It’s no shock to anyone that we live in a world full of hatred and discrimination. A lot of the time we focus on religion or race but the bottom line is that that’s not the only people who deal with discrimination. Sadly, disabled people constantly face discrimination and people don’t even realize it. One person who knows about this all too well is Natalie Weaver who is an advocate for disabled children. Her daughter Sophia also suffers from a rare neurological order called Rett disease. Rett disease occurs mostly in girls and affects her ability to walk, talk, breathe, and speak. Her mother describes her as a big time daddy’s girl who loves to laugh. She also suffers from type-1 diabetes and an unknown syndrome that causes facial disfigurement.
https://twitter.com/Nataliew1020/status/930826213391785984
https://twitter.com/Nataliew1020/status/930826418820444160
Natalie is no stranger to the hateful things trolls do on the internet especially because she’s an outspoken advocate for disabled people. This particular instance was over the line and hit Natalie a bit harder than usual. She received a disgusting tweet that was using her daughter as an example to promote abortion. The absolutely despicable tweet came from @OBSIDIANSMOAK and it said:
“It is okay to think that every child matters however a lot of them do not hence the amnio test which should be a mandatory test and if it proves negative and the woman does not want to abort then all bills accrued after that is on her and the father.”
https://twitter.com/Nataliew1020/status/930826615839391744
At first, Natalie just decided to block the user and take the higher road but eventually, she realized the tweet was gaining attention and decided to act. So she used her platform and made sure her supporters began to flag the appalling message this account was circulating. Two days after the tweet was reported Twitter responded and shockingly said it wasn’t against any of their terms. Natalie didn’t accept their terms and now the person is suspended and Twitter even apologized.
https://twitter.com/Nataliew1020/status/930826929481093120
https://twitter.com/Nataliew1020/status/930827144858669056
After the incident, Natalie’s fellow advocates for people with disabilities named Julie Ross pointed something out. Twitter doesn’t include discrimination against people with disabilities under reasons to report a tweet. Natalie then took things into her own hands to address Twitter’s policy and make the necessary changes. She’s fighting for them to include people with disabilities under their violation guidelines.