Salutations! Welcome to Inkwell of Disability, a health education and disability advocacy project created by a disabled cartoonist and advocate. Feel free to browse our library and resources, or even learn about us in the about section.
Please keep in mind that this website is a work in progress, and there are many sections that are still being worked on.
About Inkwell
Inkwell of Disability directly combats the infantilization of disabled adults with the chic aesthetics of the 1920s, a time of glamour, luxury, and hedonism. A sensuality and elegance that cannot be waived away or denied. For disabled people, like art, are beautiful and individual.As a health education and disability advocacy business, Inkwell creates high-quality, digital accommodation tools, ebooks, and educational materials for disabled people and their families. We seek to raise the standard of disability accommodations and education, and bring acceptance to the general public, our communities, and clinicians.Though our aesthetic is primarily inspired off of the twenties, we offer resources of many different styles to account for many different interests!
Inkwell's Specialties
While much of our advocacy work can apply to disabled people as a whole, regardless of the nature of their disability, there are specific topics Inkwell specializes in discussing, and may therefore, discuss the most.
Topics
Ableism in the United States of America
General disability terminology and accommodations (mobility aids, ADLs, medical items/terminology, and assistive technology)
Intersectional Advocacy (Queer, POC, and religious disabled people.)
Conditions
Physical Disabilities
Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome
Cerebral Palsy
Developmental
Autism
ADHD
Intellectual Disabilities
Learning Disabilities ... Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, and Dyspraxia / DCD
Psychological
Personality Disorders
Borderline Personality Disorder
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Primarily Cluster B PDs, but we can cover Clusters A and C as well.
Transient psychosis/paranoid ideation due to another cause, such as personality disorders.
Dissociative Disorders & Systems
Dissociative Identity Disorder
OSDD-1A + OSDD-1B
Unspecified Dissociative Disorder
Ethics Statement
What We Stand For...
As an advocacy project, ethics are integral to our work. They are our North Star, pointing to where we should go and what we should cover. Here, Inkwell asserts what it stands for, and what it stands against.
Support All of Us, Or None Of us!
Inkwell supports all people with disabilities, including the ones that society thinks of as “scary” or “ugly”. No disabled person deserves to be dehumanized, demonized, or infantilized on the basis of their disability. Including by other disabled people, due to lateral ableism.Disability as a whole is a minority. Some conditions have different kinds of discrimination and public perception than others. Regardless of any amount of stigma, we do not exempt any disability from our advocacy.
Disability Is Intersectional
Disability is extremely intersectional, and there exists millions of people who belong to more minorities alongside being disabled. Inkwell stands with the LGBTQ+ community, people of color, and religious minorities such as Jews, Muslims, and Indigenous Religions.
Library
This is Inkwell of Disability’s free, online health education library! To get started, choose a category and begin reading. Keep in mind that it is a heavy work in progress, and is always being updated. Some pages may lead back to the homepage since they are not yet completed.
Disorders
What is a Disability?
There is a saying that goes, "if you've met one disabled person...you've met one disabled person." That saying is completely true. All being disabled means is that you have a condition of some kind that reduces your ability to do a given thing. Anything you can think of. Perhaps your ability to walk, or even your ability to see or regulate your emotions.
Disability is also far more common than you would think. According to the CDC in 2025, 1 in 4 people in the US are disabled. [1]The origins of disability are also diverse. Some are acquired, some are present from birth, and some lay seemingly dormant until years later.
There are many kinds of disabilities you will see, and just some of them are in the categories above.
References
[1] CDC infographic
Developmental Disabilities
Developmental Disorders are conditions that affect your brain's development as you grow. These are disorders you are born with, and that you will continue to have for your whole life.
Autism
Autism is a common developmental disability that shapes the way you see the world, and how you brain processes a myriad of things. Primarily, social information, sensory information, and cognitive information. It can also affect language processing in some people.
It is also a kind of disorder called a spectrum disorder, meaning that its symptoms can present differently depending on the person. Some autistic people can live independently and are completely verbal, whereas others might need around the clock support. And there are MANY people who are in-between these.All in all, when you are discussing autism, you must understand one thing: When you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person.
Disability Terms
About Disability Terminology
Given disability is a complex thing, it also can be accommodated in many different ways. This section is all about different disability terminology, particularly in the area of accommodations.
ADLs
Mobility Aids
Canes
Crutches
Ambulatory Wheelchair Users
Stigmas
ADLs
Activities of Daily Living
To support a disabled person, you have to figure out what their disability makes them struggle with. To do this, you'd evaluate something called Activities of Daily Living, which are all of the things you need to be able to do to live independently. From taking care of your body, to getting around your home, and even keeping safe and handling yourself well as you do things like work, shopping or school. ADLs are meant to measure how well you do these things, and where you need help.
Types of ADLs
Basic Activities of Daily Living
The basic ADLs are all of the things you need to able to do to stay alive. These are essential, as they're apart of each and every day.
Movement & Transfering ... Transfers are when you move from one position to another. For example, from sitting to standing, or sitting to laying down.
Eating ... Chewing, swallowing, using silverware (doesn't include cutting or preparation.)
Bathing ... Cleaning adequately, using towels, soap, water, a bathtub/shower, using deoderant or other self care items.
Self-Care... Brushing your teeth, styling hair,
Getting Dressed ... Putting on clothes. Zipping up jackets, buttoning shirts, tying your shoes, putting on a belt, etc.
Toileting... Continence, using toilet paper, sitting in the restroom, etc.
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living
IADLs are the essential skills needed to live independently in the community
Cooking ... Preparing food, following recipes, making sure food is safe to consume
Budgeting ... Managing spending of money, paying bills on time, using credit/debit cards
Transportation ... Driving, or using public transport efficiently.
Technology Use ... Placing phone calls, sending texts / emails, keeping in touch with family and friends.
Chores ... Doing dishes, picking up after yourself, Mopping, etc.
Healthcare ... Making doctor's appointments, managing your medications,
Shopping ... picking what you want to buy, making shopping lists, completing payments
Accommodating for Activities of Daily Living
Something people often don't know that there is a pretty big difference in mental inability to do ADLs due to executive dysfunction, and physical inability due to limited range of motion.
Executive functioning (EF) is your brain's ability to prioritize tasks, sustain attention, and remember multiple steps in a task.Some people with developmental disabilities such as ADHD and Autism struggle with EF, Activities of Daily Living accounts for this, as they require different accommodations.
About Ableism
Introduction to Ableism
Ableism is the unique ignorance, prejudice, and discrimination that disabled people experience. It also refers to false ideas and stigmas that contribute to said discrimination. It can be done by able-bodied people, as well as disabled people themselves (though the exact mechanisms of how it works is different.)Disabled people experience ableism everyday, on many many levels, and in many different forms. This is, by no means, all there is to know about ableism. It is a complex discriminatory system, and therefore takes a long time to explain in its entirety. This is just an introduction to better prepare you for the sections ahead.
Types Of Ableism
Ableism is not a monolith, and presents in multiple ways. And yet, despite all of these ways being so different, all of them contribute further to the discrimination against disabled people.It's also important to note that many other minorities besides disabled folks can experience some of these forms of discrimination. This is where intersectionality comes into play. However, they are still different experiences, and have different historical roots, though they are deeply entwined.
Hostile Ableism
Hostile ableism refers to ableism that is shown overtly through aggressive, abusive, or obviously hurtful actions. This is what most people think about when they hear the word ableism. For instance...
Bullying and Harassment. Mocking, humiliating, or otherwise targeting a disabled person. For instance, making fun of facial deformities, gait, or any symptoms related to disability. Includes both verbal or physical assault, or things such as stalking and recording without consent.
Fakeclaiming. Accusing a disabled person of faking their disability for "attention", money, or other gains. Can also include trying to publicly expose the disabled person for it, or otherwise sabotaging the disabled person's personal or professional life. They may use the complexity of their disability (for example, a wheelchair user who can walk sometimes), as evidence to fuel their vitriol.
Dehumanization. Seeing disabled traits as beneath able-bodied traits, and therefore, less human. It also includes treating disabled people as though they are animal, primitive, or inherently scarier than able-bodied people. Without compassion or kindness. For example, assuming disabled people have less perception of pain, or are somehow without consciousness or feeling / "won't care" if you do something to them.
Benevolent Ableism
Benevolent Ableism is ableism centered in pitying of the disabled person, or in indirectly asserting themselves as the authority on medical and disability related issues. This is a much more discreet kind of ableism, and is most common in abled folks with good intentions and poor execution. It is less based in outright condemnation and more-so in pity. Even so, it is still ableism, and should not be taken lightly.
Tragedy Model of Disability. Thinking of being disabled as intrinsically sad, tragic, or life-ruining, and that the only way to be happy is to be able-bodied or cured. For example, phrases such as "confined to a wheelchair" ignore the reality that a wheelchair can actually make the world much more accessible to the disabled person, allowing them to go places and do things they were not able to do before.
Being disabled, by definition, has struggles due to limited ability. But it doesn't mean that we should be pitied, or thought of as helpless. Disability is a fact of life, and instead of fighting it, we should embrace and accept it as our reality, living the best lives we can.Infantilization. The idea that disabled people are inherently childish. In reality, disabled people ought to be treated as their age, regardless of their support needs. Treating disabled people this way is condescending, because it implies they cannot think for themselves or need someone to babysit for them all of the time. Some examples of infantilization include assuming a nonverbal autistic adult cannot have sexual relationships, or refusing to swear around a disabled person solely based upon their disability.
Inspiration Porn. Sensationalizing the lives of disabled people so able-bodied people can feel inspired from it. Comparing their own normal life difficulties to that of the disabled experience, which then centers the conversation on abled people rather than the disabled person.
It is often not focused on the accomplishment itself, and rather, on able-bodied people's pity and surprise that disabled folks...live actual lives. It also implies disabled people's achievements are only remarkable if there is an able-bodied person to watch it. In addition, it plays on infantilization, in that it treats disabled people as childish and pitiful.Eco-Ableism. This form of ableism comes from a logical fallacy called Appeal To Nature.. This fallacy presumes that non-synthetic goods are by default always healthier and cleaner, and that synthetic goods are unclean. It assigns moral judgements onto synthetic vs "natural".
Yes, there are problems with processed foods and medicines. But for people who need them to stay alive and live their life, the assumption they are inherently unclean implies the disability they need these goods to accommodate is unclean as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some common questions and statements regarding ableism, as well as some arguments against its denial.
Why is discussing ableism important?
The stigmas and myths around disability directly impact and harm disabled people.It is not only that these stigmas and behaviors are wrong, they actively make life harder for disabled people everywhere.Ableism is what makes legislators and institutions avoid accommodating disabled people. They're what make doctors dismiss valid health issues as drug-seeking or hypochondria.
They're what make people think its acceptable to exclude disabled peers, or use slurs they cannot and should not reclaim.They affect disabled people on every level of life, both public and private, both professional and personal. So, of course, it is important. It is vital. If someone else experiences it, we should talk about it.Talking about our struggles, and how they manifest, helps to decrease the power that these constructs have.
Why do you want want to be special / woke / oppressed?
This is an extremely bad faith interpretation, but let's answer this sincerely. Disabled people do not want to be special or receive special attention. We only want to live our lives happily, just like everyone else. We already are singled out enough for our disabilities as is. Or, we are erased and dismissed. As mentioned earlier, these are real issues that affect everyday people. And if you do not see it, that means you have the privilege of not having to endure it.This statement, and those like it, are also based an emotional manipulation tactic called gaslighting. Gaslighting is when you make someone doubt their reality or experiences by insinuating they are crazy, dramatic, or overreacting. It makes us question the legitimacy of our lived experiences by questioning if we are allowed to advocate for ourselves. (Which we are!)
Lateral Ableism
What is Lateral Ableism?
What is not known to many people is that disabled people themselves, too, can be ableist. This is a type of ableism known as lateral ableism, in which disabled people have stigma and prejudice around other disabled people.Sometimes, this can be by leveraging other disabled people to advocate for themselves. One example is the common phrase, "I'm disabled, not stupid!" What is it really saying? It's saying, "I'm disabled, not intellectually incapable!" But some people do have intellectual limitations such as those. Therefore, this statement invokes the idea of intellectual disability to compare themself against it. The phrase works by stating they are not like "those" people, which is inherently ableist because the statement's premise depends on dehumanizing people with intellectual disabilities.Another example is someone with PTSD invoking the term "narc/borderline abuse" to describe an abusive ex-spouse. "Narcissistic / Borderline Abuse" is not actually a form of abuse. Rather, it's an ableist and psychophobic thought process that uses NPD and people with personality disorders as a scapegoat for abuse.
Diagonal Ableism
This refers to ableist thoughts and behaviors perpetrated by disabled people against against people with the same condition that they have. Often, the target is of a higher support needs than the perpetrator.If you are disabled, as a disabled person, you have the experience and marginalization to speak on these topics. However, you must be mindful that there are people with higher support needs than you, and you should not risk using their support needs as a scapegoat, nor a talking point.
Aspie Supremacy
Aspie Supremacy is the idea that low-support needs autistic people are intrinsically smarter, more moral, or better people than non-autistics or higher support needs autistics. It is also tied to eugenics, a dangerous ideology based in pseudo-science. It says some people are genetically superior than others, or that certain people should not be allowed to have kids because of disability.It also includes the idea that low support needs autism is not a disability, and reduces autism's disabling nature to only societal issue rather than a real disability.
Asperger's: Why You Shouldn't Use The Term
Trigger Warnings ... Discussion of Nazism, Antisemitism, Eugenics, and Ableism.
This article was written by a future Jewish convert. If there are any incorrect statements or problems within the information provided here, please don't hesitate to tell us.This article is a work in progress.
Formerly, the DSM included a diagnosis separate from autism for lower support needs individuals without language delays. This diagnosis was called Asperger's Syndrome, and you may be familiar with its use. However, as of the DSM-5, Asperger's Syndrome is no longer an official diagnosis. All of the different support levels for autistic people were unified under one diagnosis. That being, Autism Spectrum Disorder.This writing will briefly discuss the history of the term, what you need to know about it, and why you should not use it.
Internalized Ableism