Disability representation in tabletop roleplaying games is one of those areas where you might not expect competing access needs to crop up, but there’s a subtlety to it that a lot of folks overlook.

On the one hand, it’s absolutely reasonable to expect this type of representation to be reflected in the game’s mechanics as well as its worldbuilding, particularly in systems where the rules are fine-grained enough that you’d intuitively expect the particulars of what you can do and how to be mechanically significant.

On the other hand, there are levels of mechanical engagement to consider. In brief, some games give players many discrete “rules toys” they’re expected to engage with in order to effectively play the game, while others provide few. Even within a single game, how much rules engagement is expected may vary from character to character; this is particularly the case in class-based RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, where one player may be wrangling a list of spells as long as their arm, while another player’s only mechanically significant decision from turn to turn is which monster to hit with their sword.

The critical insight is that supporting varying levels of mechanical engagement at the same table is a feature, not a bug. Some players prefer to have many rules toys to play with, and some players prefer to have few. It’s a good thing when a system can accommodate both of these players without giving either one the shaft in terms of spotlight time or ability to make mechanically significant contributions.

Now, here’s the kicker. When you’re implementing your rules for disabled characters, you’ve gotta ask yourself: am I creating a situation where disabled characters are categorically more complicated to play?

And if I am, is this warranted?

This is not, of course, to say that having crunchy rules for representing disabled characters is never a good idea. You’ve just gotta be mindful of how you go about doing it, and what the results of your approach are going to look like when the dice hit the table. Somewhere out there, there’s a disabled player who’d love to see themselves represented in the rules, but who also really just wants to hit things with their sword!

(source)

From a post by Mandy Pursley, with Ryan Pursley:

Selma Blair rocked a cane at the Oscar’s and I am so damn proud of the representation. She’s kicking ass for her first public appearance since her MS diagnosis.

Another reason why representation matters.

[Image description: A screenshot of a tweet by @DynamicWebPaige written in black text on a white background. The tweet reads:

“*standing in line for pho tonight, behind a dad who’s trying to explain Alzheimer’s to his son*

boy: “But grandma forgot me!” dad: “Remember Dory? She forgot things, too, right?” boy: “...yes” dad: “But did that mean she loved Nemo any less?” boy: *beaming* “no!”

This is followed by two photos of a person with brown skin and black hair crying. In the first photo, the person is leaning on their hand, and in the second photo they have put their hand over their mouth as they continue crying.

End ID.] 

Please stop excluding disabled people in your posts about minorities who are being affected by the election results. Disabled people in the US are being affected too and we matter.

People have no idea how terrified every disabled person is. I’m not going to minimize any other group rightfully terrified; I just want people to know there’s a group you’re all forgetting. Republicans have been trying to destroy social security forever. Riled up old folks, a key part of their base, have stopped them so far. But those were “reasonable” republicans like we had 10 years ago. Pre-tea party “burn it all down!” ideological zealots.

Now? There’s nothing to stop them. Except all of us. In the same way we have to protect LGBTQ, women, racial groups, we MUST protect the disabled. Because dismantlement of social security, Medicare and Medicaid are LETHAL to the disabled. Who already constantly struggle financially. If they cut benefits 1%? 5%? 10%? Well when you’re struggling on $800 or $1200 a month… do the math.

And we disabled? We literally can’t march in protest. Because most of us are, well, not able! So we’re dependent on you all to help keep us alive. Because while Republicans might claim empathy for us, they’re priorities are monetary. They’ll couch it in “cutting waste” or making social security stable “longer” or giving power to “states” to run things. “Efficiency” and such are the things they’ll pretend to be seeking. But its just code.

So please, please, help the disabled just as we help LGBTQ, just as we help racial minorities, just as we help women. We’re in this together. But the disabled can’t even go protest in the streets or march on Washington or any of that. We need you all to be our bodies, while we use our only tool: our voices.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/paul-ryan-says-medicare-privatization-is-on.html

THIS. IS. EXACTLY. WHAT. WE’RE. TALKING. ABOUT!

Watch: Gaten Matarazzo opens up about living with cleidocranial dysplasia — and the massive rejection he’s faced

Romantic love does not cure a mental illness

if a character is disabled in canon then they better be disabled in all the au’s you write. that super advanced robotic arm is now a realistic prosthetic arm. they are still in that wheelchair. 

**not just visible physical disabilities either! respect canon chronic, mental, and other invisible illnesses.

okay, i’m just putting this out here because it needs to be said and i’m sick of letting the bullshit train continue when i could help stop - or at least bring attention to - it. i have a friend who is diplegic and therefore uses a manual chair (her twin was also quadriplegic and in a motorized chair) and when we watch movies with wheelchairs in them, we like to critique the designs.

do you know why mcavoy couldn’t/can’t drive his motorized wheelchair? BECAUSE THE FUCKING WHEELS ARE ON THE WRONG WAY. HANK MCCOY, WHO IS SUPPOSEDLY A “GENIUS”, DESIGNED THE WHEELCHAIR SO THE BIG WHEELS ARE ON THE FRONT AND THE SMALL WHEELS ARE ON THE BACK.

LOOK!

LOOK AT THIS ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT. DO YOU KNOW WHY HE CAN’T DRIVE IT? THE SMALL WHEELS ARE AT THE FRONT BECAUSE THEY ARE SMALL AND THEREFORE ALLOW FOR LOTS OF FINE CONTROL, AND THE BIG WHEELS ARE AT THE BACK BECAUSE THEY OFFER POWER. WHEN THE BIG WHEELS ARE ON THE FRONT IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO CONTROL WHERE YOU ARE GOING. IT’S LIKE WHEN YOU WALK BACKWARDS ON A BIKE AND TRY TO STEER STILL WITH THE HANDLEBARS. I SAT BACKWARDS ON MY FRIEND’S MANUAL CHAIR AND TRIED TO WHEEL MYSELF. IT WAS LIKE COMPLETELY REWIRING MY MOTOR SKILLS EVERY SECOND I WAS MOVING. IT. IS. BULLSHIT. AND ALL OF CHARLES’ CHAIRS ARE LIKE THIS!!! HANK!!!!! WTF!!!!!!!

ALSO. Charles would have THE WORST backpain from that stiff-ass unnecessary fuckin metal backrest that goes all the way up. YOU KNOW HOW PEOPLE’S BACKS GET UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN SITTING FOR HOURS ON A LONG PLANE OR CAR RIDE???? YOU KNOW THAT FEELING??? THAT FEELING IS THIS CHARLES’ LIFE, OKAY. HIS BACK HAS TO BE UNNATURALLY STRAIGHT ALL THE TIME. THIS CRITIQUE IS TAKEN FROM MY FRIEND’S EXPERIENCE BECAUSE SHE ALSO HAS A HARD BACK CHAIR AND HAS BEEN TOLD SHE’S GOING TO HAVE AWFUL BACK AND SHOULDER PROBLEMS BECAUSE OF IT. YET HARD BACKS ARE STANDARD AND SLING BACKS - LIKE THE ONE I’M GOING TO SHOW YOU IN A SECOND - ARE NOT! THIS IS BECAUSE THE WHEELCHAIR-GETTING SYSTEM IS COMPLETELY BROKEN AND IT’S SOMETHING YOU SHOULD REALLY CARE ABOUT BUT IT IS A RANT FOR ANOTHER DAY). THE POINT IS, CHARLES’ BACK IS ONE HURTIN’ UNIT IN THIS CHAIR I GUARANTEE YOU. HE OBVIOUSLY DOESN’T NEED IT FOR TRUNK CONTROL. HE HAS AMAZINGLY FREE RANGE OF MOVEMENT ABOVE HIS HIPS. THIS CHAIR IS  B U L L S H I T. HE CAN’T DRIVE, HE CAN’T SIT UP IN A COMFORTABLE WAY. POOR BABY IS H U R T I N G  but right, Hank’s ~~a genius~~

In contrast, look at this chair!

Look at those tiny-ass wheels on the front! The user of this could spin ON A DIME. It’s Nice as Fuck. Look at that back. (Okay I’m not 1000% certain it’s a slingback) but it doesn’t go all the way up the user’s back! That’s some free-range-of-movement-let-your-spine-do-almost-anything-it-wants-shit right there. Since Charles pretty clearly has full use of his trunk in the movies, this would make much more sense. Also, Ann (friend) and I really don’t see why he would want an electric wheelchair when he clearly could have a manual one that allows for even more control. 

AND OKAY, all wheelchairs should be specific to their users. Some people need more back support. In Ann’s quadriplegic brother’s chair there was a neck brace and little wing things on the side that came out and clamped around his body. Some people’s foot rests need to go out like Charles’ does (whether or not he requires this is kind of foggy, espc. since the overall design is so. asinine.). Some need their footrests to be more in like the orange chair. Some people get tilted wheels, some people don’t. (Also the process for deciding this is bullshit - on government insurance they will only build your chair with the assumption that you will never leave your house and therefore it’s almost impossible to get ‘add ons’ like sling backs and tilted wheels and under-the-seat brakes WHICH SHOULD BE STANDARD, AGAIN, BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T HAVE THEM YOU COULD HAVE MORE MEDICAL ISSUES DOWN THE ROAD OMG THIS SYSTEM IS SO BROKEN). 

But I think we can ALL fucking agree that your wheels should go on the goddamn correct way so you can, you know, steer. And that maybe your chair should be designed more like a mobility assistance device than a fucking 1860′s gentleman’s club wingback for no goddamn earthly reason.

SHIT this stuff gets me riled up.

wow this is really interesting and makes a lot of sense! New headcanon is that Charles only uses the ridiculous X-chair when he’s teaching a class but the second he has spare time he settles into a wheelchair like the one below and just goes “aahhhhhhhh”

@spiftynifty is absolutely right, I was about to criticise his wheelchair as well, but then I noticed that he uses a completely different one when he is actually outside with Hank and Summers brothers (sorry for super bad quality)

Let me reblog this with an addition because YOU SHOULD STILL ABSOLUTELY CRITICIZE HIS WHEELCHAIR. Yes, he uses the manual wheelchair outside. Wanna know why? 

Regular motorized wheelchairs are REALLY REALLY heavy. Charles’ motorized chair, even if its a light weight alloy, is made ENTIRELY out of metal. It’s probably too heavy for wheeling through gravel and across the lawn. He would sink. Also, let me re-iterate, ITS WHEELS ARE CONSTRUCTED ENTIRELY TOO POORLY TO HAVE ANY CONTROL WHATSOEVER. THE *WHEELS* ARE GODDAMN METAL, IMAGINE WHEN ITS ICY OUTSIDE. YEAH. YEAH, IT’S NOT GOOD. And when it’s not icy and he’s trying to wheel across the grass with those stupid-ass wheels – into the pond he goes. Also, Hank put the motor like one fucking inch off the goddamn ground so when the HEAVY WHEELCHAIR inevitably SINKS………. Yeah. Charles is up the creek without a paddle.

As for this manual chair, it is also subpar. Although the wheels are mercifully in the right place, it looks too small for him. The wheels need to come up higher so that when he wheels himself, the rim grips are right there. Also, his arms should be able to go back pretty far on the wheels. Where they are now, you can only get a little bit behind your hips (again, speaking from experience). The high back on this chair AGAIN restricts his movement in this aspect. Charles probably will have shoulder pain that may result in surgery down the road with this chair (because it looks SO MUCH like Ann’s chair and that’s exactly what Ann has been told will happen to her). 

Second of all: I understand you’re just trying to make canon work and are not being bad people (please believe me, I know this), but absolutely no disabled person should have to switch chairs for mobility purposes multiple times a day. These chairs should be built for every day needs. Is wheeling on carpet a bitch with a manual chair? YOU BETCHA! Easy fix: take away the rugs; it’s Charles’ house. Is it more exhausting to go up hills in a manual? Oh my god, I don’t know how people do it, it is the worst. But maybe that’s a struggle that should be shown, instead of magically having him transfer to a new chair whenever a new problem arises? Think: would you like to cart around 47 different mobility devices that you would have to transfer in and out of just because your house and/or your chair, is not built for your life convenience? Maybe they should just build the chair better. It is a part of Charles and it always will be. BUILD. IT. BETTER. Charles is lucky enough to be a multimillionare with his own lab/engineer to build chairs for him. Hank is 100% capable of making a chair that would defy any disabled person’s wildest dreams. Except…. it’s apparently more important that we just make the chair “look cool”. Never mind that 1. It doesn’t, 2. WHEELCHAIRS THAT WORK FOR DISABLED PEOPLE ACTUALLY CAN LOOK COOL TOO!! WHAT A CONCEPT.

I am just sick and tired of the way disabled people are portrayed in film and media 99% of the time. Wheelchairs are not sick gadgets to do whatever the fuck you want with. They are actual mobility devices that millions of people use, and truthfully representing the lives of those people is important. And hey, wheelchairs are fucking cool! They don’t need art direction to make them be chill! They just need good design, that again, reflects the ACTUAL LIFE the character lives. These are MOBILITY ASSISTANCE DEVICES. They are their legs. It is completely impractical and inconsiderate to think that a disabled person should just hop from chair to chair whenever the need arises.

Well, that was almost a spiritual experience. Thank you for that, madneto. I learned a ton from your righteous wrath.

Do you have one arm OR are Romani & want some $$$ for reading books?

Laura Silverman, YA author of LANDLOCKED (coming 2017 from Sourcebooks) and overall great person, is looking for a sensitivity reader.  contact her at [email protected] if interested

Hillary Monaghan, NYT bestelling author THE AWESOME, DEAD LITTLE MEAN GIRL and many more, is also looking for a sensitivity reader. contact her at  [email protected] if interested

A sensitivity reader is someone that basically just reads an unpublished book and tells the writer whether they’re being offensive. Basically a beta. With pay. 

PLEASE PLEASE REBLOG THIS! 

hello pls reblog this you are directly supporting marginalized ppl and disabled ppl earning cash money cash cash money for a good cause representation matters

Max makes me so very happy because he’s clearly a PTSD survivor (possibly a neuroatypical one) whose point in the movies is NOT to be the “from a disabled guy to a hero overcoming all challenges” -character. The movies represent him as an awesome badass and still doesn’t hide the fact that he’s battling some serious mental health issues. People like Max (and me) don’t usually get represented in media that positively and honestly.

Can’t See Sh*t - An Artist Loses Sight and Gains Vision.   

This is a documentary my brother made about his friend Brendan Patrick.

Brendan is a blind artist. Through complications of cystic fibrosis and medical ailments, he no longer has his eyesight.

In order to get this film out there, they are doing an indiegogo fundraiser with various perks depending on how much you donate. Their goal is $50,000 and every little bit helps.

Brendan’s health is deteriorating and they would really like him to be able to experience the film’s premiere.

If you can help, that’s awesome. If you can’t, please reblog this post.

Thank you!

They’re only at 5% of their goal with about a month to go (as of 10 May)! Please signal boost!

If you're pissed about Marvel neglecting Clint Barton's deafness in the comics and making him a "normal hearing person" in the movies then reblog.

Seems like barely anyone even cares about the clear and blatant ableism in the movies

My cousin is 75% deaf and losing what he has rapidly. He’s also 7 years old. I remember the day he came up to me with his flurry of hands and slurred speech because everyone was buying his brother spider man stuff and he didn’t have a super hero like him. And I remember leaning in front of him, pulling his hearing aids out and signing the best i could to him about Hawkeye being deaf, and how he was still a super hero and his deafness didn’t make him any less. Granted, it was choppier than that because my signing isn’t spectacular. But his big eyes lit up and he went off running to his dad about Hawkeye. And when he saw the movie, he was so excited, he thought Hawkeye would be signing in the movie. And when he wasnt, when He barely had any lines and when he was hearing, it broke his heart.

Dont tell me ableism isn’t a big deal, or that representation doesn’t matter. Deaf Hawkeye made that little boy feel accepted and happy and the movies stole that from every deaf little boy and girl.

THIS. THIS IS WHY DEAF HAWKEYE IN THE MCU WAS/IS IMPORTANT TO US DEAF/HOH FANS

Bryan Fuller will not rest until every single character has a cane.

if you’re disabled and have never seen the show push girls i highly recommend it! it’s on netflix and it’s about four women who are in wheelchairs, one is a dancer and one is an aspiring model and it’s really good!

Yeah congrats. (Still sick and tired of actors winning statues for playing roles of people with a dissability. )

Let’s get something straight: Stephen Hawking has chronic illness. He is disabled BY his chronic illness. People who are chronically ill are often too sick to work, let alone able to put in the long hours to act in a movie. A disabled actor who isn’t chronically ill playing a chronically ill character would not be any better than an able-bodied actor playing that character. Calling for just any disabled actors to play ill characters is like calling for Hispanic actors to play black characters: they’re two different demographics & two completely different experiences. So since it’s NOT POSSIBLE for the vast majority of chronically ill people to actually represent ourselves through acting or writing or any other intensive projects, I am perfectly happy for the best actor, whatever their bodily condition, to represent me & people like me, and I’d personally like to just be able to celebrate the fact of chronic illness being represented at all without hearing the larger disability community pitch a fit over it every time.

ALSO this movie is specifically about someone with a PROGRESSIVE chronic illness, and follows that progression from when he’s just starting to be symptomatic and is basically able-bodied through to when he is disabled by his illness, so, ONCE AGAIN, no, any disabled actor could not play him, a wheelchair-bound actor could not play him, because that gradual decline from abled to disabled is a HUGE part of the chronic illness & especially chronic progressive illness experience and I am so fucking happy to see it actually represented in a major movie. But please, by all means, find me a currently-working actor who looks reasonably like Stephen Hawking and has a diagnosed disabling chronic illness and who could have done a better job than this actor. Please. Make my day.

TLDR: STFU, you’re wrong.

Hey, I am just sick of movies about disabled people being used as inspiration porn for the abled people. Do you realise how many actors have won oscars for acting like they were disabled? It is like a really good acting move to take these sort of movies on, just so you get a decent shot at an oscar.

I am sure they could not have used an actual disabled actor, how much I actually would want that. But my comment was more inspired by me being angry at the oscar choosing commitee.

Would it be better if playing a disabled character was a career-killing move? If no actors, writers, directors, producers, etc. would ever consider even touching with a ten foot pole a story about a disabled person? Would you be happy if there were no stories about disabled people, no representation at all, if we were just erased from all media knowledge because no one would see any benefit in depicting our lives? Because, newsflash, making movies is a business, and people generally only make business decisions that they think will benefit them. And then only the truly angelic, altruistic people who don’t care about petty things like awards or being able to pay their bills would embark on the charity project of talking about or representing disabled people. Of course, those people would then be painted as treating the disabled community as nothing more than a pity project, and we would then be stuck in our own little echo chamber with only disabled people aware of disabilities, writing and talking and making movies about ourselves that no one else would ever see or care about or take part in – and of course, that’s only the disabled people who are actually *able* to write or speak or make movies, and if you’re *too* disabled then you’re just shit out of luck & the world will simply never know that you or anyone like you ever existed. Would that make this better for you?

Representation isn’t the same thing as inspiration porn. Depicting the actual struggles of people living with chronic illness isn’t inspiration porn. Allowing abled people the opportunity to gain some understanding of life with disability & illness isn’t inspiration porn. And someone getting an award for doing a good job at that doesn’t deserve to be vilified. They did a good job. They should be rewarded. Eddie Redmayne is an actor. He acts like people whom he actually isn’t for a living. He did a good job in this instance, and he got an award for it. A non-ill disabled actor would not have been better for this role, and an actually seriously ill actor would not have been able to undertake this part. A movie that focused on someone disabled by progressive chronic illness yet didn’t reduce them to nothing more than their disability got lots of attention & awards.

What are you angry about again?