{"id":24398,"date":"2024-10-21T15:31:16","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T04:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.relationshipsnsw.org.au\/?p=24398"},"modified":"2025-04-11T17:01:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T07:01:11","slug":"how-to-support-disabled-loved-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.relationshipsnsw.org.au\/it\/blog\/how-to-support-disabled-loved-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Come supportare la persona cara disabile (senza l'abilismo)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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One in five Australians is disabled, yet despite how common it is, it can be hard to be disabled and navigate relationships, from your friends to family members, colleagues, or romantic relationships.<\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The truth is: it can be pretty hard to be disabled, whether it’s physical, mental, sensory, or invisible, Disabled people face a lot of barriers, plus rampant stigma and ableism. In many cases, people internalise these negative messages and they may not even realise the harm their pre-conceived notions of disability might cause, especially to their disabled loved ones. That\u2019s why it\u2019s vitally important to learn\u2014or rather, unlearn<\/em> ableism.

That\u2019s why I\u2019m writing this article. I\u2019m Zoe Simmons, a disabled journalist, speaker, author and advocate. I have multiple mental and physical disabilities, including ones I\u2019ve developed as an adult. And I\u2019ll be honest: I\u2019ve had some pretty awful experiences with people who care about me because of their ableism and stigma. So, I\u2019m here to shed light on the disabled experience, smash misconceptions and ableism, and share how you can better support the disabled people in your life.<\/p>

You might notice <\/span>I’ve<\/span> referred to myself as a disabled person, rather than a person with disability – and <\/span>I’ve<\/span> done that deliberately. As a society, <\/span>we’re<\/span> often pressured to distance ourselves from disability. That we should see the person, and not their disability, and use person-centred language (like the term “people with disability”). But, in my perspective, this notion to distance <\/span>ourselves<\/span> from disability is quite ableist. It suggests disability is something that should be distanced, and this rhetoric is often unhelpful: I need you to see and recognise my disability, and I need you to consider my access needs.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

That’s<\/span> why I prefer identity-first language, like disabled person<\/span> – <\/span>because I am a disabled person, an<\/span>d <\/span>that<\/span>‘s<\/span> no<\/span>t <\/span>a bad thi<\/span>ng<\/span>. For me, it reclaims a stigmatising word into an identit<\/span>y <\/span>I<\/span>‘m<\/span> proud of, and while every disabled person has different thoughts<\/span>, <\/span>I<\/span>‘d<\/span> say identity-first language has become the preference in a vast number of disability advocac<\/span>y <\/span>spaces<\/span>,<\/span> especially in the youth sector<\/span>. <\/span>It<\/span>‘s<\/span> the same with the autistic community preferring to be called autistic, rather than a person with autism. W<\/span>e <\/span>can<\/span>‘t<\/span> take off our disabilities like we could take off a handbag<\/span>: <\/span>it<\/span>‘s<\/span> part of us.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
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View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div>
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A post shared by Zoe Simmons (@somethingbeginningwithz)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>