Promoting disability or creating discomfort?

Recently, Ability Access posted an image of a woman amputee.

Facebook decided it was inappropriate and blocked the image.

Facebook told Simon Sansome who runs the page: “You will have to understand that some people see disability as disturbing. You will have to think about it like that.”

The Facebook staffer then said, “I have never come across a page that promotes disability.”

How does posting an image of an amputee ‘promote disability’? The image is of Vicky Balch. A woman who is body confident. She was a passenger in the Alton Towers crash and is now an amputee. I think it’s an awesome image. Full of strength and beauty. It shows Vicky coming to terms with her altered body.

Facebook has apologised. Accepting it was wrong to censor the image. That Facebook originally banned the image is worrying.

Disability Labour was proud to support the protest by DPAC outside Facebook’s London HQ, #DisabilityNotDisturbing had some wonderful images on their banners.

There is often debate on websites such as The Mighty and Psychology Today about ‘inspirational porn’.

Are body confident images of disabled people positive and supportive? Or are they negative and damaging?

Many disabled people hate the ‘inspirational’ tag.

Looking at the photo and reading the information about it, being photographed was Vicky’s choice. She was happy for Ability Access to use the photo. So, what’s the problem?

To suggest that the image ‘promotes’ disability is missing the point. The photo doesn’t show amputation as a choice.

It shows that becoming an amputee doesn’t take away the person you are inside.

I’m concerned with Facebook’s suggestion that some people might find disability disturbing.

Society is slow in accepting disabled people as a different ‘normal’. For someone born with Down’s Syndrome, that’s their normal. My normal is using a wheelchair.

If that disturbs other people, can I suggest that they look at themselves to ask why they feel that way? Life is not perfect, despite the pressures of advertising and aspirational blogs. We all have daily struggles, be it at work, living with a partner or raising children.

Yes, there are people who spend thousands of pounds on plastic surgery and designer everything else. That is their choice. But when life throws you a curve ball that includes being disabled, we have two choices. We either fight with and hate our bodies and ourselves so much that we land up being angry and self-destructive. Or we accept what has happened to us and learn how to live with that.

Learning acceptance is not about giving up or giving in. It’s about saying: OK, this is where I’m at, how can I make changes to ensure I have a good life and can do the things I enjoy? Adjustment is not always easy. We may have to learn new skills, or find new ways of doing things. We may need therapy. But we can have worthwhile lives.

As part of coming to terms with a disability, some disabled people find ways of being body positive. What is wrong with a photo of a woman comfortable in her body, despite losing a limb?

When I first looked at Vicki’s picture, I didn’t notice her amputated leg. Isn’t that how people should see disability? Not the core of someone’s existence, but one of the sum of parts we all are?

Facebook decided it was inappropriate and blocked the image.

Facebook told Simon Sansome who runs the page: “You will have to understand that some people see disability as disturbing. You will have to think about it like that.”

The Facebook staffer then said, “I have never come across a page that promotes disability.”

How does posting an image of an amputee ‘promote disability’?

The image is of Vicky Balch. A woman who is body confident. She was a passenger in the Alton Towers crash and is now an amputee. I think it’s an awesome image. Full of strength and beauty. It shows Vicky coming to terms with her altered body.