Heartbroken to see that @KevinHart4real and @MDAorg are teaming up to traumatize another generation of kids with disabilities, same way Jerry Lewis traumatized us for 45 years. A thread with some of the problems: (#MDAKevinHartTelethon) (1/
https://twitter.com/MDAorg/status/1303679979893346304
...1) It's billed as the "MDA Kevin Hart Kid's Telethon," same way we were branded as "#JerrysKids." The world has been taught that #MuscularDystrophy only affects kids, and that we all die before we're adults. It isn't subtle either. They make a very big deal about (2/
...telling you that we're dying. I knew as a young child that I was dying, because the telethon told me so every year, and it's very confusing to now be 36 and not dead yet. There's no plan for me to be an adult who's still disabled and not dead...(3/
...Society has TERRIBLE services and supports for disabled adults. I have a master's degree, a career, and I still spend every day of my life on the verge of crisis. But...
2) MDA doesn't lift a finger to support disabled adults. After they exploit our cute, money-making... (4/
2) MDA doesn't lift a finger to support disabled adults. After they exploit our cute, money-making... (4/
...faces all through childhood, they're done with us. They bring in over $100M every year (by traumatizing kids), and not one penny goes towards creating a world where disabled people could live as equal citizens. Even though...
3) They tell lies about how MDA "changes lives"(5/
3) They tell lies about how MDA "changes lives"(5/
...Going to MDA Camp as a kid was really fun. Loved it. It didn't change my life. I repeat: every single day of my life is spent in crisis mode, and I'm more privileged than many. MDA does nothing to help.
4) Let's talk about the childhood trauma. Every year, I had to...(6/
4) Let's talk about the childhood trauma. Every year, I had to...(6/
...start school the day after Labor Day, with kids telling me "I saw you on TV!" They'd seen humiliating footage of me in my underwear, being cared for by my parents. They'd seen crying parents, sharing how tragic it was to learn their kid was disabled. They'd seen...(7/
...loving tributes to kids who died, and they wondered when I was going to die. They'd seen SO MANY TEARS over how sad my existence is. They'd seen me shyly smiling and obediently parroting whatever I'd been told to say, like this was all just fine...(8/
How are you supposed to start a school year with your head held high, when that's how all your classmates are seeing you??
5) Former "Jerry's kids" have been speaking out for decades, explaining how harmful the #telethon is. As kids, we couldn't verbalize how terrible...(9/
5) Former "Jerry's kids" have been speaking out for decades, explaining how harmful the #telethon is. As kids, we couldn't verbalize how terrible...(9/
...we felt about something that everyone told us was good. But as adults, we've been verbalizing it for decades, trying to protect the next generation. But nobody hears us. Nobody cares.
6)These nondisabled adults & manipulated children get a bigger platform than disabled...(10/
6)These nondisabled adults & manipulated children get a bigger platform than disabled...(10/
...adults ever get. Even if you've never watched an MDA telethon, you've absorbed their messages, trickled through society. MDA has used its power to teach the world that the correct response to disability is pity, that disabled kids exist to make us feel warn & fuzzy,...(11/
and that it's only disabled people who need to be fixed, not our discriminatory society.
7) Imagine if that platform were used to educate the world about REAL disability experiences & issues. From ages 0-18, I only saw 2 wheelchair-using adults in a professional capacity...(12/
7) Imagine if that platform were used to educate the world about REAL disability experiences & issues. From ages 0-18, I only saw 2 wheelchair-using adults in a professional capacity...(12/
...They were both middle school teachers. Is it a coincidence that I also became a middle school teacher? Would I have taken a different path, if I'd seen that it was possible? Who can say? A national MDA telethon could have been a great place to see what's possible, but...(13/
...we were only shown dying children. They never included adults. If /I/ didn't get the education about disability that I needed from the telethon, then nondisabled viewers DEFINITELY didn't get what they needed.
8) Exclusively spotlighting kids has linked the ideas of...(14/
8) Exclusively spotlighting kids has linked the ideas of...(14/
..."disability" and "child" in people's minds, to the point that we continue to be infantilized our whole lives. Disabled adults are treated as unintelligent, incapable, asexual, helpless children. (Theory: we all pick at least one of those categories and...(15/
push back by over-compensating in the opposite direction. Just a theory.)
9) @KevinHart4real is a smart man who shares messages about anti-racism, and is still trying to come back from some public homophobia.(16/
9) @KevinHart4real is a smart man who shares messages about anti-racism, and is still trying to come back from some public homophobia.(16/
Suggestion, @KevinHart4real: maybe being the new face of #ableism isn't how you should make your comeback. Disabled people danced on Jerry Lewis's grave when he died. None of us want you to be that guy, but that's the road you're on. Do better. Do better now. No excuses.(17/17)
Since this is getting attention: A great grassroots organization that's run by adults with MD, directly supporting adults with MD, is nmdunited.org. Also, you can support disability rights activism at adapt.org. 🙂 Thanks for all the shares and support!!!
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