Caley Farinas, Author at Everyday Feminism

The image features a child with long, dark hair looking into the camera with a worried expression. Two other children are out of focus in the background, whispering to one another and laughing.

There are lots of great ways to support your disabled students – but kids are still having the painful experiences that this author suffered through in school. Here are the preventable acts of ableism that she faced.

A person sitting against a tree looks concerned as they rest their head upon their fist.

“You’re so inspirational!” How would you feel if people treated you like a support group treated this author? These phrases are everywhere, even from people who don’t mean to be ableist and hurtful – but here’s why they hurt.

The difference between how people treat this author and how they treat her sister really shows how ability privilege shows up for neurotypical people. Does this list show any privileges you didn’t know you had?

A person holds up one hand, as if to say "Stop"

Ever had a debate on whether to call someone a “disabled person” or a “person with disabilities”? It’s not a problem that there’s a debate – but lots of abled people are speaking over disabled people. Here are some common things they say, and the simple solution to help.

Posts by Caley Farinas

4 Ways Ableism in My Elementary School Left Me Completely Traumatized

15 Common Phrases That Are Way More Ableist Than You May Realize

7 Everyday Ways Neurotypical People Are Privileged – And Often Don’t Even Know It

5 Reasons Why We Police Disabled People’s Language (And Why We Need to Stop)