“#IHateWhenPeopleAskMe what’s wrong with me. That’s not a substitute for ‘hello.’”

Imani Barbarin – Twitter, August 2019.

“…every time disabled people talk about how we fear being assaulted, nondisabled and disabled people alike come to the comments with a lot of bravado about what they would do. …disabled people often cannot react in a way that a lot of people “think” we should… …If you’re disabled and a situation escalates, what do you think happens to you? Ableds are violent when you just decline to tell them ‘what’s wrong with you.’”

Imani Barbarin – Twitter, April 2021

#IHateWhenPeopleAskMe what’s wrong with me.

That’s not a substitute for “hello.”

— @ImaniBarbarin@disabled.social (@Imani_Barbarin) August 2, 2019

Imani Barbarin is an American public speaker, content creator, writer, actress and model. Find her at crutchesandspice.com, on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram. Her memoir If I Were You, I’d Kill Myself will be published by Simon Schuster.