On Trauma and Disability

Disabled people often encounter trauma on a daily basis, including but not limited to; bullying, harassment, loneliness, friendlessness, ostracisation, micro and macro-aggressions, and rejection.

This trauma can be very long-lasting (well into adulthood) and affect how we see ourselves.

It can lower our self-confidence, self-esteem, and feelings of self-worth, and can hurt our ability to trust, feel or accept love and compassion, and decrease our ability to feel as if we deserve good things.

We might begin to feel guilty or panicked when people are kind or nice to us (as opposed to grateful and thankful) because we are so unfamiliar with the feeling.

Trauma is very diverse in nature and can range from name-calling to physical abuse. From invalidation to people leaving the lunch table every time you try to sit with them.

There is no one way trauma shows up and what may be traumatic for one person might not even affect another.


There are also a multitude of ways in which trauma can present itself, from fears of applying to a job to fears of raising one’s hand in class. From rejection sensitivity dysphoria to fears of making friends and interacting with others.


The unkind words of my peers, parents, and professors didn't make me hate them.

Rather, they made me hate myself.

Alt: Boy crying with the phrases, "why can't you do anything right, stop making a scene, freak, don't sit with him he's weird, only you care about this, you're being overdramatic, what's the matter with you, he's antisocial, I'm so sorry he's on your team" surrounding him.