This week’s disability royal commission hearing is another reminder that non-disabled people don’t see us as equal. The constant abuse and harassment from non-disabled people is exhausting, dangerous and leads to disabled people withdrawing from public and mainstream spaces. It’s a feeling I know very well.
I’ve had a stigmatised, disfiguring disability for over three decades, and this abuse and harassment is very familiar. I often say that “people have a strong reaction to how I look”, relying on euphemisms for the disgust they obviously display. When cash was still mostly used, people would flinch when I handed over money, insisting I drop it on a counter. People stare so much, on the train, on the street, in a cafe, everywhere.
