Take a quick moment to do this check-in: Look at your Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok follows and ask yourself if any activists made the cut. How many of those accounts address ableism? Are they people who have a disability themselves? How many of those are people of color?
Regardless of your answers, it's probably time to diversify those feeds and follow more online creators who educate and advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. It's not just beneficial to your own feed and personal learning — these creators deserve the time and views.
Unfortunately, in the past, that hasn't always been possible. For example, in 2019, Netzpolitik.org reported that TikTok's moderation routinely hid content by creators with disabilities. While TikTok said it has ended the practice, these accounts still deserve digital interactions that could educate more people, help their advocacy work, and even make them a living. As fellow users, we should amplify their voices on our own profiles, trust these communities to tell their own stories, and listen to them about the impact of policy decisions and ableism at every level.
You can't rely on social media algorithms to keep your social media feeds full of diverse experiences. It's a personal choice to seek out and prioritize these perspectives. To start, try following some of the creators on this list, a non-exhaustive group of activists and influencers who are pushing online spaces to be more inclusive and intersectional.
@Crutches_And_Spice
Imani Barbarin is a disability activist and communications specialist, sharing important media analysis and critique through her experiences as a Black woman with disabilities. Barbarin shares sharp takes, personal insight, and commentary on things like pop culture moments, TikTok trends, and the ways that racism and ableism affect online spaces. You can follow her on Twitter or TikTok, or keep up with her work on her blog Crutches and Spice.
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@JudithHeumann
Judith Heumann has been fighting for the rights of people with disabilities for decades and was involved in several landmark accessibility cases, including the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. She was recently featured in the Oscar-nominated film Crip Camp, which explores the activism of Heumann and her young peers in the 1970's. Heumann still advocates for inclusive policies, writes books, and hosts The Heumann Perspective Podcast, where she talks to other disability changemakers about art, culture, and advocacy. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.
@Aaron___Philip
Aaron Rose Philip is a Black, transgender, wheelchair-using high fashion model, who's been featured on the runways of multiple major fashion labels and graced the cover of V and Paper magazines. Her account is all about her daily life in the fashion and beauty industry, and includes conversations about inclusion and diversity in the historically white, non-disabled industry.
@HabenGirma
Haben Girma is a deafblind human rights lawyer and disability advocate who has long been sharing her experiences fighting for inclusion and accessibility. Girma was the first deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, which inspired her autobiography Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law. Follow Girma on Twitter and Instagram for news updates and conversations about accessibility and representation.
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@MollyBurke
Molly Burke is a blind motivational speaker, influencer, and activist who shares her experiences as a young woman with disabilities navigating a world that is frequently not designed for her. Her content includes vlog-style posts about her day-to-day life, explanations of how she uses assistive technology, nods to her very adorable guide dogs, and conversations about accessibility failures (and wins) both online and in the real world. You can follow Burke on just about every social media platform, including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
@LucyEdwardsOfficial
Lucy Edwards is a journalist, content creator, and disability educator who shares daily posts about her life as a young blind woman. She's also BBC Radio 1's first blind DJ. Edward is known for her "How does a blind girl" TikTok series, where she shares various ways she navigates daily tasks and accessibility tools in an effort to break down stereotypes and address common misconceptions. She can be found on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
@Chrissy.Trubiz
Chrissy Marshall is a deaf creator and advocate who shares comedic and informative content about being a deaf woman on the internet. Her content includes takes on current trends in American Sign Language, discussions of ableism, and light-hearted commentary on issues facing the Deaf community. She's also advocated for improved accessibility on TikTok, including integrated services like automatic captioning, and talks about the suppression of content made by creators with disabilities.
@PowerfullyIsa
Isabel Mavrides-Calderón is a 17-year-old disability activist and policy advocate who shares a youth perspective on the fight for disability rights. While sharing her personal story and experiences, Mavrides-Calderón also posts content about historical moments, current policies that affect the lived realities of people with disabilities, and the importance of media representation — and she frequently highlights ways to get involved in the fight against ableism. Follow Isabelle on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok.
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@SoundOfTheForest
Nicole Parish is an artist and extreme bug enthusiast who shares both of these passions alongside educational content about her experience as an autistic adult on the internet. Parish's content is filled with all kinds of fun facts, from bugs to autism, and she frequently does Q&As with her followers to address misconceptions about being neurodivergent. She's also been open about her struggles as a creator with disabilities, in navigating the TikTok algorithm, hateful comments, and account flags. Parish posts mainly on TikTok, but you can also visit her Instagram to see more about her art and bug passion.
@ChloeSHayden
Chloé Hayden is a popular TikTok creator and actress who shares humorous takes on having both autism and ADHD. Her content mainly focuses on how those parts of her identity impact her life, and her videos riff off of viral trends while also calling out ableism. Hayden also shares her takes over on Instagram and even has a YouTube channel, where she posts day-in-the-life vlogs and autism explainers.
@WheelieErin
Erin Novakowski's TikTok account is a funny, sharp takedown of people's incorrect, often ableist, expectations of wheelchair users. Their content seeks to humanize their experiences and defy the so-called inspirational stories of people "overcoming" their disabilities. Instead, they make jokes and share stories about their chair and service dog, often putting their caregiver in the spotlight for on-trend videos. You can follow them on Instagram, as well, and Novakowski also works as an editor and writer for Cripple Media, a Gen-Z online publication run by and for people with disabilities.
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