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Comment by TheOperator | Hacker News Reader

I don't see a form like this and think "This hurts my feelings :(". I see this form and go "Oh shit, so do I say I'm disabled and get discriminated against now, or do I say I'm not disabled and then get retaliated against for dishonesty later?". I've been rejected from jobs before for being disabled and being disabled is expensive.

Here is how "chill" the situation is in India by the way: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/feb/27/i...

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My dad is mentally disabled. Yeah. So much so he has to visit the mental hospital twice. Stayed locked up for two weeks straight. Yeah. We are economically well off only because my grandpa had good estates and stable income. My father somehow got his degree in Economics. He somehow got to the point that he is now well respected at the age of 58. The condition my father has is far far worse than the mere depression every American and first world country seems to have and call it disability.

I am more often talking about mental disability BTW. I should have been more clear. There are problems here too. But its only for the severe causes. Mere depressions which these days are shown more as coolness and victimhood are symptoms of the first world. When you are worried what you will be eating or feeding your child at night, you don't have time for depression. You are worried and tensed but not depressed. In first world country you are far well off. You guys are worried about stupid reasons. Yeah. They are stupid.

Come live in a third world country once. You will understand what I am saying. Victimhood here won't last you far. You will starve.

Lumping everyone together just due to national origin, state or city of residence, skin color, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc, is a large problem for those affected. When people who mentally, emotionally, sexually, or physically put you through a living hell for things that are immutable traits you can't really change. You can be denied work, assistance, Healthcare, vision care, dental care, all for no reason, even when those services are I expensive. The average US citizen would probably lose housing for any unexpected expense of just $400. It's saddening that if you can afford that, you're in the top 20% of society that's effectively unimaginable for the rest of us. That's not good, and much of that is due to extreme corruption at the political / governmental level, as well as abuse by police. No matter your zip code, the place can walk into your housing without announcing themselves, shoot you to death while being unarmed and cooperative and then get away with with zero criminal punishment. That happens nearly every day. I've personally been physically, mentally and emotionally abused on the whole basis of my autism and DID with no particular social, emotional, or cognitive issues aside from cheap medicine that is required to keep things reasonable and stable. People always give me a hard time, and tell me they know "my disease" (which isn't a disease) better than I do, despite nrvrt having looked it up, not any relevant medical literature or legitimate studies peer reviewed in journals. We've nearly died dozens of times, most within the last few 16 months, due to intentional medical mismanagement, including forced against will to take unnecessary heart and liver medication for illnesses we've never had any symptoms of, and forced down and beaten for requesting food, water, ans being allowed to be able to use the toilet. I've been held down, hit repeated in the head and face until seizures occurred, then denied medical treatment for the bleeding, cuts, gashes, or severe PTSD that lasted for 8+ months after. Saying "Americans have it easy" is itself lazy and easy to do if you've never had to live among ordinary people who have real difficulties. We ask fur help, and the government denies assistance while claiming that our number is in the system so if course we're getting stellar aid, even as their own accounting says we've never 4vrn been contacted. Our own calls, letters, visits to offices getting ignored for literally years at a time. Our own political representation literally doing nothing while police punish victims for reporting serious violations of law.

Don't be lazy and assume that anyone else has it easy, especially minorities, women, and the disabled. If I were allowed just $15-20/week for food, I'd be suffering a lot less from constant hunger than I am. Trying to get that much money while forced into Adult Foster Care is almost impossible, requiring many hours of work to fill out surveys and job applications that are never responded to. I'm smart, relatively alright, and there are the only open work for a high school graduate. I am told I'm not eligible for student grants due to paperwork that was misfiled after receipt due to someone else refusing to do their paid job. There no way 8 could afford $50,000 out of pocket, or waste 4 years at 38 to get a degree with no reasonable chance at getting a job. I'd have to pay several times more, go to one of the top ivy league schools just to get a 20+% chance if receiving what is termed "substantial gainful employment", which would more than likely be 60 hours a week at the local $10.75 minimum wage, which up until the last ~2 years, was one of the jihad minimums in the entire country.

So thank you for your input. I don't expect you to read this. There are far too many words present due to autism. But please don't presume to understand the legitimate struggles of people on "first world" countries, many of whom are not treated well if they fail to be born white male, and upper class. We are reminded of the birth caste system in India, of which I read about many office employees usually men, who are born into the "wrong caste" and are actively discriminated on in US workplaces, even inside global multinational corporations such as Microsoft and Amazon. Occasionally to the point of being murdered for it.

I don't believe that many people have a truly good and privileged existence. I don't make those assumptions except about sociopaths who think they can rightly victimize others and get away with it through manipulation, lying, and money. People, including yourself, could stand to be a lot more empathetic and kind. It's not required of you but it does help others who may or may not be worse off than you or I. Thanks.

Disabled isn't a label I decided to start call myself it was more something imposed on me which was used as a sometimes successful pretext to exclude me from school, work, youth groups, etc. My disability is simply considered a matter of medical fact, if I ever found myself in a custody battle I couldn't argue I wasn't disabled. I went though my childhood actively angry and embarassed every time somebody was told about my disability and wished for it to stop. Disabled people don't nessecarily have a choice in being portrayed as a victim that choice is thrust upon them my the medical establishment and if you don't want to be treated as a victim you have to jump through hoops to mask your victim status. It's not like all disabled people in the first world were on Tumblr and went "You know what - I feel kind of bipolar" and that was their identity from then on.

I hate this question BECAUSE it pressures me into admitting I have a disability, that I'm a "victim", when I would rather not do that. Victimhood doesn't get you ahead in the first world either - that's why so many disabled people react negatively to this question - because it makes others see you as either a victim (if you say yes) or a liar (if you say no). Just listen to how you perceive disabled people in the first world - in my situation wouldn't I have every incentive to hide my diagnosis from you to hide that fact from somebody like you so you didn't see me as a whiner taking advantage of sympathy for disabled people to seem cool?

P.S. The first world is seeing self-reported depression and suicide rising simultaneously. Certainly some people think it's cool to be depressed, but maybe more is going on than westerners becoming image obsessed given people are killing themselves more and more.

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