064: Rosie Jones (Part One)

When and at what age did you first encounter ableism?

Four years old.

I am You mentioned my documentary earlier and I got a bit of controversy for the title because I chose to use the R word in the title and I made that decision not to reclaim that word because I don't think we should but to make people aware of the power of that word because it is still use freely on a day-to-day basis and I remember at school being called that word because I knew what it meant.

Before I knew the power of that word, I was told that I was one.

But I'm only Figuring all this out retrospectively, I only properly understood what the word ableism meant when I was in my thirties, and even that If you ask anyone to describe what racism, what sexism, what homophobia is, people can easily tell you.

But when you say, now what is, ableism I feel like people still trip over their words and they don't understand the power of it as much as all the types in that category.

And I think it's been all my childhood and my twenties dealing with ableism by going, oh, well, I don't know.

Well, maybe I'm the first person with CP that I've met and I would swallow that and I would blame myself and it's only getting older educating myself and going through therapy that now when I receive ableism I feel strong enough to go, no, that's not my fault.

Stop judging me on my cerebral palsy.

Go away, educate yourself.

And for God's sake, stop being a dickhead.

I, this morning, I texted you this morning, this morning I rewatched Am I Retard, which I watched when it came out, and I remember, at bits I remembered, but what I hadn't heard, and obviously when I watched it we didn't know each other, but my partner saw me this morning, like I was in some tears this morning when you, it's the beginning of the documentary and you're walking through Kennington and you're wearing a pair of headphones and you say, I wear a pair of headphones because every day I hear somebody either laugh at me or say something cruel about me.

And you said that that's every day.

Every day.

If you saw me coming today, you'd see my headphones.

I've always on.

Always.

And I feel like I...

What for life would make it harder? Because I never know when the next form of abuse or ableism will hit me.

But best to be sure, it'll be every day.

I just had no idea.

I had no idea.

And it was so distressing.

You know, my first thought was how, how on earth are you still here? Let alone how on earth have you achieved the things that you have? Do you think that that cruelty has, by virtue of its desire to make you shrink, to destroy you, has in many ways actually fueled your fire to go look at me and look at what I have to say?

Yeah, yeah.

When and at what age did you first encounter ableism?

Four years old.

I am You mentioned my documentary earlier and I got a bit of controversy for the title because I chose to use the R word in the title and I made that decision not to reclaim that word because I don't think we should but to make people aware of the power of that word because it is still use freely on a day-to-day basis and I remember at school being called that word because I knew what it meant.

Before I knew the power of that word, I was told that I was one.

But I'm only Figuring all this out retrospectively, I only properly understood what the word ableism meant when I was in my thirties, and even that If you ask anyone to describe what racism, what sexism, what homophobia is, people can easily tell you.

But when you say, now what is, ableism I feel like people still trip over their words and they don't understand the power of it as much as all the types in that category.

And I think it's been all my childhood and my twenties dealing with ableism by going, oh, well, I don't know.

Well, maybe I'm the first person with CP that I've met and I would swallow that and I would blame myself and it's only getting older educating myself and going through therapy that now when I receive ableism I feel strong enough to go, no, that's not my fault.

Stop judging me on my cerebral palsy.

Go away, educate yourself.

And for God's sake, stop being a dickhead.

I, this morning, I texted you this morning, this morning I rewatched Am I Retard, which I watched when it came out, and I remember, at bits I remembered, but what I hadn't heard, and obviously when I watched it we didn't know each other, but my partner saw me this morning, like I was in some tears this morning when you, it's the beginning of the documentary and you're walking through Kennington and you're wearing a pair of headphones and you say, I wear a pair of headphones because every day I hear somebody either laugh at me or say something cruel about me.

And you said that that's every day.

Every day.

If you saw me coming today, you'd see my headphones.

I've always on.

Always.

And I feel like I...

What for life would make it harder? Because I never know when the next form of abuse or ableism will hit me.

But best to be sure, it'll be every day.

I just had no idea.

I had no idea.

And it was so distressing.

You know, my first thought was how, how on earth are you still here? Let alone how on earth have you achieved the things that you have? Do you think that that cruelty has, by virtue of its desire to make you shrink, to destroy you, has in many ways actually fueled your fire to go look at me and look at what I have to say?

Yeah, yeah.