To the people who see someone with a mobility aid or other accessibility tool and think they can tell if the persons faking, please shut the fuck up. Often these people’s “LOOK THEYRE FAKING” moment is when they see something such a wheelchair stand up or move their leg, they see someone with a cane not using it for a moment or holding it, a deaf person who can speak, a blind person whose eyes don’t “look” blind, someone with a service dog who is not visibly disabled.
The truth is you can’t tell if someone’s faking needing a mobility aid or tool by looking at them, how can you when you don’t know what they use it for?
With my cane some days I rely on it heavily, I use it for every step and cannot walk without it. Some days my body is fully paralysed, numb, weak, fatigued and in pain. However some days I can run and jump and walk just fine. Whenever I’m in public I bring my cane with me for safety, in case I have a sudden issue. If you see me carrying my cane and not using it, that doesn’t mean that I’m faking. If I’m walking through a narrow space and I pick up my cane, that doesn’t mean that I don’t actually need it.
Same goes for any other disability. Tics manifest in different ways, not seeing me tic for a while doesn’t mean I’m faking it. I have tics and not even I could tell if someone’s tics are fake. If I can’t tell then you, a person who knows very little about tics most definitely cannot.
Perhaps you meet autistic person who enjoys social settings or makes eye contact, a person with adhd that seems like they have everything under control, someone with depression who looks “fine”, a person with any neurodivergence who doesn’t act like your mums friends sisters brothers sons hamsters beauticians gynaecologists nephew who also has said diagnosis.
Disabilities affect people in unique ways, you cannot know someone’s experiences and medical history just by looking at them.
Fake claiming is ableism disguised as disability advocacy.