the-perfect-cripple-a-user-guide-to-being-palatable

The Perfect Cripple: A User Guide to Being Palatable

Pluto RennieThere is a correct way to be disabled. No one tells you outright. There’s no handbook, no neat list of expectations. But people recognize it instinctively—and, more importantly, they recognize when you fall short. Consistency helps. You should look the same every day. Your body should tell a clear, continuous story. Fluctuation confuses people. It invites interpretation, and interpretation invites suspicion. Last year, a friend of a friend—someone I’ve never actually spoken to—starte

Salient

@violetblue

Salient is my local, and when it's good, it's very very good.

@stuartyeates Yay, I love Salient so much! I'm bummed when I miss picking up an issue, I seem to be saving them like an old 'zine collection. They really get some great writers and artists.

@violetblue

https://tapuaka.wgtn.ac.nz/ have a complete collection, I believe, but they're not all digitised. If you want to access the physical copies, phone ahead with the date ranges so someone can bring them out of storage.

@violetblue

Thanks for that!

I tend to carry about a huge rucksack. And then people laugh. And then _they_ ask why and I _might_ tell them about some convenience I derive from using it. But when I feel I can be truthful about it, I will tell all about the hypermobility in my shoulders and the carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands: I could literally not walk a hundred yards carrying one bag on each hand or arm without developing immediate excruciating pain.

@violetblue thank you for sharing this excellent needed right now in this very moment piece.
@violetblue Oh, this is very good. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.