HeyJaredThe View From Down Here
What's it really like to be disabled? How can you fight ableism? A newsletter aiming to demystify disability through personal stories and observations, from journalist and card-carrying disabled woman Lucy Webster
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- 11
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- Sep 24, 2026
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- Jul 6, 2026
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Too disabled for the National Diversity Awards? (opens the original)
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Hello,Last Friday I went to the National Diversity Awards.It was truly an honour to represent the disabled queer community and to have or work with Every Body Queer recognised with a shortlisted nomination.But unfortunately the event was mired by ableism.It started before we had even arrived when I was asked to pay £100 for my PA to be able to accompany me at the meal. They said she could come for free but not eat, but she couldn't go and eat somewhere else because I can't feed myself. Although
Activism works (opens the original)
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Hello,The assisted dying bill was voted down on Friday.For now, it’s over.What a relief.I sobbed in the car when the results came through.It’s going to take a while to process, I think. It’s been two years of worry and fear and online abuse and never feeling like I’d done enough. My shoulders need a minute to fall back into their rightful positions.But none of that is what I want to talk about. What I want to say is this:Activism works.Last year, the same bill passed in the Commons. This year, i
I don’t want to be the only disabled person in the room (opens the original)
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Hi,I spent 26-ish years in nondisabled spaces. Firstly at school, where I was literally the only visibly disabled person around (yep, private schools are wild) and then at uni and work, where there were other disabled people but we were expected to fit in and mould ourselves to the nondisabled world around us.I got so used to being the only wheelchair user, let alone the only person with a PA or a speech impediment, in the room that I didn’t really notice that I was always on edge.I conceived of
To care and be cared for (opens the original)
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Hello,A friend of mine wasn’t very well last week. London housing being the inaccessible mess that it is, the only way I could be with her was for her to come to me, so we turned the flat into a little sanctuary of calm and good food and, of course, care.The View From Down Here is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.<input class="email-input" name="email
I don’t want your shock (opens the original)
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Hi,When something really ableist happens - the sort of thing that really knocks me off whatever life path I thought I was on, that makes me feel unsettled and depressed and like I’m drowning - I don’t want you to be shocked. I don’t want to hear that you can’t believe it, or how you don’t understand why someone would act like that, or how unfathomable it is.I don’t want you to express surprise or confusion because in that moment, when I’m raw and hurting, your shock looks like disbelief. It make
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