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\u2018I\u2019m reading this book that says art can help process trauma and I\u2019m on a healing journey,\u2019 said Sex Education\u2019s Aimee Gibbs (played by Aimee Lou Wood) to wheelchair user Isaac Goodwin (George Robinson) in the first episode of season four.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She added: \u2018Is that why you do art? To process trauma? \u2018Cause you\u2019re disabled?\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Isaac shot back a look of disbelief, then retorted sarcastically: \u2018Yes, I\u2019m looking to find catharsis from the daily emotional torture of being in a wheelchair through the magical outlet of painting.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before later adding: \u2018I don\u2019t need anything to help because I\u2019m actually very happy with my life. I do art because I like painting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018But thank you very much for your ableist projection.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a disabled wheelchair user myself, <\/strong>I loved this scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n A stranger once <\/strong>said to my face: \u2018I\u2019d rather be dead than be in a wheelchair\u2019<\/p>\n It was short and to the point, but showed how a simple exchange \u2013 even with good intentions \u2013 can be an ableist microaggression towards a disabled person.\u00a0<\/p>\n Unfortunately, it happens all the time.<\/p>\n For almost 10 years, I\u2019ve been an ambulatory wheelchair user, but I\u2019ve been disabled since I was a teenager.\u00a0<\/p>\n I have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) which is a genetic connective tissue disorder that means I dislocate joints, tear ligaments, pull muscles and tendons easily \u2013 my skin is hyper-elastic, and my organs are affected.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite also having many other conditions, hEDS is my primary one \u2013 I suffer from chronic pain due to this.<\/p>\n My first experiences of ableism were at school, when I was bullied for using crutches. I had them kicked from underneath me and was called \u2018peg leg\u2019.<\/p>\n Often, I was deliberately left out of <\/strong>social events, but I didn\u2019t realise it was ableism at the time as I didn\u2019t know there was a name for it.<\/p>\n I always felt like an outsider and it was difficult to find my voice.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until I was 26 that I realised that I needed a wheelchair full-time and that I should have been using one for a long time before that.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Since then, I\u2019ve had so many cruel things hurled at me.<\/p>\n A stranger once <\/strong>said to my face: \u2018I\u2019d rather be dead than be in a wheelchair\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n I was shocked, and froze. I was a new wheelchair user at the time, and I\u2019m not the type to make a scene so I got myself out of the situation. I felt overwhelmed, uncomfortable, and outraged.<\/p>\n I cried that night. They believed my life was so worthless that they would rather die than live it.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also had people tell me that I\u2019m brave for being out on my own \u2013 asking where my carer is, <\/strong>assuming I\u2019m unable to look after myself because I\u2019m a wheelchair user.<\/p>\n \u2018You\u2019re so pretty, for a wheelchair user,\u2019 someone else has said.<\/p>\n Also, when I\u2019m out with my boyfriend, people talk to him instead of me \u2013 as if I don\u2019t exist.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s why Isaac\u2019s clapback to Aimee felt so refreshing.<\/p>\n In all her innocence \u2013 through four seasons of watching her, we have seen her as pure, kind, and good intentioned \u2013 Aimee genuinely believed that Isaac must hate his life because he\u2019s disabled.\u00a0<\/p>\n She assumed he must have some trauma to work through and it must be linked to his disability.<\/p>\n But instead of getting defensive at being called out, Aimee sheepishly asked: \u2018Did I just say the wrong thing?\u2019<\/p>\n To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a webbrowser thatsupports HTML5video<\/p>\n I feel that <\/strong>she made her ignorant comment from being uneducated, not out of malice.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although this isn\u2019t acceptable, she recognised straight away she\u2019d said the wrong thing and didn\u2019t put up a fight, like some.<\/p>\n I think ableism is so deeply-rooted in society that people think becoming disabled is the worst thing that can happen to them.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n They believe that all disabled people must have so much trauma and resentment over our lives, that we sit at home pining over what could have been.<\/p>\n But this is far from the truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n My life is not worthless. It is filled with love, happiness and so much fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n I have an amazing boyfriend that treats me like a queen and all we do is laugh and have the best time together.<\/p>\n Platform is the home of Metro.co.uk’s first-person and opinion pieces, devoted to giving a platform to underheard and underrepresented voices in the media. <\/strong><\/p>\n Find some of our best reads of the week below:<\/p>\n Sex columnist Almara Abgarian offers these handy tips to people who have no idea how to please a woman.<\/p>\n This is how to save thousands of pounds by making one small lifestyle change, according to Zara Canfield.<\/p>\n What do you do if your mum thinks she’s invited to your hen do, but you don’t actually want her there? Columnist Alison Rios McCrone has the answer.<\/p>\n Rape survivor Ellie Wilson recalls what it was like for jury members not to believe her \u2013 even though she’d recorded a confession on tape.<\/p>\n My family and friends are incredible, and yes, I may use a wheelchair but like Isaac said, I\u2019m actually very happy with my life.\u00a0<\/p>\n In order to change perceptions from non-disabled people, <\/strong>I wish more of them saw us thriving, living, and loving our lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n The advice I would give them would be to learn what ableist microaggressions are \u2013 they *can* appear positive, and can be as simple as \u2018you are so brave,\u2019 \u2018you\u2019re so pretty for a wheelchair user,\u2019 \u2018you are such an inspiration.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m not an inspiration for going to the shop on my own, that is patronising.\u00a0<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/metro-parent\/img\/fallback.png\")
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