Editor’s note: This archived Ask Aimee column preserves Aimee’s December 2021 selection of disability Instagram accounts. Descriptions reflect the original column; editorial updates are marked below. Posting activity may have changed.
Jump to the seven accounts or read Aimee’s reply to a parent below.
Dear Aimee Abled-Mom of A Disabled Kid,
I don’t want things to be hard for my kid. It’s just not fair that this happened. I don’t want to be ableist, but, like, isn’t that just the way things are in the world? When I try to explain how hard everything is for us and how special his needs are, I keep saying the wrong thing and using the wrong words, and that makes me not want to open my mouth at all.
Signed,
Censored
Dear Censored,
I know how you feel. I spent a long time in grief and anger over my kiddo’s diagnosis. A really long time. I was deep in “special needs parenting,” and then I met two disabled people who set me on the path to understanding that what I needed to do for my child was different than what I was doing for myself.
I was mourning the death of a child I never had: a non-disabled child who would go on to live a life I’d imagined. But the truth was, that child had never existed. My daughter was exactly the same person she was the day before she was formally diagnosed. It was me who needed to change to be the right parent for the child I actually had.
But it didn’t happen overnight. It’s still happening. And it wasn’t some internal thing. I learned from disabled people. Now I have disabled friends. I read disabled people’s books. I listen to their speeches, and enjoy their art. And I follow them on social media. So should you. And you’ll learn more, too.
Here’s a list of people you should be following on social media right now if you aren’t already.
Aimee’s seven disability Instagram accounts
1. Sonya Rio-Glick
Sonya Rio-Glick. Sonya describes herself as queer and disabled and striving for a more caring world. She is a dancer and a disabled activist, and she is someone everyone should know and listen to.
Read Sonya’s writing and projects.
2. Bianca Riedmann
Bianca Riedmann. She has ALS and raises awareness not only about ALS but about degenerative disease and the increasing need for accessibility. A lot of her content is in German but much of it is translated and all of it is worthwhile.
Read Bianca’s writing at andererseits.
3. Erin Clark
Erin Clark. Erin is a Canadian writer and performer. She is super sexy and outspoken. Erin is also the author of If You Really Love Me Throw Me Off The Mountain. Just follow her now, okay?
4. Andrew Gurza
Andrew Gurza. He describes himself as a disabled awareness consultant and disabled content creator. He talks openly about his body and about the desexualization of disabled people.
Editor’s update: The profile link now uses @andrewgurza6, listed in Andrew’s CanvasRebel interview.
5. Melissa Blake
Melissa Blake is one amazing human who turned responding to nasty comments online into being a viral social media influencer, and now she’s got herself a book deal. She is a disability activist, blogger, and writer.
Editor’s update: Melissa’s book Beautiful People: My Thirteen Truths About Disability was published in March 2024.
6. Nina Tame
Nina Tame is a disability advocate, writer, and content creator. She talks about life as a disabled person and as the parent of a disabled child.
7. Rebekah Taussig
Rebekah Taussig is a writer who posts, as she puts it, mini memoirs and photographs narrating life from her ordinary, resilient, disabled body. She wrote a book, too, called Sitting Pretty. It’s a great read.
Don’t take my word for it. Let these folks and their disability Instagram accounts speak for themselves.
Love,
Aimee
More from Ask Aimee
- My disabled daughter isn’t your inspiration porn
- How to answer children’s questions about wheelchairs
Browse all Ask Aimee columns or explore Disability Culture & Identity.
