Some of the worst ableists aren’t people who never experience a disability. The worst ones are the ones who experienced the condition for a while, but recovered and now think they have somehow found the “cure” when doctors and researchers haven’t.
“I was just like you, but I got over it, so you can too if you just do what I tell you to!”
“I got depressed after my cousin died but I did yoga / meditation and Positive Thinking and now I’m better!”
…yes, you had situational depression, the kind that’s a normal reaction to sad things happening and would still have gone away if you just spent a month not washing your hair, because situational depression goes away. Maybe you did speed up the process but still, it would have gone away on its own. Clinical / chronic depression is not the same thing and doesn’t just go away, and also can’t be cured with yoga / meditation and Positive Thinking (though both can be good tools in a depression-management strategy).
You broke your arm, comparatively, vs. someone who’s missing an arm. What you did to help yourself heal might also help them manage their disability, but it won’t magically give them a new arm.
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Thoughtfulfangirling 