Nobody Talks About the Money Part

Nobody wants to talk about the money part of disability and advocacy. It feels impolite somehow, like you’re supposed to be grateful for support and not also want a proper income.

I don’t buy that.

Economic participation, having fair access to work, training, and the chance to build something of your own, isn’t separate from dignity. It’s one of the clearest ways dignity shows up in real life. When someone can’t get hired, can’t get the hours, can’t get taken seriously for a promotion because of assumptions about what they can handle, that’s not a side issue. That’s the whole issue, wearing a different outfit.

I think about all the skill sitting unused because someone decided, without asking, what a person was capable of.

The fix isn’t complicated to describe, even if it’s hard to do: match roles to what someone can actually do, not what people assume they can’t. Give real chances, not token ones. Let people fail and succeed on the same terms as everyone else.

Where have you seen someone’s potential get written off before they even had a chance to prove it?

If this is the year you stop waiting for permission to take up space professionally, Self Advocacy Unleashed can help you get there. Join the waitlist, link in bio.

Madeleine x