Post #2434055

2026-04-29 22:34 UTC

@stevo399@dragonscave.space Deaf people are always portrayed as being able to lipread in completely impossible unrealistic situations. Or if only you worked and tried harder you'd be better at hearing and lipreading. Which is why so many of us have constant concentration fatigue and there's a really high rate of anxiety, depression and fatigue conditions like fibromyalgia amongst deaf people - we physically burn ourselves out.

Replies (2)

@quixoticgeek@social.v.st 2026-04-30 00:17

@NatalyaD@disabled.social @stevo399@dragonscave.space do you have any advice for writers who want to be more inclusive with their characters, but who are not blind/deaf/disabled themselves? I don't want all my characters to be straight, white, able bodied folk. I'd like them to represent more of the diversity of the world at large.

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@stevo399@dragonscave.space 2026-04-30 00:43

@NatalyaD@disabled.social Thanks for sharing that, I truly appreciate it. I work with individuals who are deaf or deafblind, but admittedly I don't know nearly all the unique struggles you face day to day. You have a point though - even with my work experience, I'd still be inclined to believe I learned something from a book I read about someone who is deaf even if it wasn't true, because perhaps that book was the only place I'd heard a story of how they dealt with a certain situation. That's what makes these bad portrayals so dangerous.

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