Including characters with disabilities is one way to increase the diversity of your cast. Here are some tips for writing about disabilities:
Do your research
Do lots of research on the disability you’re writing about to look for common traits among people with that disability and to make sure that you’re not basing your character off of stereotypes that are potentially false.
If you can, find a sensitivity reader
If you can find one, sensitivity readers are a great resource as they can tell you whether or not you’re accurately portraying someone with their disability.
Don’t make the disability the only interesting thing about your character
When you’re writing a character with a disability, don’t forget to give them a personality. If their only personality trait is their disability, the character becomes one-dimensional.
@Writers - do you have any other tips for writing about disabilities?
don’t make their disability into an informed attribute
disabilities affect people in many aspects of their life, so just saying a character is somehow disabled but not showing it at all is… not it
but also
don’t make their entire story about their struggles as a disabled person
this is mostly adding to Cat’s third point, aside from their personality, their story should be about more than their disability ESPECIALLY if the author is abled or doesn’t have that same disability
there’s got to be balance between showing the disability and making sure it doesn’t steal the spotlight from the character
one of the most recent examples of disability portrayed right is in Lore Olympus with Hephaestus character
he’s a supporting character, so there’s not much about him, but so far, his appearances in the story are not about his disability while also showing it there
Though I don’t have any disabilities myself, my grandfather has MS and I have a few little tips:
This has been repeated, but it’s also an important one. A disability is different than a personality. This is not to say that a personality can not be shaped by a disability. For example, let’s say someone got in a car accident. Before this car accident, they were cheerful and positive. After this car accident occurs, and said person loss use of their legs, they might be more gloomy and glum than before. This does not, however, apply to everyone. My grandfather remains one of the most positive people I know. Before COVID, he took the city bus almost every day in the summer for fun and to talk to people.
People in wheelchairs can (sometimes) stand up. Of course, they’ll require something to lean on. It’s not impossible, is the main point.
Now, one last thing, not everyone’s disability is the same. There are different symptoms and different people experience things different ways. Not everyone is the same.
some ppl who use wheelchairs can walk, but have a chronic illness or chronic fatigue which means at times they need the wheelchair cus they don’t have enough energy/their legs are in too much pain to actually walk
on top of that, I can’t remember the name of the disorder but it is characterised by hyper flexibility, and they too sometimes use wheelchairs cus there are times when walking is too painful/exhausting/risky
basically, disabilities define and shape people’s experiences, but they don’t dictate them
Expanding on the research thing: Don’t just google symptoms.
Look up people who experience the disability and listen to their perspective.
Figure out what the stigmas are.
The best and worst parts (Yes there can be positives, even if they are in humour)
How the individual has to change their daily routines to accommodate for their disability (either intellectual, developmental or physical).
What accommodations to they expect from others? Do they receive them?
How do they deal with stigma?
How does being disabled affect any other oppressions they may face? (being poc, a woman, queer, trans, poor, ect.)
What has their experience with hospitals and medical practitioners been? Good, bad, or a bit of both?
Are they independent or do they have a carer to help them look after themselves?
Theres a lot more to consider but those a few to get you thinking. A disability affects every single part of an individual’s life, from their ruitine, to how they think, to how they react to situations and who they’re friends with. It does not dictate their personality or experiences, but it does hugely influence them
Using myself as an example
I am autistic. Being autistic has also brought me a number of other disorders, such as auditory processing disorder (apd), sensory processing disorder (spd), social and general anxiety, rejection sensitive dysphoria, body dysmorphia, trauma brought on by ableism from a young age and being forced to live in a world not designed for people like me (may sound pathetic, I know, but it’s a lot more complex than that.)
Accommodations for me could include:
Access to stim toys/stim food
Access to a setting without bright lights/loud noises
Access to ear defenders or some form of noise blockers
Tone tags for online use
Acceptance that I may need to leave a situation for any reason
Acceptance that I may go non verbal and access to other forms of communication
And probably some others that I can’t think of because currently I am not being given access to any of these accommodations.
Because I am not being given access to them, I am left in awkward situations when I go non verbal, adding to my day to day stress. I become overwhelmed easily and have meltdowns/shutdowns often. It is very hard to understand people, and I often misunderstand and make a fool of myself in the process (because I took them literally).
And a bunch of other things. All of this means I am in an almost constant state of burnout, and will remain that way until I can access these accommodations.
Regarding how much being autistic affects me, here’s another list
NT definitions of gender roles and rules don’t make sense to me. Being autistic is probably one of the reasons I am genderqueer and feel very uncomfortable with binarily gendered terms.
My facial structure, as well as my expressions and how I talk, are all affected by me being autistic. I’ve videoed myself in the past doing random things, and if I do say so myself, I looked like a baby trying to function in a teenage body suit. My eyes close randomly for lengths of time, I can’t do ‘normal’ facial expressions properly without over-exaggerating them, majority of a normal person’s “subtle” facial expressions are either nonexistant or over-exaggerated on my face.
I usually take people literally, even when others will see it’s clear that they’re lying or exaggerating/metaphor/sarcasm, ect. I’ve been the but of many jokes and pranks because of people taking advantage of it.
From a very young age I’ve forced myself to mask my traits, leading to my entire personality being a complete construction of how I think people want me to be perceived. I barely feel real half the time and I honestly don’t know who I really am.
I have used many forms of escapism in the past, from maladaptive daydreaming to reading to writing to art to music and then back to art.
I have never had a real (irl) friend
I have an abnormally high iq and think extremely logically. If something doesn’t make logical sense then it’s unlikely I will believe it unless I have been brainwashed for whatever reason
