34 Tweets That Prove Disability Has No Age Requirement – The Mighty

Navigating disability in a world that simply doesnt cater to your access needs is difficult enough as is, but when youre no longer a minor and not yet a senior, you begin to realize that a lot of doors to the resources you need are closed, locked with an age requirement you either exceed or have yet to meet.

In the beginning of the pandemic, the common rhetoric going around was that only elderly people were considered vulnerable people. A year later and nothing has changed much in that regard. The issue here is the same as the issue regarding the lack of access to resources: a large chunk of the disability community is left to slip through the cracks, unable to find the resources needed.

I have first-hand experience with this. I have been disabled my entire life but with the development of two additional disabling conditions at 21, I was launched into a world where I had to advocate for myself, fight for treatment and navigate a world that didnt even acknowledge my demographic.

According to the 2017 Disability Statistics Annual Report, of the U.S. population with disabilities, over half (51%) were people between the working ages of 18-64, while 41.4% were 65 and older. We make up such a large portion and yet barely receive a crumb of the representation, support or resources.

This is where the #DisabilityHasNoAgeRequirement hashtag came in. Others and myself from the ages of 17 to our 40s and 50s were fed up with not being able to get what we need. For chronic illnesses and physical disabilities, we were too young to deal with things requiring mobility aids, caregivers, etc., but for neurodivergence like ADHD, dyslexia or Autism, we were too old and expected to have grown out of them.

Here are 34 tweets with the hashtag#DisabilityHasNoAgeRequirementshowing that no one is too young or too old to be disabled.

Additional reporting by Julia Metraux.

Header image viaTeona Studemire

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34 Tweets That Prove Disability Has No Age Requirement - The Mighty