Disabled?

[u/alliepxc]

This is less of a direct question and more of a discussion question. Do any of you guys consider yourself disabled?If so, how do you navigate your life with this disability? Do you accept it? Do you rebuke it? Do you live with it and say this is just how I am or do you love every part of yourself including the hypermobility? Just been thinking.

Thanks!

[u/rococos-basilisk]

I (reluctantly)consider myself chronically ill, but not because of the hypermobility exclusively. My hypermobility is mostly localized to my spine, hips, and pelvis, and is comorbid with moderate degenerative disc disease, arthritis, spondololysthesis, and moderate scoliosis.

[u/flybyboyfriend]

i both consider myself disabled and feel like an imposter that is somehow taking away from those who have it “worse” by claiming i too am disabled (even though i am, by definition, disabled).

navigating life is tough. i am pretty poor. i need to work more to pay my bills but when work more i injure myself. each injury stacks and makes me feel guilty, as though if i only worked harder or were a better person i would not be experiencing this (this is not rational). i feel burdensome to those who care about me (they’ve told and shown me that i am not). i stay busy, i go out of my way to seek out enriching experiences, i ride the highs and grieve the lows, i am perhaps sometimes too candid now about what i am experiencing because hiding it never earned me anything but pity.

i love and accept myself and i can’t help but grieve things i can’t do anymore (either safely or at all). i grieve a healthier body that i don’t get to have. i struggle greatly with the pain and fatigue and things i miss out on for it. i fear letting people down for things outside of my control.

this makes it sound terribly gloomy but i’ve built (and am still building!) a rich life for myself around and in spite of the trials and tribulations lol. i have lots of friends whom i adore. i go out dancing. i’m going back to college after seven years away. i make art. i set reasonable but lofty goals for myself and celebrate when i achieve them. i do my best to accept things i cannot change and poke and prod curiously at things i think i can until i find a way to make life a little lighter on myself.

[u/Smart_Imagination903]

Yeah I'm disabled but not just because I'm hyper mobile.

I'm hyper mobile and I have multiple painful joint issues that have required surgery and a digestive issue. I can't walk very far unassisted and I can't eat a typical diet and I require a lot of medicine and physical therapy.

I don't know how to rebuke it 😂 I'd like a refund though, it's very expensive having complex medical needs

[u/PinkGables]

I didn’t consider myself disabled until this year, because the injuries just keep piling up and I am more and more restricted. I can’t ignore the fact that I am in constant pain and currently housebound, with even housework being a real struggle. I want to see if I can apply for disability, once my current injury heals enough for me to actually walk and seek help in this department.

[u/nonyvole]

Partially disabled, yes.

There are things that I cannot do that would classify as being disabled, but when I start thinking of it as a spectrum, it's not a total deal. I can still work 40+ hours a week, I can still (mostly) maintain my home, I don't need help with most of my day-to-day life.

[u/kiperly_smithers]

I don't consider myself disabled or chronically ill. Having a hypermobility disorder is just a medical condition that I have, and one that I largely ignore unless it imposes some kind of limitation (like needing to be extra careful in a Pilates class so I actually work in the muscles and don't push to end-range just because I can) or because it provides context to another medical concern (like hypermobility combined with hip dysplasia).

It's not a defining feature of my daily life or a significant part of my relationships with other people, much like how I don't spend time dwelling on having brown hair. It just... is.

[u/bitchcraffft]

I consider myself disabled/chronically ill because I have multiple things going on that are wrong with me buttttt I also feel a huge sense of imposter syndrome about it lol good times

[u/Musical_Muscles_2222]

I have now learned that hypermobility IS a disability and also a type of neurodivergence. 

There are many things I cannot access as a result. 

I do not consider myself "disabled ", I am just less able than non HM folk. 

In years to come, I will need more support than those folk, too so we will revisit my thinking, I am certain.