Taking Control of the Narrative

Disabled creators tell their own stories

I don’t remember who shared Mel Baggs’ YouTube video In My Language with me back in 2007. But I do recall how it made me feel ashamed about my own obliviousness.

Mel Baggs, who is no longer with us, was an autistic blogger with other intersecting identities. A through line in their writing concerned how non-disabled advocates, associations, and parents too often spoke on behalf of the disabled people or children they were said to represent.

These individuals communicate differently, and so they are assumed to have no voice of their own.

I’m going to count myself among those ignoramuses. I had even worked with nonverbal autistic kids in the early 2000s. But just because they didn’t respond to me in the ways I expected them to, it never dawned on me that many could understand everything that was being said to and about them.

My Montclair State University students have learned this semester that when it comes to media representation, people with disabilities were often left out of the conversation. And so, they rarely had the chance to tell their own stories. Non-disabled actors, directors, and journalists did the speaking for them.

Even though these undergrads don’t know a time in which they weren’t ensconced in online culture, I explained that it really wasn’t that long ago when the disability community started taking back control of the narrative through social media.

These creators hold the media accountable. They push for more accurate depictions of disability in television, film, and the news.

I’ve shown my class how some influencers use their platforms to counter journalistic tropes that praise individuals for “overcoming” their disability.

They counter the assumption that people with disabilities are asexual.

And when it comes to movies, disabled creators offer valuable critiques, including on the film Music, which advocates say got autism wrong in many ways.

I think Mel Baggs would’ve been proud of that one.

I’m no expert on all of the creators, disabled or not, on social media. But Beth Haller is.

Her book Disabled People Transforming Media Culture for a More Inclusive World is a must-read.

Tell me about some of the disability social media influencers you follow and I might share them in an upcoming post.. Get in touch by replying to this newsletter.