Spinoza wanted to free God from mysticism. My friend X wants to free his wheelchair from superstition. The symbolic mind is the island we can’t escape. Disability figuration still comes in only three flavors: inspiration porn, evil cripples, or medical miracles. Notice than none of these has anything to do with disabled people themselves. This isn’t just an American problem. Neoliberalism long ago reignited the fuse of embodied inconveniences. Fascism of course has always loved this game. Spinoza: “Emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it.” It is hard to get a clear and precise picture of disability when medical metaphors, social disdain and fear are rampant.
Planet of the Blind 