An Expert Shares Her Tips on Dating with a Disability
by Beth
Vilissa Thompson
Easterseals has supported mentorship programs for decades; this year, we’re celebrating our fifth year with Thrive, a community for young women with disabilities. Thrive focuses on different aspects of disability throughout the year, and this month, Thrive is talking with women about dating and disability etiquette.
It’s extremely important for young women to take action for themselves and others in the disability community, so Thrive reached out this month to gather perspectives on what dating and disability etiquette means to them in today’s world.
While reading through these women’s stories on Thrive’s dating and disability etiquette page, I was especially struck by Vilissa Thompson’s story. Vilissa is a social worker and disability rights consultant who uses a wheelchair, and she’s also the founder of Ramp Your Voice! Her guest post for Thrive was written as part of our #ResolveToRespect campaign.
Vilissa starts her post talking about what happens when she reveals her disability on a dating profile, or if it comes up in conversation on the first date. The post continues with some etiquette tips for people interested in dating someone with a disability. The list is short and to the point, and many of her suggestions would apply to dating someone without a disability, too. Example: Vilissa urges potential suitors to just say no when they figure out they’re not interested in pursuing a relationship.
“Man/woman/they up, and just say that you are not that into it,” she writes. “It’s better to know the truth than to be left hanging.”
Give Vilissa’s “Take Me as I Am” post a read. She’s an honest, candid, and fun writer — I promise you won’t be disappointed!
February 7th, 2017 at 9:01 am
I WOULD LIKE TO PARITICIPAte and get information about this foundation. I have a song 28 years old with mental disability and I would like more activities for him