The Importance of Social Media for the Disability Community
There are so many different aspects of the disability experience that able-bodied normies probably have no idea about. There were many things that no one prepared me for when I became disabled after being struck by a car traveling 48mph while crossing the street in downtown Phoenix. The extreme isolation was certainly one of them.
Image via CDC.gov
No one told me that the symptoms & limitations of my disabilities would cause me to miss out on so many things. I’m living with a traumatic brain injury, chronic pain, nerve damage & a host of other symptoms that make even completing simple daily tasks difficult. My teenaged son has stepped up in so many ways to help me do things that are now challenging or impossible for me to complete. All the symptoms that are associated with my disabilities & conditions make it very hard to get out of the house & interact with friends, or even to have them over to my home for visits.
Image via Black Girls Brunch
Where I was once very socially active, always at a brunch, exhibit opening or networking event as a highly motivated wellness professional, artist, single mom & outgoing introvert, all that came crashing to a halt as the car crashed into me, my body breaking the driver’s windshield as I was catapulted through the air 100 feet from where I was struck, landing on the cold, hard pavement. As the car crashed into my body, it also crashed into my active social life, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. If you’re curious, the driver never got out of the car to help me, but that’s a story for another day.
Two hours of reconstructive surgery from one of the top plastic surgeons in Arizona helped me not show too many visible signs of my disabilities & conditions
It’s been a long, hard journey to say the least. One that necessitated me entering counseling to help me not only deal with my severe PTSD, depression & anxiety that came about as a result of the accident, but also to help me reconcile the “old me” with this “new normal”, if indeed you could call it that. While I had friends that came to visit me in the initial time period after the accident, between the vestibular issues, the chronic pain, doctor & therapy appointments every day, all I could really do was watch woefully from my couch-bed where my family had me set up in order to care for me, as I saw my friends attending concerts, getting engaged, going on trips & doing all the things I used to do & be involved in that were now impossible.
My counselor suggested that I begin sharing about my experiences online. That was the last thing that I wanted to do. Before the accident I was active on social media, but all that stopped after the accident. The whole experience felt like one big nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. In fact, I was having nightmares every night, reliving the horrors of the accident over & over again. So the last thing I wanted to do was lay myself bare for the interwebs to see when I already felt so vulnerable.
But with the encouragement of my family, I began sharing what I was going through here on my blog & social media outlets. Many of my friends were surprised & had no idea how hard things had become for me because my disabilities are considered “invisible disabilities”, meaning you can’t necessarily tell that I’m disabled by looking at me. Many didn’t (& still don’t) know the extent of my struggles because I don’t present as someone who is struggling. But I am. In so many ways.
As I began sharing my experiences online, it became a way for me to stay connected to people that I knew, but also to meet new people. Both disabled & able-bodied. I don’t have a huge following by any means, but social media became a way for me to have interactions with others when I’m not able to go out & have those interactions IRL because of my disabilities.
I experience extreme migraines, dizziness, sensory sensitivities, cognitive issues & more due to my traumatic brain injury. Noises, lights, stimulation, all things you encounter in the world at large are things that hinder me from social activity. Accessibility is a huge issue for those living with disabilities & while the goal is of course to be able to go out into the wilds & have real interactions, sometimes, for various reasons, if you’re disabled that’s just not possible.
Having a community & interactions online can help solve the issue of isolation for individuals living with disabilities. We can chat, text, share pictures & updates & maybe even find others who are living a similar experience to ours. This is why I’m starting the Resilient Roots Support Group for parents living with brain injuries. We’re meeting monthly online on Zoom so that any parent, anywhere can participate & not be limited by location, access or ability.
So if you’re disabled, it may be hard to go online & see your friends doing all the things you wish you could be a part of, but try to reframe the encounter to recognize that you are still participating in your own way by interacting with the posts online. And don’t be afraid to share your own exploits as a person living with disability. Who knows who you will educate & inspire? It might not be IRL experiences, but I believe even online social interactions are better than no interactions at all, & through social media, you have the ability as a disabled person to curate your own community on your own terms whereas much of our lives feel like they are being lived on anything but our own terms.
So send that tweet, make that TikTok video & post that picture on Facebook, your community is waiting for you.
I’d love to connect with you! Find me on social media here:
©2024 Cazoshay Marie. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cazoshay Marie with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
D.I.D. with Cazoshay and its materials are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. All material on this blog is provided for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider for any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise or other health related program.
