For the disabled community who really taps into TikTok, however, disability hashtags are often the one safe haven to explore their disabilities in an otherwise ableist world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But how does it get so misconstrued?<\/span><\/p>\n #ADHD has over 16.4 billion views on TikTok, with #ADHDtiktok not far behind at 4.9 billion. It’s worryingly easy to go down a TikTok rabbit hole; as soon as you watch one video, thousands more pop up to replace it on your \u201cFor You\u201d page. With so many videos under ADHD hashtags, it\u2019s likely one will show up to you, especially if you\u2019re interested in conversations around mental health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ADHD being digested into small, bite-sized videos is both ironic and means that \u201coverdiagnosis\u201d is a common point of discussion. There is something to be said for simplifying complex neurological disorders, but for many, it’s a way to find connection, support, and to explore the valid process of self-diagnosis as a starting point\u2014not an endpoint.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Despite people with disabilities constituting <\/span>one-quarter of the population in the U.S.<\/span><\/a>, they are often discriminated against, ostracized, and lonely, especially for those highly vulnerable people who may feel as if the world has forgotten that COVID-19 can still be fatal for them. The enormous cross-section of disability videos on TikTok helps to normalize people with disabilities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Social media has often been a source of engagement for disabled people, with popular accounts such as deafblind activist <\/span>Haben Girma<\/b><\/a> regularly seeing thousands of likes on <\/span>Twitter<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>whilst <\/span>Keah Brown<\/b> launched the hashtag #DisabledAndCute on Twitter (now popular on <\/span>TikTok<\/span><\/a> as well) in 2017 to destigmatize disabled people in fashion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Specifically on TikTok, however, there is a way to be instrumental in teaching the next generation about disability.<\/span> Fifty-six percent<\/span><\/a> of people viewing disabled TikToker content are between the ages of 18 and 24, and 96 percent of the rest of these people are under the age of 35.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This means that the stereotyped version of disability\u2014typically targeted on social media and in ads toward an older demographic, as if disability is something that happens primarily with old age\u2014is rarely seen on TikTok. And with over 15 percent of the world’s population being disabled, and long COVID adding to the number with 1.2 million newly disabled people, this younger audience is providing a fresh perspective.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Known on TikTok as <\/span>@r.a.r.e.advoc8<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, Marie Dagenais-Lewis<\/strong> shares informative videos about the history of ableism and rare diseases, as well as her own artwork and makeup processes. She\u2019s noticed that TikTokers lean toward educating a younger audience. This has made the platform not only a place for information\u2014for instance, “spoonie hacks,” a term used to refer to life hacks for the chronic illness community, can be seen often on Marie\u2019s TikTok\u2014but also a place for disabled people to make a living.<\/span><\/p>\nDestigmatizing Disabled People with #DisabledAndCute<\/b><\/h4>\n
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<\/a>\nMarie Dagenais-Lewis<\/b><\/h4>\n
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