**Video Source:**

**Sam Nina Wolf**

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This post has popped up a couple of times for the last few days and it's gained traction **fast**.

It's heartbreaking that over the last few days alone, we've seen people arguing over who has priority in the designated wheelchair space on buses. Now we're seeing a child being mocked by children who thought it was funny to try and steal her wheelchair.

To improve accessibility and inclusion, we need to normalise disabilities in a way that changes attitudes, challenges misconceptions, and educates people about the barriers we face as disabled people every single day.

I'm beginning to think that there's only even a possibility of change beginning to happen when people witness real, lived experiences, even if they're uncomfortable. We need to start calling out ableism and addressing the barriers we face until there's no possibility of them being ignored.

This isn't just a wheelchair. This is a child's independence. Her freedom. Her dignity. A mobility aid is an extension of someone's body. Nobody has the right to take that away.

I'm not sure we'll ever know the intentions of those kids—whether they were planning on stealing it or whether they intended on returning it - part of some 'joke'. What we do know is that it wasn't theirs to take. We know that their actions had an impact on that child's wellbeing.

Basic respect, compassion and empathy start at home. We can't make people change their attitudes towards disabilities, accessibility and inclusion, but we can challenge them, even if it's by content around disability going viral for the wrong reasons.

Content around disabilities shouldn't have to go viral for the wrong reasons