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Thread: Disability in the Mer-world

  1. #1

    Disability in the Mer-world

    I saw a post by TheAutisticMermaid which I loved and it got me thinking about merfolk and mersonas with disabilities weather they are physical or mental. If you have a disability, is it portrayed in your mersona? Is it relevant or prominent when you'r swimming? How does it effect you in the water?

    I am a huge advocate and activist for the disabled community and although all of my disabilities are hidden and I have learned to live with them so they don't cause much problem, I have to wonder if anyone else advocates through their mersona.


    To add some back story, I have chronic back and knee pain, ADHD, hypersomnia, depression, asthma, and arthritis. I am currently learning Braille and ASL. I am also a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind (although I am on hiatus right now due to living constraints). I am also a furry and one of my Fursonas is Blind and is a teacher and advocate. Her name is Iris.

    I guess my biggest question is weather or not it would be massively offensive to the disabled community if I had a mersona who was blind or deaf in order to help teach and interact with children without myself having that particular disability. How would you describe to a child why a magical creature could still be disabled?
    The Magical Mystical MerFanc
    A Welsh Lake Monster with control of weather, water and water creatures.
    Resident sea monster, best friend of sharks and ducks, lover of the Deep Ocean.
    Known on all other social media as theAfanc

  2. #2
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod
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    here's my video about what I deal with:


  3. #3
    Thanks Raina I'm watching it now. I've watched a lot of your So You Wanna be a Mermaid videos but somehow this one never came up in my suggestions.

    Also your baby is super cute <3 I just adopted two 16 week old babies and they are cuddlign with me while I watch this :P
    The Magical Mystical MerFanc
    A Welsh Lake Monster with control of weather, water and water creatures.
    Resident sea monster, best friend of sharks and ducks, lover of the Deep Ocean.
    Known on all other social media as theAfanc

  4. #4
    I'm autistic and have severe depression. I also have an anxiety disorder. I wanted to get a service dog, but with costs and effort, my parents said no.

    My autism is what makes me feel everything in such a clear and pure way. I relate to the water, not the people in it, so I'm really more of a nightclub mermaid than one for children. I try not to tell people I'm autistic because it always ends in infantilization and one less friend or job.

    The scars from my depression are going to stick with me for a while, though, and they're all across my left hand, so I'm trying to think of a story that goes with that.

    I don't think my autism affects my swimming, though I am a bit less coordinated than most! I just have to work a little harder to perfect things. I can hold my breath for 37 seconds so far, and I'm still working! ❤️❤️


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Twilight darkens, yet there in the shade,
    Lies a glimmering shadow, the wild mermaid;

    As night draws ever closer, there's a choice to be made--
    Will you stay as you are, or be delivered to the waves?

    Laumina the Storm Siren

    Instagram: mermaidwhisperofficial | Facebook: Mermaid Whisper | YouTube: Mermaid Whisper

  5. #5
    Senior Member Pod of The South Rebela Hunter's Avatar
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    Wow, you all are extremely inspirational mers!< 3

    I deal with alot of the things you guys deal with. I have anxiety, clinical depression [untreated], and Von Willebrand's Disease. VWD is a bleeding disorder that makes it to where my blood may or may not clot when I get injured, making me bleed a ton more than most people. It also means any bruises I get on any joints or limbs can severely impact my life, possibly leading to amputation if it got really bad.

    By wanting to be a mer and be in the water, I can exercise and socialize with people and not have to worry about injuries. The water is like a cushion and I feel extremely at home in it - relaxed, even! Plus, it'd a great way to advocate for VWD and other things I'm interested in by having a tail. [I don't have one as of yet, but I used to have one - it was stolen, though!]

    When I finally create my mersona, I want her to be almost a carbon copy of me with just a pinch of magic and a hint of mystery. Mostly because I want to tell children I have it so that I can inspire them to become their dream or accomplish their goals no matter what is stopping you! Where there's a will, there's a way!
    'And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' - Matthew 4:19 (KJV)

    Hobbyist Mermaid & Orca Enthusiast
    DeviantART || Facebook || Instagram





  6. #6
    I think with the mental aspect it depends on how much it affects our behaviour in certain situations as well as for how much it's part of our actual personality... I'm not going to mention the list of my disorders etcetera but let's say I get some serious info-overload symptoms from being in crowded places and yes I'm very withdrawn also when I'm totally comfortable in my own home. That is definitely some disorders mixed with what is just me. I am just as withdrawn in the water as on land, though in water I feel like I want to run (swim) and hide more.
    As for my physical "disabilities", I have arthritis plus more and I have accepted I'm just a bit "disabled" and it is just part of me now, so I can work on making things as comfortable for myself as possible. This somewhat restricts me, also in water. I try to make the best of it.

    The way you deal with disabilities I think reflects your personality as well. Not entirely, but those that have to deal with it know what I mean, I hope.

  7. #7
    This is a very interesting topic - subscribing as I'm interested and want to learn about people with disabilities.

    ~**~**My tailmaking thread**~**~

    Considering the name 'Mermaid Triteia'


  8. #8

    Disability in the Mer-world

    Quote Originally Posted by theMerFanc View Post

    I guess my biggest question is weather or not it would be massively offensive to the disabled community if I had a mersona who was blind or deaf in order to help teach and interact with children without myself having that particular disability.
    To that particular question, I would say yes - it most definitely could offend people with that particular disability. Seeing someone pretend to have their condition and essentially making their disability part of a 'costume' really could be massively upsetting and insulting.

    I think learning sign language and using it to communicate with Deaf people is fantastic, but you should never pretend you have the condition when you don't. I've been learning a bit of BSL and that's one of the things I've seen mentioned in more than one BSL book - they advise to never ever pretend your deaf to someone who is, because they'll see right through you and it will offend them.

    Being honest, that's one of the things that makes me uncomfortable about mermaids using wheelchairs. Is it really considerate to take a piece of medical equipment that some people cannot mobilise without - ie something that they need and probably hate having to use, and to effectively turn it into part of a costume?

    I realise nobody would do anything like that with the intent of offending anyone, but for people confined to chairs, it could look very different.

    As far as disabilities go, I'm type one diabetic. I use an insulin pump that I currently have to detach when I swim, although I'm hoping to get a waterproof pump in the future. The only effect it has on my swimming is that I need to keep a close check on blood sugar levels, as a hypo in the water could be lethal. If I were in the water longer than a couple of hours I would need else reattach the pump for a bit too and check sugar levels, but I haven't had to do that yet.


    Edited to add - something that didn't cross my mind but would probably be relevant too: I also have proliferative retinopathy, which is basically vascular disease of the eyes. I've had a lot of laser surgery to destroy damaged parts of retina and blood vessels inside my eyes, and my visual field is reduced as a result. I also find it a lot more difficult to see when the light levels are low (driving at night is not fun...) and that seems to make it more difficult to see underwater. I know most people say their vision blurs, but when I tried swimming without goggles I couldn't see anything - not even blurry shapes or colours. That definitely makes swimming and looking graceful more... challenging!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by LouLouBelle; 08-08-2016 at 08:55 AM.

  9. #9
    Awesome we finally have a thread about this!

    Having Aspergers is actually one of my favourite things about myself. It helps me to see the world differently, etc. I always let people know I have ASD, and have never received any negativity from that. I also have rheumatoid arthritis,PTSD, CCPTSD, Anxiety and I faint if I get overheated.

    However, I know myself enough to know if I need to get into shade, if I get sensory overload I know I need to take 5 mins, etc. I have incorporated all of this into my new mermaid business/project! I want kids with disabilities to understand that even mermaids can have issues as well, just like humans! I mean honestly why wouldn't Mers have disabilities etc? Especially living in the ocean lol.

    Mermaid Whisper, For scars on your hand, and other injuries, you could make up a back story about where maybe you saved a dolphin from a fisher mans net and thats why you are all cut up, etc.

    Also I think the idea of a blind or deaf mermaid is absolutely awesome! And I don't think the community would take offense. I have gotten nothing but positive feedback from the Autism community! Kids wanna feel included, and sometimes it is hard when all the mermaids are perfect looking. If the mermaids are more like them, they feel more comfortable and open up more easily!

    We need more diversity in the Merworld for sure Like I always say, not everyone can be Ariel lol..

  10. #10
    Just gonna add this tidbit.

    I use a wheelchair to be used around on land when in my tail, and I have never had a problem. Also, for the deaf mermaid, if you know ASL than I think it would be fine, as long as you'd not pretend to be completely deaf if you are not.
    As for a blind mermaid, I would say someone that is actually blind in some way could pull it off. I do agree that no one should pretend to be blind, etc, as yes that can offend some people. I get positive feedback because I have Autism, so the community,parent, etc all support me.

  11. #11

    Disability in the Mer-world

    Quote Originally Posted by TheAutisticMermaid View Post

    Also I think the idea of a blind or deaf mermaid is absolutely awesome! And I don't think the community would take offense. I have gotten nothing but positive feedback from the Autism community! Kids wanna feel included, and sometimes it is hard when all the mermaids are perfect looking. If the mermaids are more like them, they feel more comfortable and open up more easily!
    It's one thing to see more deaf and blind mermaids, but something else to see people pretend to be blind and deaf when they're not.

    Look at it from this angle...

    "It would be great to see more mers of colour, so why not have a coloured mersona even though you're white? Just use makeup to darken your skin. Won't that make mers of colour feel more 'included'?"

    (I realise there is a whole other thread devoted to this, but it serves as a perfect example here...)

    Still think people won't be offended if you pretend you have a disability?

    What we need are more mers who are disabled and happy and confident in themselves to set an example, not more mers dressing up as if they're disabled.


    Edit - just saw your last post.

    Regarding wheelchairs, I can see how they could be really useful, but I don't think I'd ever be comfortable using one when I don't need it - not in the way physically disabled people do. I'd personally be much happier with a more makeshift cart or the like. I deal with a lot of patients who need wheelchairs and it's heartbreaking to see a lot of their reactions to being confined to a chair. I wouldn't want them to see me smiling and happy and using that same piece of equipment that they need and hate, all as part of a fantasy costume.

    I know nobody would mean anything by it, but I know it would have the potential to really upset some people.

    Just my thoughts!

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Last edited by LouLouBelle; 08-08-2016 at 09:24 AM.

  12. #12
    Thanks all. That was sort of my assumption which is why I didn't ask about it sooner.
    The Magical Mystical MerFanc
    A Welsh Lake Monster with control of weather, water and water creatures.
    Resident sea monster, best friend of sharks and ducks, lover of the Deep Ocean.
    Known on all other social media as theAfanc

  13. #13
    I really agree with Lou- I think it is an AWESOME idea to promote the diversity of different abilities into mermaiding, but I would only want to see that done by incorporating individuals who truly have diverse abilities. I completely see and even commend where you are coming from, but I would bet that there are people with disabilities in your community who would love to get involved with you. As a mom of two kids with disabilities, I would be offended- one, because I really think that a huge problem is the lack of inclusion- and while you would be trying to include the idea of disabilities, actual people with those disabilities would still be being excluded from that effort. Also because giving a voice to disability should be an authentic voice. Taking something cool like mermaiding and using that platform as a place to embrace diverse abilities, though, is a really great idea.
    Also- because of wheelchairs having been so necessary and represented something so very difficult for different members of my family, it is hard for me to see a piece of medical equipment used in that capacity. Though- I saw a children's hospital using a mermaid in a wheelchair to make wheelchairs appeal to the patients... I don't know. I know a lot of mermaids use wheelchairs, I just couldn't.


  14. #14
    My original thought and intention was that, despite my being a fraud, I could perhaps be able to inspire folks and children with said disabilities to realize they could be a mermaid too. I have a fairly small disabled community where I am at the o lay blind person I know moved away. Not sure if mermaiding would even be her thing but I want to be involved in helping disabled folks realize they aren't as limited as some of them think.
    The Magical Mystical MerFanc
    A Welsh Lake Monster with control of weather, water and water creatures.
    Resident sea monster, best friend of sharks and ducks, lover of the Deep Ocean.
    Known on all other social media as theAfanc

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by theMerFanc View Post
    My original thought and intention was that, despite my being a fraud, I could perhaps be able to inspire folks and children with said disabilities to realize they could be a mermaid too.
    my experience has been that, of the people I know with disabilities, most of them don't feel nearly as limited in what their abilities allow them to do as limited by people's perceptions of what they can do, so I think it's a great idea, because it works on those limiting perceptions. * I am editing to say that I actually didn't mean limitations, I meant limitations in, just in some way, in the context of taking on the role of being a mermaid. Anyone at all can be a mermaid. But I am rereading it and realizing that, separating the idea of the role of a mermaid from the word limitations, that sentence is very different.*

    I'd say that sometimes people with disabilities are less visible in the community- if this is something you are passionate about, maybe talking to outreach organizations or programs who are already working with community members, to find people who might be interested?
    Last edited by merwandering; 08-08-2016 at 01:20 PM.


  16. #16
    I know you mean well, but I really wouldn't advise it. You'd be much better off talking to and encouraging disabled people rather than pretending to be one.

    To give my own perspective: So far I've never met another diabetic mer. If I came across someone who wasn't diabetic, but stuck on a fake insulin pump and pretended they were, rest assured I would not be impressed... My thoughts would be more along the lines of:

    You're flaunting that as if it makes you an amazing inspiration... As if to say "oh look at what I can do with this make-believe condition! I'm pretending to have it to show YOU what it's like and what you can do - aren't I so inspiring?!"

    Believe me when I say that's an insult. You have absolutely no idea what it's like. You don't live with the condition. You have never experienced it.

    If you do not actually have the condition or disability, then you are in no position to tell people who do have it exactly what there limits are or aren't. If you try, it's only going to come across as condescending.

    So please please think before you act. Talk to people with disabilities, include them, encourage them... but for crying out loud, don't pretend to be one.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  17. #17
    I don't ever post here, mainly due to my disability. I have been lurking the forum for a while now. I'm on every day usually, never to comment. I have Schizophrenia. My mersona is from lake Erie, where many mers once lived. Then the humans polluted it so bad most of us died out. I was one of the survivors, but unfortunately, the toxicity of the city gave me a disability. Constantly paranoid of humans wanting to hurt me, hearing things they don't, seeing things they don't. Living in a world humans don't understand. My mersona helps me cope, actually. If someone is lucky enough to come across me swimming, it's even that much more magicalfor me and for them. For me, being able to see a human be nice to me. For them, seeing a mermaid.
    user formerly known as NaomiSilverBellz

  18. #18
    I'm realizing I worded my last response poorly- and I will change that. To be clear definitely I meant the idea of wanting to make a difference being a good one, not the idea of feigning disabilities- It just made me literally bust out laughing to read the bit about being a fraud. It was kind of the absurdity- I was more saying- mad props for wanting to be a force for advocacy, but it is sooooo incredibly important that you realize what is helpful and what is actually extremely detrimental.
    Lou you are so right too about the idea of limitations in general. In this context I realize I wasn't talking about limitations in terms of actual limitations, I was talking about limitations in embodying the idea of a character- like if we were asked to imagine 100 mermaids together in a pool, the goal would be that eventually we get to the point where we all envision an accurate cross section of people- diverse in shapes and sizes and races and abilities. And I meant that of the people I know, it is much easier for them to imagine themselves in that role than it being as easy for other people to imagine. Right now, the general public, if they were to envision mermaids, might lean more heavily to a population of 100 mermaids that look very similar to one another and fit some kind of stereotype. So that piece is what I meant, as far as perceptions go- the piece of embracing the beauty of diversity through the eyes of the general population. Which is definitely a totally different issue than addressing the perception of limitations or disabilities
    so in thinking about being a mermaid and not actual limitations, I glazed over the bit about telling people they aren't as limited as they think-
    I was wrong in glazing over that.
    I'm wrong a lot- but when I realize it I try to get it right.
    disability is hugely and inescapably woven into every day of my life. It is a really, really big deal. One of my children has a moderate disability which changes the way we do a lot of things, but for the most part, we still do it, just differently. The other has a disability so severe that it absolutely effects what they can and can't do.
    In some cases, it is infuriating that people don't get what great things my kids are capable of.
    other times, it is infuriating when people don't realize how extremely hard it can be, or that, no, they aren't just 'less limited than they realize'
    but you can be damn sure that they will know that they make perfect mermaids!
    Last edited by merwandering; 08-08-2016 at 01:35 PM.


  19. #19
    Thanks guys
    The Magical Mystical MerFanc
    A Welsh Lake Monster with control of weather, water and water creatures.
    Resident sea monster, best friend of sharks and ducks, lover of the Deep Ocean.
    Known on all other social media as theAfanc

  20. #20
    I am new to the mernetwork ive never joined a forum before and i think this is only my 5th post, but for what its worth this is my experience...

    I use cruthches i am recovering from surgery on my knee to fix a problem, which has had me on and of them for 16 years. for the first two months after my surgery i was in a wheelchair and i hated it. when i found about mermaiding and using monofins i thought this would be perfect for me. I had to wait for my physio to ok it but he agreed the movement would aid my recovery.

    Getting into the water and being able to move for the first time in months was the best feeling ever and it makes me well up thinking how happy I have been using my monofin.my mood lifts ever when I talk to people about swimming they can see how happy it makes me(I have severe depression).

    As for my swimming abilities as one leg is so much weaker, I cant swim in a straight line. To begin with I would constantly veer off to the left or end up floating with my left side sticking up, as there was no muscle strength to move, this has slowly been getting better with time and practice though. I also struggle with getting in out of the pool, I cant use a ladder and my boyfriend/merwrangler usually helps me out. Walking around immediately after swimming I'm dizzy and lose my balance this could partially be due to adjusting to having my full weight back and partially water in my ears.

    I cant wait to make my own tail and have been stalking a lot of the threads trying to come up with a light weight easy to put design that would work for me. Reading through the threads my heart jumped a little when I saw a girl showing off her tails from a wheel chair, at first I thought "oh, someone else with problems walking" then I realised she was just using it because of course her legs were together and I know a lot of people use them for moving around on land but personally I don't like seeing it. I've seen so much creativity and ingenuity on this site like lou lou belle said some sort of cart to move around on land could be great- side note for one new years eve party I had a friend who went out as pirate with a few others they converted a shopping trolley into a pirate ship full of booze! point being is there are possibilities that don't involve wheelchairs.

    going back to the original post though I agree with lou lou belle; in that I can see where your coming from but you cant pretend, just be accommodating to those with disabilities, I think learning sign language is great as you could say under water sound is muffled and mermaids use it to communicate. and for those with sight issues you could encourage them to touch your tail and the water and feel the movement as you swish your tail essentially try not to focus on what they cant do and what they can do.

    also this article
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4839818/Disabled-woman-given-mermaid-tail-to-help-her-swim.html
    gives an interesting example of mermaiding and disabilities and I found it very inspiring.

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