What Happened to You?

What happened to you?

And what’s wrong with questions, anyway?

Disabled people have thoughts…

"'What happened to you?' is a personal question" - James and Lucy Catchpole
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
“Being disabled doesn’t mean I’m public property - free to be constantly commented upon” - Dr Amit Patel
“do you realize you are the ninth person to ask that question this week, maybe even today?” - Jessica Gimeno
"How did you lose your leg" "Himalayan vampire goat attack"
“curiosity is important but so is patience, kindness, and tact... don’t assume that I owe you answers” - Keah Brown
"Disabled people do not owe anybody their medical details or their story" - Nina Tame
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
"#IHateWhenPeopleAskMe what’s wrong with me. That’s not a substitute for 'hello'" - Imani Barbarin
“I don’t want to relive the most traumatic day... of my life, to Tony, the complete stranger in the street.” - Jennie Berry @wheelie_good_life
"Asking about a stranger's appearance is rude." - Carly Findlay
"Asking questions is NOT the opposite of staring at a disabled person" - Lucy and James Catchpole
"We shouldn't have to explain our bodies to be treated with respect, dignity and privacy" - Cathy Reay
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
“Disabled people are not Marvel comics characters; they don’t owe you their origin stories.” Jessica Gimeno
"I've known about you for while, how lose leg?" "freak male-model gasoline fight accident" - Josh Sundquist
"I've gotten super invasive questions like 'how do you have sex'" - Jiya Day
"The world has been conditioned to the expectation that disabled people sacrifice our own comfort, privacy, dignity - all for the curiosity of others." - Ashley Harris Whaley
"Disability always involves trauma... it's almost impossible to talk about without at least grazing the pain" - Alex Wegman
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? By illustrator Karen George.
"It's not your prerogative to know our story or to invade our space" - Catarina Rivera
"I don't want to relive my trauma... at McDonald's - Spencer West
“I don't want to be rude to kids, but I do want them to learn it's rude to ask strangers about their bodies.” - Christa Couture
"how did you lose that leg of yours?" "covid related seagull attack" - Josh Sundquist
"People have this weird sense of entitlement over your body if you're disabled... they feel they can ask anything." - Ryan O'Connell
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
"I was asked 5 times in one night by complete strangers… let me drink my mojito in peace FFS” - Jennie Berry. Photo: Jennie - a white disabled woman in her twenties. She's sitting in her wheelchair in front of a sofa and wearing a red patterned dress. She's looking directly at the camera and smiling.
“Sharing a kid's medical details online doesn’t normalise disability, it normalises people feeling entitled to know a disabled person's medical history.” - Nina Tame
”are you asking strangers with no apparent disability 'what happened to you?' Then why are you asking me? It’s just as inappropriate” - Rebekah Taussig
"Disabled children are not living teachable moments. Let them play." Lucy & James Catchpole
“It hurts to have to explain painful, long & complicated reasons behind injuries when people expect a light-hearted story.” - Jessica Kellgren-Fozard
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
“One can explain... but by the end you are flayed by a forced oversharing of the function of your body” - Erin Clark
“did it like get cut off or something” “poorly executed pirate reenactment performance” - Josh Sundquist
"It's none of your business unless you know me, unless you're my friend" - Alice Wong
“No matter how complete my answer, there were more questions, increasingly intrusive and demanding." - @ableismistrash
“We NEED programmes like Children In Need to stop asking disabled people intrusive personal questions” - Saida Ahmed
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? By illustrator Karen George.
"when I’m buying groceries, I don’t always want to talk about where my legs are" - Spencer West
"I have one friend who says that she likes it when people ask her 'What's wrong with you?' because she views it as a teachable moment. But I ain't Oprah' - Jessica Gimeno
"I am not a teacher and it is not my job to educate" - Keah Brown
"Ableds are violent when you just decline to tell them 'what's wrong with you'" - Imani Barbarin
"I don't share the trauma story of my accident with the media" -Dani Izzie
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
“disabled children... don't have to justify themselves to people they don't know” - Jen Campbell
"Please don't expect every disabled person to provide teachable moments on tap" - Lucy & James Catchpole
blank - waiting for a last person...
"how did you lose your leg?" "Industrial gerbil factory accident" - Josh Sundquist
“Being disabled does not obligate you to explain yourself to anyone who asks” - Ashley Harris Whaley
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
“I have been told countless times that I should talk more about how I became paralysed... to educate people” - Sophie Butler
“If you have found yourself being the one asking these questions? Stop. Immediately.” - @ableismishtrash
"My disability isn't a trivia question" - Mary Bircher
"how did you lose your leg?" "Botched pedicure" - Josh Sundquist
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!
3 illustrated question marks on a cream background - yellow, red, and a muted blue, in the colour palette of What Happened to You? Thanks to illustrator Karen George for the question marks!