A piece of advice to anyone who’s been considering, avoiding thinking about, or waffling on:
Get the fucking cane.
I am very serious. Get the cane, get the assistive device (I’m going with cane here, because simplicity, but the device you’re thinking about goes here), do it. If you’re thinking “damn, if these Symptoms get much worse, I’m gonna need to get a cane”, you already need the cane. You’ve probably been in a state that would be improved by it for a while.
I get it, though. I had other disabilities, including physical ones, prior to Getting A Cane, and I heard this advice from other people and I thought “okay, but my situation is not that bad, and I’m sure I’ll know when it’s really bad” as I lay awake half the night in pain because of a short little walk that afternoon. It turns out, I am not immune to internalized ableism either, like I’m a person in an ableist society or something.
I thought “this is gonna be a hassle, and they cost money, and people will be weird about it”, and learning to use it did take a minute, thankfully mine was pretty cheap, and yeah, some people are weird but most importantly: fuck ‘em, I did in fact need the cane. I can do a lot more now, and probably could have prevented some damage if I’d gotten it earlier and it looks cool.
Stop putting it off. Stop worrying about unpleasant people being unpleasant. You don’t have to suffer at the highest pain/difficulty/etc to be allowed to get the cane, you’re allowed to get it now. If you only need it sometimes, that’s okay.
does anyone know where i can get a cane that doesn’t look like something my great uncle would use? ya know, the boring grey ones that just scream “old person” ? or should i get a boring grey one and cover it in googly eyes?
Pic 1: A title card that says ‘basic respect for cane users’.
Pic 2: Not all cane users are: physically weak, slow, elderly. Some cane users can: run, lift heavy things, ride bikes, skateboards, etc. Cane users are not all the same.
Pic 3: Do: move out of the way for someone using a cane, give your seat to a cane user on public transport, offer to carry something for your friend or co worker with a cane, ask cane users what their access needs are, treat cane users with respect. Remember that not everyone with a physical disability uses a mobility aid.
Pic 4: DON’T: touch cane users without their explicit permission, make assumptions about whether someone ‘really’ needs their cane, give unwanted advice about someones disability, make a cane user feel bad or like they’re an embarassment. Remember: people might not use their cane full-time, you can’t know if someone is faking.
Lemme just say it again for the people in the back, GET OUT OF THE WAY OF PEOPLE WITH CANES/OTHER MOBILITY AIDS. I cannot even begin to count how many times people have made eye contact with me and then just. Continued to stand/walk into my way. Or shove me. I will hit you with my cane. And I will not be sorry.
okay fellow cane users - I’m working on a future pin design. would you like it best with a slogan, without a slogan, and follow-up: one of these slogans or a different one?
An anon requested cane user versions of Part 1! Unfortunately, I cannot find a person icon for non-elderly cane users, so I used a cane instead.
Credits:@dpargyle for his original disabled trans design and permission to create flags inspired by it, @whimsy-flags for his more eye-friendly palettes, and this icon.
[ID: the rainbow, bi, sunset lesbian, asexual, pan, aromantic, trans, non-binary, and genderqueer flags with a cane symbol in the center. the symbol color has been coordinated with the flag color scheme. for the lesbian, aromantic, trans, and genderqueer flags, the white stripe has been widened to underlay the entire symbol. for the rainbow flag, a white stripe has been added in the center behind the cane.
a banner at the bottom reads “do not interact if: ableist, anti-BLM, anti-LGBTQ+, exclusionist, cgl (as a kink), (no)map, nsfw, racist, terf/swerf, transmed, or have a problem with Mod I’s dyslexic ass using Comic Sans because he needs to read what he’s typing here.” end ID]
As someone who has arthritis in the hips and is thinking about going from a cane to forearm crutches to support both sides, how would I walk with them?
I assume it would be like I was using a cane on both sides so left leg - right arm and right leg - left arm?
I’m still uneasy with all of the stares and whispered comments when I use my cane but I know that using a mobility aid is far more important than what people think.
I just wish some people weren’t such jerks and leave us be.
I’m well aware people fuck with other people’s mobility devices. This is being purposely obtuse to the point. The point is that the general public should see this image and go “Oh, I wouldn’t do the first two so I shouldn’t do the third, either.”
If you’re going to grab, shove, or otherwise harm or interfere with someone using a mobility device you need a lot more help than a graphic on the internet to tell you you’re not a very good person.
