As someone who would normally be called "hearing impaired"--or, rather, who has deaf gain--I often think about what will happen if I portray characters who aren't "able-bodied" in some way. So far, most of my novels have only addressed mental health issues. But I have one novel where the protagonist is losing his hearing.
But regardless if I'm writing about mental health or about a character learning ASL, I am plagued by fears concerning our ableist society: Will a publisher accept this book? Will readers read this book? Or will it be rejected because I didn't make everyone neurotypical and "able-bodied?"
Writing about depression and anxiety is now commonplace, but more "exotic" things like DID and schizophrenia are often portrayed wrong and used almost like a fetish that disrespects people who have such conditions.
But I only want to write about these things in a realistic way, and I don't want the "ableist police" pushing out my voice so the entire world can be wallpapered over as "perfect."
Comments