I feel incredibly honoured when I get tagged in conversations about albinism, disability, visible difference, accessibility, and inclusion. A few days ago, someone tagged me and said, “Misty, come and see your people.”
And that honestly made me happy. Because yes, those are my people. People with disabilities, people with albinism, people with chronic illnesses, people with visible differences. And most importantly, people whose experiences have been ignored, misunderstood, or spoken about without them in the room.
The tags are a reminder that people are seeing all the advocacy work, but at the same time, they also remind me how much work is still left to do. There are amazing organisations championing disability rights, providing support, assistive technology, funding, healthcare, and community services. But when it comes to disability education, language, perception change, and helping everyday people understand disability better, we still need more voices. 😢
We need more educators, more advocates and more people willing to challenge assumptions and start difficult conversations. That’s why I’ve made a commitment to spend the next few years creating free disability education resources that help people learn, unlearn, and do better.
Last month, I launched Before You Say That, a free dictionary of disability-inclusive language that helps people understand the impact words can have on disabled communities. It’s available for download here:
selar.com/5r9z11ka8n
I also launched the
@IncluNorm inclusion quiz this month, an interactive disability inclusion quiz that helps people test their knowledge, challenge assumptions, and learn more about disability in a practical and engaging way. You should check it out:
inclunorm.mistyglamcompany.c…
My team and I are creating these resources because we believe that understanding is an important step in disability inclusion. But that won’t happen by accident, only through education.
So, if you’re reading this and you’ve been looking for a cause to care about, let disability inclusion be one of them. The world is changing. More people are openly identifying as disabled. More people are asking questions. More organisations are trying to become inclusive. What we need now are people willing to learn because every more accessible future starts with someone deciding that disability inclusion is everyone’s responsibility, not just disabled people’s.
Let’s keep building that future together. 💚