Unique by Ali Al Jabbar

Unique- by Ali Al Jabbar

Posted by: Richard Johnson

By Ali Al Jabbar

This character is made by a person who is visually impaired, autistic and has mental health issues.

Health has always been part of my life, I had no choice but to be this way.

I often notice that a lot of information surrounding LGBT /anti-Racism/ feminist causes is aimed specifically at able bodied people. Perhaps to some this makes sense, after all disabled people are part of an oppressed group, it would be all to easy to think they would automatically understand concepts of privilege and would be automatic allies to said communities.

However, disabled people, just like anyone else have varying needs and various lived experiences. For example, some wouldn’t agree with my identification as “autistic” or as a “disabled person” vs person with Autism and person with a disability.

I notice that many autistic people in particular are left out of discussions because they are seen as stubborn, unwilling to learn, or simply “assholes” when I have seen many autistic people genuinely wanting to understand and be good allies, however they are unable to access the resources.

If we are all to empower ourselves and others we must know and understand that explanations of concepts may need to be differently presented in order that everyone get a fair understanding.

Everyone learns differently and at a different pace. Our concern should not be how the person learns, or how quickly they learn, but that they are learning. Our concern should not necessarily be how good of an ally the person is now.

But how good of an ally they can become, if they are willing to learn, to make mistakes, and to strive, they are a good ally.

I will try my best to make this information accessible to as many people as possible.

[drawing shows Saoirse, a light skinned person with chin length ,bright red hair, with heavy black eyeshadow and red lips. Wearing a black top with a sign around hir neck saying “ableism is not ok”]

Saoirse is based off of me (in parts) and is a non binary character. “Hir” is a form of gender neutral pronoun.

It’s a mix of the two. So hir is a mix of his and hers and Ze is the closest thing to a mash up of she and he.