Disability Visibility (Adapted for Young Adults): 17 First-Person Stories for Today

by Alice Wong

Anyone can become disabled at any time. We are people just like everyone else.

There are questions about how we consume media regarding disability. The word inspired is reviled by many in the disability community, who often are the subject of pity or undue praise merely for existing. But disabled people don’t exist to make abled people feel better about their abledness. There is a tendency in our culture to turn disabled people into objects of what’s known as inspiration porn.

That year, when an older boy realized that what was peeking out of the top of my jeans wasn’t underwear, he followed me around at recess calling me “Diaper Girl.” He hounded me with questions as to why I still needed diapers and constantly reminded me that only babies wore them—didn’t I know that? It was the first time I really felt like something was wrong with my body.