The Proud Family ABLEISM Episode ♿♿♿ 

My school let a guy basically stalk me because he was autistic and ‘didn’t know any better’ despite me saying MANY TIMES he made me uncomfortable. It wasn’t until his mother stepped in that he stopped, and he only stopped because he got sent to the psych ward because he ATTACKED her with a knife.

I really liked the Kim possible ableism episode as well. It showed a character in a wheelchair, Felix, that really just wanted to be treated like a normal person. He didn't show up often after his introduction but I always liked it when he was included.

as a physically/mentally disabled person I think this ep has a good moral, but I wish they had another episode about disabilities :/ while some disabled people do take advantage of people's pity and use it to their advantage, that's also a harmful label that gets put on ALL disabled people a lot of us get called selfish/greedy for asking for accommodations, or accused of faking if we "don't look disabled", or get extremely invasive questions I wish they would've shown the other side of the coin too, even have a recurring character that was physically disabled (I do love that they made one of the twins autistic though :)) overall good vid! I really like your content ^^

I’m disabled and I’ve experienced ableism. I do think that some disabled ppl use their disability as an excuse to me mean or entitled. But I also think that ppl automatically look down on us and underestimate who we are as ppl. They treat us like we aren’t human, or like we don’t have feelings. I don’t need pity, or to be babied…it’s not genuine to me. I get some ppl wanna show compassion, but it’s not always genuine or real.

The episode was also about the dangers of abusive relationships, and in here it’s not physically but verbal abuse. Since the guy in the wheelchair was a complete jerk.

As someone who is part of the disability spectrum, I have seen only a few disabled people in my life who do take advantage of people's sympathy and pity just to get through life easier. And believe me just because you're disabled for a long time or short time, it's not excuse for your terrible personality and behavior towards others.

this is great because I’ve heard wayyyy too many people babying disabled people like 😐 yes they can do wrong. yes they can do great, too. being disabled isn’t a personality trait, and a bunch of people forget that

I worked with a guy with autism in a restaurant. He used it as an excuse to be mean and pull knives out on people if he didn’t get his way or if someone did something different to his way. Most of us got 3 or 4 warnings before we got fired, he got way more. He was spoiled and mostly an incel. He was devote LDS as well and hated when women spoke up. This proves that using disability as an excuse to be mean won’t get you anywhere in the long run.

Being disabled don’t make you any less of an asshole. Glad this episode touched upon this

I think this is very true. Lots of media often portray disabled people as "angels" when anyone can be a bad person. A very funny trivia: did you know that there was an E.T. rip-off that is well loved in the disabled community? It's called Mac and Me. It's bad but one thing so well praised is that the main character is in a wheelchair. Him being in the wheelchair is not any part of the plot. No one mentions it and treats him like a regular kid. Another is a show I dislike is the Big Bang Theory where one of the characters dates and a deaf person who happens to be a gold-digger. I was shocked! I watched the ep and yeah- It's true! I'm mentally disabled and in the LGBT. Both in media have to be "wholesome and pure who would never hurt a single fly!" when all of us have different types of personalities.

There was a disabled kid at my school, dude was an asshole, sure I felt bad he didn't have a normal life, but that doesn't mean I have to put up with his shit and I told him off as much as anyone else

As someone with autism, I used to be bullied back in 6th grade for being weird and then after people heard about what happened they only talked to me because they felt sorry for me.

i hate when people give me pity or feel "sorry" for me just cause im in a wheelchair its actually quite annoying because people think all disabled people are the same and can't help themselves and while yes their are SOME disabled people that need full help and supervision, 24/7 that doesn't mean everyone with a disability is like that like me I can still move around do a lot of things it's just my mobility is Limited people really be acting like I'm dying or something and it's also really hard to date and find genuine friends because most of the time they're just doing it out of pity

Love this discussion, I remember this guy in middle school hated my guts, made fun of me but when I did it back, I was being ableist and forced to apologize by staff at school! (He has ADHD, but little did he know I had undiagnosed autism that i recently got checked out! LOL.) Shows guys with disabilities can be jerks just as much as girls or others could, it's never an excuse. if your personality sucks, that's you! Thank you for the video, I never grew up watching Proud Family but it seems like it was a bit ahead of its time.

I didn’t see this episode but my prediction is Oscar is gonna be overly protective when he finds out Penny is going on a date, but then is chill when it’s a guy in a wheelchair because he doesn’t think the dude would actually pull anything (because wheelchair). Edit: called it.

one of my favorite youtubes is a blind, voice actor, skater and surfer. his name is pete gustin and hes proof that people with disabiltys are still capible of things every person can do.

I have Asperger's, and I choose not to disclose it IRL usually, especially at work. There's not really any hiding that I'm odd, and maybe it would prevent some misunderstandings if I was open about it, but I don't really need any accommodations and, for better or worse, I'm afraid of my social skills stunting out or getting ignored if I openly adopt the label. I'd rather people take me for what I am.

“What episode of the Proud Family would it be without Oscar getting hurt as a gag?” Would be nice if the writers did this with someone else.

I’m was pretty impressed that any show would do something like this, but it just proves that anyone is capable of being a jerk.

I dreaded it when I saw this thumbnail, I remember how uncomfortable this episode made me feel with how Penny's boyfriend treated her and how she trapped herself in that situation. I probably wouldn't bat an eye now, but I was a sensitive kid! 😂

I have autism and sometimes I feel like some people only are nice to me because they feel like they have to be

Thank you for discussing this topic, Tony! This isn’t just ableism, there’s actually a very under-talked-about kind of ism, where instead of discriminating against someone, you give them passes, just because of their identity. I may not be physically disabled, but I do have Autism; and while it does effect my attitude, and there are things about that I can’t change, I would much rather someone tell me I belong in an institution because of my Autism, than someone say I belong in the White House because of my Autism (or something like that).

Lots of people want to be accommodated, but not babied

I was in a long lunch line in middle school which expanded past a few tables. I happened to be standing by the one where the special needs students were. I was minding my business and this one boy in a wheelchair took the time to turn his head around to me and told me to move. I was polite and asked if he needed to get by, he said no. So i kept standing there bc it's a line and I'm not the only one in it. He proceeds to harass me and told me he'd knock me out. I got mad and told him to stfu before he ended up someplace worse than that wheelchair. His teacher then told me to stop bothering her student and i told her he's bothering me, he's literally turned his head to harass me, if you care then get him. She mumbled something while giving me a look and i continued waiting in the line like everyone else.

I really like this discussion! Besides talking about accommodations, I think it's important to talk about the social aspect of it. I have a cousin who's been in a wheelchair since birth. They got different treatment compared to anyone. And ever since we were little, something always sat wrong with me. Something that any normal person would do, they got special attention to their accomplishments or stuff they participated in. Kid me though why? Why are they getting such big reactions to things other kids are doing? Later on, I started piecing it together because it was the wheelchair. The thing that bothered me as I got older was my cousin themself. I learned to look past their wheelchair and started not liking them for their personality. Maybe from the treatment and attitudes they had towards them since growing up, they grew entitled, egotistical, and sometimes plain rude. One instance that stands out to me was one time back in highschool, they got someone in trouble. They were used to the attention and people bending for them. So when one guy didn't want to give them a hug, they got defensive and kept on harassing the guy. The guy stood up for himself and shouted "No!" which got a teacher to take both of them to the office with my cousin crying. My cousin, got off scoot free with a "sorry" and the guy, detention for a week. 🤨

Another experience I've had is when this special needs boy asked me out in front of others on the bus. Boys being boys they were waiting on me to say no so they could laugh at him bc they had been teasing him (he wasn't aware) I said yes just to save him from being laughed at but i regretted it bc i got his hopes up annd he immediately started rubbing my thighs. I sat still and started shaking and didn't know what to say and just waited till the bus got to my house. (I've been sexually assaulted many times so it bothered me.) I do not blame him though bc i did not open my mouth. I kept my distance and sat away from his seat the next day and the same boys asked if i liked him as he and the rest stared on and i shook my head no. They laughed and he sulked and he stares daggers at me the rest of that year. I should have been honest before though.

I got an invisible disability so unless someone sees my pump or I tell them, most people don't know I'm disabled. It's always interesting (And a bit frustrating) to see how people react when they find out. I've definitely been hounded by people wanting to help. And while I know it's coming from a good place, and I do appreciate it, at the same time, it can be upsetting to be seen as "incapable" or "less than." I can only imagine how much worse that feeling is for people who have a more visible disability. As for this episode specifically, I like the twist that they used with making the disabled person a not nice person. Most of the time in media, the message of "Disabled people are people too and should be treated as such" usually just focuses on the main character learning that their new disabled friend is capable of doing what any other person can do- just differently- and therefore should not be babied. That is a good lesson yes, and one that does need to be learned. But those stories are a dime a dozen. Pretty sure that every Disney/Nickelodeon/Cartoon Network show in the early 2000's had at least one episode with that plot point. What sets the Proud Family's episode apart is that it shows the flip side of that message: Disabled people are people too and should be treated as such; therefore if they're in the wrong, they need to be called out/punished for it like everyone else.

The absolute double standard of my middle and high school where one kid that was visibly disabled continuously got away with SA towards other students, even when it was happening in front of the principle and other students.... (and if you tried to do something about it, *YOU'D* get in trouble instead of him, guess how I know) but then another kid had a tic during a test where he smacked TF outta his knee against his desk so hard that it left a welt got chewed out by our teacher and he got detention for it. That and how AFAB people go underdiagnosed for disabilities all the time, like how it took me 16 years and a divorce to get glasses for my double vision and now I'll never be able to drive a car. Or the first eight years of my life where I was given allergy medication before they brought me to a childrens hospital where I finally got my asthma diagnosis, or how this whole time I've been Autistic with ADHD but no one cared other than myself to realize it. (When I was researching it myself, my ex husband even told me that I wasn't Autistic, he told me I was a SOCIOPATH)

There are people who assume people with disabilities are trying to use their disability to take advantage of others. I don't think this episode was productive. Writers could have had them argue because she kept trying to baby him, but they made him take advantage of her. That's a bad message to send

I’m not physically disabled and didn’t really grow up around people who were, outside of older family members. When I was younger I had never considered people who were disabled could be bad so this episode blew me away as a kid, lol. I don’t think any sore at the time or since ever addressed ableism in the way that the disabled person wasn’t a victim. As a kid I didn’t take away the message that all disabled people were like this, just that some could be.

I had to deal with ableist crap all through my childhood and high school because of my Asperger's and ADHD. I just wanted to be independent.

Been watching some of your videos. Thanks for the uploads. Never knew The Proud Family did an episode on this. How gutsy! It's a nuanced topic, I'm glad they did. I just got out of a lease with a disabled roommate 6 months ago. It was a pure year of hell living with him. I thought someone with a handicap would make them a little more compassionate than most people. He ended up being abusive and despicable. Called 911 twice on him. He milks his handicap and gets away with things he shouldn't.

I have Fibromyalgia. It used to be way worse than it is now to the point that my legs and ability to walk was affected and I couldn't run. Everytime I sat in the front of the bus where the disabled seats were I'd get a side eye from at least one person so that led to me getting a cane sooner than I wanted to. I'm 30 but I can still pass for a teenager so I still got looks until they saw me limping or wincing in pain when the bus stopped unexpectedly. Fortunately, I never heard the dreaded 'you don't LOOK sick' but I still felt some type of way. I don't remember this episode but again, this is one that knocked it out of the park, in my opinion. Being disabled doesn't give people a pass to be a jerk and those who are disabled deserve to be treated with dignity and as equals. Don't treat them they're helpless.

Penny: YOUR A TWO WHEELED MONSTER! Johnny crying hysterically Oscar: That's gonna be my ringtone. Sugar Mama, call me. Sugar Mama calls the phone and Johnny's crying plays Oscar: HAHAHA!!!!!

Am I the only one who noticed that the disabled boy looks like he could be the descendant of Kent Mansley from "The Iron Giant"?

I didn't realize that I myself had participated in ableism, until I became disabled myself. Now I'm learning to be a lot more careful of what I say about the disability community, especially now that I'm currently apart of it. Its the having a invisible disability where you really learn a lot. Because to most people us with invisible disabilities look fine like everyone else. And being that I'm still young I know some don't understand why I'm walking with a walker at my age. But perhaps its not for everyone to understand, people just have to remember to be respectful and kind to everyone. Especially because life can change in a instant you can be totally fine oneday and disabled the next. I certainly know from experience. Even doctors are abelist sometimes but I'm learning to not let it get to me. Thank you for making this video and bring awareness to the issue of ableism.

I think it’s also important to acknowledge invisible, neurological and leaning disabilities too. Not every disability can be seen, and that ableism is often ignored because the disability is invisible. I am autistic and ADHD (amongst other neurodivergencies) and I wear noise-cancelling headphones as accommodation. It’s so interesting to see how people will change the tone of their voice to either more annoyed and angry or patronising and infantilising when they talk to me. But to other people who don’t where headphones, they aren’t rude or condescending. Some people will even ignore me completely, and ask other people questions that should be directed at me. I can answer them, but because they see me as less of a person, they won’t talk to me. Or how ADHD people are often called lazy or too much. I would get told off all the time for not being able to do something. But it’s funny because I would be able to that if I was given the proper supports, but the people who tell you aren’t doing good enough are never willing to be that support. It makes no sense. I could go on and on with more examples, but I think I’ll leave it there. People need to understand that ableism affects more than physically or visually disabled people. The ableism that I have face faced is often overlooked because I’m not in a wheelchair. And I’m saying that we shouldn’t focus on abelism that visually disabled people face, but that we should also fight against abelism within invisible disabilities too. Thanks for reading, and great video :)

I had a friend who lost the ability to walk due to a neurological problem and had to use a wheelchair. When it came to helping him I would only do so a) if he asked, which he did! Sometimes he’d ask me to push his wheelchair or grab something or b) if it was something that he routinely needed help with, for example moving the desk chair out of the way so he could sit with his wheelchair, which I would always do when I got to class before him. I think people need to understand that (physically) disabled people know their abilities, and they know when to ask for help if they need it.

How the principal excuses the guy's actions because he's in a wheelchair reminds me a tiny bit of the Pelswick episode, Draw. In that episode, Pelswick draws a little comic of a horse in a wheelchair parked in the handicap parking spot at a saloon & it gets printed in the school paper by his friend. Everyone ends up being all up in arms about the comic, believing it's insulting to disabled people & demand to know who the artist is but Pelswick's friend won't reveal it because she wants to protect him so she takes the heat & gets suspended. Eventually, Pelswick comes clean & admits he drew it & it immediately gets excused since he is in a wheelchair but he gives this speech on him deserving whatever punishment they feel is right, it doesn't matter if he's disabled or not so he does end up getting suspended & a rubber chicken gets arrested in the end of the episode... yeah, it's a weird show but I absolutely love it. If you're open to looking into stuff regarding ableism in the future, Pelswick is a good show for it but I don't know how easy it is to find anymore, it's a bit of an obscure show from the early 2000's, I watched it on Nickelodeon back in the day. There's also another one where a substitute teacher (I think he was a sub, been too long since I've seen it) had kids make puppets of themselves & Pelswick got in trouble for not including his wheelchair with his puppet. Personal stories on my end, I'm not physically disabled (had a broken arm as a kid & have a few stories from that but not many) but I am on the autism spectrum, diagnosed as a kid & spent school years doing special ed. I'm at least fortunate to where mine is invisible but sometimes in regards to people who know, they will talk down to me as if I'm a child (I'm 32 & still get that sometimes), one time complete strangers somehow figured it out & they were addressing me as if I was a kindergartener or something. It was at a McDonald's, I swung by there after Pokemon League, I use to play the TCG frequently & McDonald's had Pokemon toys at the time, my motivation for going was to obtain a playable card included with their toys that time around & I like getting promo versions of cards for my decks because it's fun but I was disappointed to find they hid the cards that came with the toys so it was a guessing game on if I'd get my desired card. I already paid for a few toys so I figured I'd just search online for the card if I didn't get it with those plus, had some Pokemon toys to display on my shelf so I did get something out of it. Point of that story, it's a small McDonald's in the city right off of public transportation, near the center of downtown so they get a lot of foot traffic & this was right about the time many people were getting off work. Needless to say, most spots were filled & I lived just a little outside of the city & took public transportation so my food would be cold by the time I got it home so I ordered it for there & decided to wait for someone to leave so I'd have a place to sit. Frustratingly enough, only open spot ended up being by a bunch of older teens, maybe close to 20 but I'm pretty sure they were under 20 years old. I sat there thinking they wouldn't bother me but one of them was yelling at me, telling me my toys are nice. I tried ignoring them & one of them was like, "oh don't worry, my cousin has autism too. Maybe you guys would be great friends & you can bring your toys over for a play date." That ticked me off, I kept quiet the whole time because I didn't want to say the wrong thing, possibly get myself in some hot water for being too aggressive with my words. Considering it was close enough to city center & I had seen some guy hopped up on drugs demanding that McDonald's give him homeless cowboys before, they're use to dealing with unruly people, I just did not want to engage with anything & continued ignoring them even though they wouldn't let up talking to me as if I were some child. Seriously, I was like in my mid 20's at the time, not a kid! Heck, I have a friend I've known for years, she's in her 40's now & when McDonald's rolled out their Masked Singer toys, she was all over them. While yes, I am on the spectrum, grabbing a few cheap plastic toys at McDonald's isn't a clear sign of it & even if it was, don't talk to people like that. I was diagnosed when I was 8 so the majority of friends I had in school growing up, I met through special ed & I've known people who were far less functioning than I am, not once did I ever talk down to them, I referred to them the same way I do with everyone, not give any special treatment or anything. A few years after I graduated high school, I got a job in a business center working at a coffee cart, they only hired mentally disabled people to work there because it's like a special thing or whatever, I don't know the fine details or what I'm allowed to say about them, they were a bit tight on security, front desk ladies questioned everyone who walked in, even me & I worked there. It's like, I was taking out the garbage, no need to ask why I left the building & came back, jeez. Anyways, the clients at the building are low functioning adults as in they need the extra assistance but the people who worked there would treat them like toddlers. I never did, I'd chat with them & got along better with the clients than those who worked in the office, that's for sure. They just communicated differently & once you figure that out, talking with them is like having a normal conversation with anyone else. One guy mostly just sang, I figured out the songs he would sing matched whatever emotion he was feeling so if he was singing a happy song, I'd adjust my energy to match it & be delighted along side him but if it was a sad song, I'd show compassion & listen. At one point, I was told that I wasn't allowed to talk with the clients anymore because they thought my influence was toxic or something? I don't know what that was all about but they were saying because I'm not trained, I'm a bad influence on them & it ticked me off. Someone else who worked there, she was in the kitchen so I regularly talked with her while I was on shift, she disagreed heavily with how the clients were treated but she felt she couldn't speak up for them. She didn't technically work for them, she worked for another company that was outsourced or something so as far as I'm aware, she didn't have any sort of disability but I never asked. She suggested that maybe I should go through the training program so I could work with the clients but I outright rejected because whatever they teach in there doesn't seem like stuff I agree with.

Disabled person here! Physically and mentally, and I think a lot of it especially for me as someone who’s disabilities were invisible their entire life (“invisible” aka ignored) until recently, that experience really adds and changes a lot too. A lot of ableism for me is people not taking me seriously, and not having any help. Now when I use my cane and others it feels like everybody is suddenly worried and “concerned” (they’re just interested and bewildered that a disabled person is existing) it can get very frustrating. Going from ignored and invalidated to being doted on by people who didn’t give two shits about you when you weren’t visibly disabled. It’s especially shitty in a small school, i have borderline personality disorder and so i get very tunnel visioned when I experience any emotion surge and it makes me sometimes snap at people trying to help me. I don’t enjoy doing it, but sometimes it’s needed if a stranger tries to grab your mobility aids. Plus living as a disabled person in America (where i am) just genuinely sucks

As someone in a wheelchair I feel like they don’t show how cruel people can be to you just because you are physically disabled. People often slam doors shut when they see me coming, tell me I’m too young to be in a wheelchair and I must be faking, family saying I’m not worth marrying because of my disability, I’ve even had one guy say he wanted to date me just so he could have the “right” to make cripple jokes. In my experience almost no one tries to coddle physically disabled people.

I worked in a clothing store that was very big on only helping customers as much as they need. We had a family of little people come in and were looking at kids cothing for their kids. I chatted with them and talked about sizing and ordering in anything we did not have. Someone complained i was not getting anything off the top shelf for them. I told them first thing, "if you need me to get anything, let me know and i'll get the ladder" to which the father laughed and joked "you need a ladder too?" And we joked about the fact i am 4'10 and went on. The fsmilt was so nice and even weote a review later that i got to eee thay stated i made them feel like people. I treated them like i would anyone else. Beaides, even if a taller person was in store i wouls still get a ladder and do it myself. I treated them no different. I see it a lot because i am autistic and so is my son.

I have mixed feelings about this episode. As a person with more than one invisible disability (physical and neurological), we're constantly told we're "milking it for benefits", "attention-seeking", selfish, wanting special treatment, and we're framed as manipulative. We're accused of leaching off the abled-bodied. The "manipulative" disabled person fishing for sympathy is a VERY common trope. It's something I've been accused of so many times wrongfully. Therefore, despite the writers' intention to say "don't pity disabled people or make assumptions about what's inside" ... I think they actually created a problematic character. And as a disabled person who was abused by another disabled person, disabled people shouldn't get away with abuse. Social justice, identity, and its rhetoric should never be used to enable abuse. But all of the onus is on the behaviour of the disabled person. Abled people mistreating disabled people and getting away with it is much more common than the reverse. I have been abused by able-bodied people who weaponized my disability against me.

I met one of my best friends in college who is disabled, and at first I did sort of have that innate feeling of wanting to help her out. But as the years gone on, I’ve come to see her as very capable and even admire her for her strengths! But on the flip side… my mom’s partner is disabled, and he can be a real piece of work to put it lightly... But it’s also bc of his disability that my mom doesn’t kick him out and tolerates his behavior They both may be disabled, but they’re still people. I’ve been around them for years to learn not to let their disabilities sway how I feel about them and treat them, and I apply this to others as well

I AM 22 BUT have developmental and intellectual disabilities to the point where I have the mind of a child. I can definitely be taken advantage of, and HAVE been manipulated, it’s really scary. I’m deemed in need of high support, I can’t get a job, I’m deemed non consenting, I don’t really have the capability to make choices for myself, I’m basically a kid. How I view the modern world is how a child would, I cant grasp super complicated subjects, i can’t cook, I can’t clean, on top of a whole other bunch of stuff that non disabled people take for granted, I like cartoons, I have meltdowns, I like Lego, toys, comic books, sweets, I still believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny (although nowadays watching cartoons are becoming less and less of a niesh I've noticed) I live with my mother who i'd be lost without, im asexual so i don't even WANT to partake in those types of acts with anyone. However mind you, little kids can get crushes too, their just different from adult or even teenage crushes, my first crush was a girl I knew on my street when I was 8, the reason I liked her was because we both liked Lego. It certainly wasn’t sexual or anything like that, it was just a crush I didn’t understand. Even now when I have a crush on someone it’s always in a very non sexual childlike way, I just wanna play with Lego and watch movies and be their for each other. I hate that autism to some people is just “special interest hehe quirky” when their exists autistic people who’s life are ACTUALLY negatively affected by it. I've seen some kids learn something as a 12 year old but i cant even begin to comprehend it, My father abused me my entire life, he punched me and strangled me when he was angry, he alienated everyone in his family and even when I was diagnosed at age 12 he STILL didn’t even believe I had autism. Not to mention my Christian school would target me for bullying and targeted harassment because they knew I was too timid to tell giving me life long trauma, then had the gull to try and kick me out so they didn’t have to deal with me, which my father blamed me for, My mother eventually had the sense to throw my dad out of the house, which of course he blamed her for. He went on to start a brand new family to replace me. Yeah I had my nana who always cared and mom who did her best with her crappy circumstances so I at least had some resemblance of a support system.

I'm disabled and I've been harassed by disabled men for as long as I remembered. When I was in middle school, I was at a special olympics swim meet when an older disabled man came up to me and asked for my phone number. I didn't know what to do because I know his disabled and may not fully understand how inappropriate asking me for a phone number. I said "my mom won't let me give out my phone number." And he kept pushing it, even asking who my mom is so he can ask. It made me so uncomfortable. He eventually did find out who my mom was and asked for my phone number. My mom felt guilty too and gave him our home number. He would call me a lot until one day my step dad said that I moved and he stopped calling. I don't know if he did it on purpose or not, but he did use his disability to get my phone number. Even though I was just a child and his an adult. Just because someone is disabled doesn't mean they should get a get out of jail card. That at itself is ableist.

Great discussion as usual Tony. I feel like this episode was one the best from the proud family very important topic. Also feel like the episode represented how some people use their terrible actions to get special treatment because of their disability

As someone with a disability and special needs myself appreciate you covering this episode ❤❤

Love your channel, I haven't watched the Proud Family since I was a little kid and you have such great takes on every video.

I have honestly never thought there was a word for that! Great video!

I was just so glad when penny told him off 😂. And ol boy appreciated that because everyone around him treated him like a baby. I’m sure he wanted to be more independent but he didn’t know how to say it so penny’s spiel gave him motivation.

I love bro's videos! He broke this down perfectly.

Now they have a autism episode

binging all your proud family reviews

Unrelated, I really love your cat! A cute little guy!!

There also a flip side to this episode. Because the way that Jonny became verbally disrespectful towards Penny and her family. There's also a DV awareness message here

I was waiting for you to cover this episode. I always try to help people with a disability but I try not to overdo it and make them feel uncomfortable. But at the same time I don't wanna look like a douche

This was a really good analysis (as always!) As someone with autism, disability of any kind does not excuse assholery, and everybody should be treated the same-FAIRLY. And I’d hate the idea of someone treating me different or holding me to different standards just because I’m autistic-I’m an adult in control of her actions and attitude, and I’d rather you call me out for assholery than just pretending it’s fine, because then I wouldn’t know that I need to change my behavior. I mean, that just goes for assholery in general-disabled or not, call people out on their shite!

Its true about ableism...i have autism and my experience with alot of some teachers and some people were that i was treated like a little kid...im 19 now amd worked hard to graduate as an honor student and am in college for nursing. I didnt want to be treated like i was six or younger and wanted to be treated like normal. Sometimes i dont understand infantalizing people with disabilities in media tbh.

As someone with ADHD, I've struggled with accepting that as part of myself. I have struggled making connections with others. Often times i failed to read the room, but i always committed to better myself and learn. I have blown up with friends and others who never communicated properly with me. I value clear communication because it's alot easier to not have to infer or read into implications. My closest friends hear me out and can tell me when im wrong or pick me up when im down, rather than ignore me. People who used ADD/ ADHD as an excuse always rubbed me the wrong way. It was something i never did, and held myself to higher standard. I don't really reveal it to others unless i feel like i can trust them. It was something i could hide away, but affects me in invisible ways.

I haven't watched this episode in years I like how real it was ngl cuzz.

I actually wrote an essay about ableism for class once, but totally forgot about it until now, so thanks.

I have an invisible disability (this episode is my favorite with its good writing and representation.) When im approached with many different people in my life ive been treated unfairly or people dont know to understand on my level in school years even being in special ed classes i do feel important and taught well evening growing with diverse disabled students throughout the school years. Whom i do remember some were bullies to me. Fast forward years into adulthood into 2020 at job ive worked for a long time, theres this one person who has down syndrome and it was the time of the pandemic. I did my darnest to be patient and guide em on saftey guidlines so they wont get covid. Explaining why certain spots are closed. Yet they're ignorant and rude, throwing the innocent "angel" act. Management came in and told em the same thing. They didn't wanna follow rules until they finally gave in an left. After the guidlines have lifted, they came back. From what I've known who they actually are i didn't wanna serve em anymore and left the old job afterwards. Some disabled people can be jerks too.

Wow, the only disability episode is about disabled people being mean. That's ableist.

All throughout my schooling we had a high functioning autistic kid and yeah he was unrightfully bullied even by some teachers which is just wrong, but he also got away with a lot of things. When we were in high school he would constantly harass the popular girls and be very rude to others. A lot of us tried to be as nice as we could but nothing ever got done about his verbal harassment to the girls. They would always tell him to stop bothering them and he kind of got off on them being uncomfortable. It was never corrected and i was worried for him when we got out of highschool. I wished for ppl to understand his mind works differently but i was very worried about other young women in his school being sexually harassed bc he was never taught no means no and stop means stop. Regardless, i hope he’s doing better for himself and making a positive difference in whatever he’s doing.

There's such a broad range of things that can cause disability. Most people will go through at least one permanent or temporary disability in their lifetime, and there is such a broad range of experiences that even people who are disabled can have an ableist mindset and not even know it. It's important to listen to people to find out what they need and don't need before acting or making judgements, and people should absolutely be judged on their character and not their abilities or disabilities. I would like to see more content about invisible disabilities, which does pose a challenge in animation being that it's...well...a visual medium. That being said, kids don't learn enough about people who sometimes need accommodations and sometimes don't and people who have difficulty navigating the world due to depression, anxiety, mood disorders, etc. The wheelchair is both overplayed and underrepresented, IMO.

Good discussion

i am nearly blind, i do get snappy sometimes when people assume i cant do anything, ive been this way 37 years, i can do most things myself, if i need help i will ask. but if you just grab my arm and start pulling me or something, i will get angry. i dont want to be mean, but i also dont want random people touching me thinking they are helping. i actually had a incident where someone THOUGHT they were helping and ended up harming me. I was roasting a marshmallow and i like mine charcoal and burnt, so i went to blow it out, i knew how close it was to my face but the person freaked out, tried to grab it from me and ended up pushing the whole sticky on fire marshmallow right into my left eye. it was horrible.

I do rmr, i dont fully rmr Little Bill had episode but similar topic. Little Bill had friend who was in wheelchair and he was being a little to help. His friend got mad, Little Bill had conversation with his parents or grandma that his friend wants to be treated like everyone else.

I have few stories, I do rmr back in high school, when I did theatre, there was kid who had austim decided to help out for this show. In our friends meeting he was really disruptive in the first meeting but no one called him out on it. During tech week, when we stayed at school until 9. He didnt brought a lunch and tried to get us to buy him something with no success. One of the lead actor brought tacos. Well the lead actor only was able to eat half a taco. During lunch break, he open his box and it was empty. Someone ate his lunch, including half the taco. He complain who ate his lunch, most of us knew who ate his lunch but we didn't want to say without proof. One girl saw him eating his lunch, and told him. He told the teachers incharge of theatre but they didn't do anything to him or even told his parents Other moments, I have seen is there was this girl who is in special needs class and she speaks french but no one believe it bc she was special needs. My friend who as couselor during the summer. Her buddy is a boy who has down syndrome. Even if he doesnt experience bullying by the other kids but he has experience special treatment. Kids go easy on him doing group activities, she has told kids, he is just a kids just like u guys.

When I was in college a classmate made a good point. She had a motorized chair and our class was on the second floor. She had wished campuses would be more accommodating in terms of where classes were held for people with mobile disabilities. You can argue elevators, ramps and door openers are accommodating but what about in emergencies? At that point, she would need someone to carry her to safety (cannot walk). But also, she would have to leave her EXPENSIVE motorized chair behind (it was like a scooter). She argued putting the classes with students like her on the ground floor should be a thing. Especially when it would just mean swapping rooms with another class without any time changes. It was an interesting topic considering there isn’t talk about that as much as just adding ramps and elevators to places nowadays.

My friend & I are mentally disabled. Momma & her Mom know what we can do & help us when we can’t do stuff, but everybody else treats us like babies. I don’t like not knowing if people are nice because we try to be nice or if it’s because they think we’re dumb.

The Proud Family is the most accurate show I’ve ever scene because this is 100% true. I dated three, poor guys who were all disabled and two were even fat. I felt sorry for them but soon found out they were pure evil.

My mother didn't understand why I disliked my little sister's school's custom of always voting for disabled kids for homecoming. Mom's like why; it probably makes their day. I tried explaining, but she just didn't get it. It's not about disabled people being voted for or wining. It's about how somebody shouldn't win or get voted just because of their disability. She thought I was being a hypocrite because I have Autism and was homecoming queen my Senior year of high school. And I told her didn't think most of those people knew about my Autism (She acts like it's more obvious than it is and it's annoying.) and I hate the thought of those that knew using that as the reason to vote for me. She still didn't grasp the concept and thought I was overreacting, but assured me that I was also voted for because I was a "nice girl". She never quite got it that it's not good to be giving disabled people advantages or prizes they wouldn't have gotten had they not been disabled asside to needful accommodations. It makes things feel unearned. She doesn't grasp that I was speaking of disability entitlement also known as unnecessary special treatment towards people with disabilities. It looks like the boy that this boy you're talking about in the story is an entitled disabled person or a person that uses his/her disability as an excuse to get away with things. And many of those that get that way have at least one major person in their life consistently giving them disability entitlement. And things things apply to illnesses and mental illnesses and all forms of medical problems too.

I was afraid to use my accommodations too often at school or remind teachers of them because I was afraid of looking like one of those people that uses their disability to get away with things and also I was afraid and even overly paranoid of getting singled out because of my Autism.

I was considered a really smart kid when it came to academics and other things, and i was physically athletic, but i struggled with social cues and stuff and i didn't know why until age 17 i was diagnosed on the autism spectrum (they said aspergers at the time). i realized my whole life i had been trying to be really good at everything. i would feel really emotional when a classmate called me "stupid" and i would go out of my way to "prove them wrong." even after my diagnosis as an adult i still am fighting to be successful in my own life despite any mental health setbacks. but, in a way, i am glad i was not diagnosed until a teenager because when i got to college i met this dude who had been diagnosed since age 3 and would use it to his advantage, and it made me mad. he even manipulated me sometimes to defend him. but then people would assume his actions were somehow on me. like as if they were stereotyping every autistic person they knew into the worst possible version of someone they knew. i got sick of it so i cut him out of my life.

This was an episode I frequently re-watched when I could, and I did again tonight. There's lots I do get about this episode, but some I still don't. And just a few thoughts. 1. I do get what is shown how people treat disabled people differently because they feel sorry for them. Johnny McBride is someone who is presumed to be about 14 years old. I think anyone would feel sad for someone to be that young, and, for whatever reason, he cannot walk. That IS sad. 2. I understand that Penny did just feel sorry for him, and did not find him attractive although was flattered by his art he did to "get her attention" because, truthfully, she probably wouldn't have looked his way because he's in the wheelchair. 3. I do see how the school was easy on him, (like SUPER easy) due to his disability even though he did a major crime by graffitiing. 4. I get the "lesson" of the episode is that anyone can be a jerk, and that many people treat disabled people differently, even if they maybe don't even want to. .................................. What I DON'T get about it. 1. In the beginning, I always feel that Johnny genuinely DOES have a crush on Penny. The art, the way he blushes when she catches him graffitiing her name around. He's likely not wrong when he said that was the only way he could actually get her attention. The "I've loved you since..." does seem over the top in a way, but he's 14, lol. 2. I do understand that under the surface he is secretly a jerk? We see him escalate the bossiness and taking advantage of people babying him in the way he treats Oscar about the Ice Cream Float he says he wanted, the Ski Trip, etc. HOWEVER, I don't get the sudden nastiness and attitude he gets with Penny at the Ski Trip. Maybe he's just pissed he can't walk or needs some extra help on the slopes? Why is he bad at it when Penny is with him, but not when he challenged Oscar? Was she pushing him wrong? 3. He claims to have loved her, so why did he get so nasty and demanding with her? Wouldn't he want to remain sweet so she would fall in love with him? Or is it because he thinks he can say whatever he wants and she'll never leave because he's disabled? It just seems off to me that he would turn this way suddenly and so soon. Was he just showing his true colors to her because they were alone? Why do that to someone you say you love? I just don't get it lol. I know it's just a cartoon, but I know the writers were trying to portray something to the viewers, I just want to understand it all. I will watch this video tomorrow BUT I wanted to say this. Extra thoughts: 1. The beginning scenes of the Sergeant talking to the kids is painfully long for such a short show. I am sure there's deleted scenes in these shows just like movies, they wasted so much time with it. 2. I hate the B plot in this one. The thing with the weird chef and her parents just bores me a bit, I feel too much time is wasted on these scenes as well and I find myself just wanting it to get back to the plot with Penny and Johnny.

This episode perfectly shows the problem with positive discrimination. Johnny acts exactly how you would expect someone who can get away with anything to act. But from what I read in the comments, this was the only disability episode? Another problem disabled people face is getting repeatedly told they are just not trying hard enough to be normal. Say for example Zoey has a relative who does not allow her to wear her glasses around the relative, because she needs to learn to see without them.

Tony, there was a similar episode on Family Guy, where Chris dated a Down Syndrome girl. But the girl turned out to be bitchy and controlling. Even people with disabilities can be jerks. Acting out because of a disability isn't an excuse for rudeness and entitlement.

Reminds me of the family guy episode with chris and the girl with down syndrome. I like your channel a lot

look i understand johnny is handicap & doesn't have that many friends but that doesn't give him a excuses be arrogant & disrespectful he's lucky penny is even talking to him after getting her in trouble. i have sister who autistic but i had to put her in check because she's messing up the house or wasting our food so she can eat

When I was 14, my mom made me to go on a "play date" with a boy I used to be friends with but had not spoken to as friends in seven months. We used to be friends, but how we fell apart as friends is a long story. Both of us are autistic, but I didn't know he was until my parents were lecturing me about why I should go on this play date as a way to guilt trip me into going. I should also add that his mother was calling my mom EVERY SINGLE DAY from the start of summer break (which would have been in late May) until June 30th which was when she finally caved in and said yes just to get his mom to stop bombarding her with calls. After over an hour of crying over this, I eventually said yes since I also overheard someone in my family (I forgot who) whisper to someone else in the family, "does she (me) know the consequences if she says no to going to his house" as if I was going to be punished for not wanting to do something that I didn't get myself into in the first place. She became elated as if she found a long lost gem and gifted me with Klondike bars that were already in the freezer. I never liked those bars back then and now I hate them even more because of that experience. Many theories have come to my mind as to why my mom forced me into this. One theory that because money might have been involved. It had to have been a fantastic incentive at that given how this mom will not give up with giving her little boy a two hour playdate. When I got to the house, I was blown away at how lavish it was and how it sat next to a lake and has a massive deck and powerboat. One of the few reasons someone would make their female teenage child go on a play date with a boy they didn't want to be friends with anymore when this person already had to learn that sometimes friendships don't work out is if there was an incentive. However, you brought up how the reason she made me do this is because of internalized benevolent ableism. Can it really be as simple as going there for free just to avoid being frowned upon because you rejected a disabled person? If money was involved, I would be pissed that it was my mom that got the money and not me. I hate to think about how much money she would have been paid since again, I wasn't the one getting the money. She gets hard cold cash and I get dinky ice cream bars that taste like medicine.

The paradox of ableism is this: either they feel sorry for you or they persecute you, these are the two varieties of ableism when you are a child (and an adult too)

I’m autistic and I feel like a lot of people think that means I’m mentally 5 years old and talk to me like a child, and then on the other side of the coin we have people who think autism exist or just simply don’t understand that we experience the world, do things, and learn things differently than a neurotypical person would, like that one assistant I had in elementary school who wouldn’t help me read the instructions in my workbook because “you’re supposed to know this by now” and got mad at me for crying during a trip to the forest. It’s best to find a balance, like, help people who’ve asked for it or have said yes if you asked them if they needed help

as someone disabled, my experience that able people are meaner when I am in a wheelchair/walker than without. they laugh and point, push my chair without asking, cut me off to use the handicap restroom stall. the worst is the sexual harassment , men will just try and sit on my lap and ask " how much for a ride?" no one feels sorry or bad . I have never in my whole life , especially in school see people being nice or feel bad for the handicap kids, teachers don't care. no one cares about us.

I remember hearing about a mother and her kid were locked in a public bathroom while a man was screaming and banging on the door and the police let him go because he was autistic and “didn’t know any better”

South Park had an whole season about trying to make the town better, and they hired a PC principal who beats up his students cause of their micro-aggressions even though there’s only one student to beat up. In one episode he wants to beat up the writer of the school newspaper for using the “R” word and realized Jimmy was in crutches

They should talk about invisible disabilities too.

I don't care if you're able or not you still need to have a kind heart and treat people the way you want them to treat you Penny's better than me cuz I would have told that boy off in front of my family with some choice words I don't care who's listening

Just because your disabled doesn't give you the right to treat other bad especially is that how you don't want to be treated Also a person disabled or just a person with health problems who doe not like there Disease define them I think is the most brave and confident person

It always annoys me when people let disabled folks get away with bad stuff just because of their disability. Conversely if a person with a disability needs help, whether it’s obvious or not, it’s always better to ask first and if they say yes then help them with the immediate need unless they ask for more.

I feel like if she said “No” the episode would act like it was just because of the wheel chair, too.

Ableism is an issue I care a lot about. I'm multi disabled but it's not visible so I've never really experienced benevolent ableism. I could write (and probably will) whole essays about ableism in media and from my real life. But I do know oakwyrm is a good video essayist that already talks about this issue on a regular basis. So just wanted to give that recommendation. I think the closest thing to benevolent ableism I face is the infantalization of autistic people. Especially ones who are extra "quirky" or "weird" and not particularly concerned with assimilating into mainstream capitalist society. With rigid definitions of what a "real adult" looks like. Who may not even identify as human. Who aren't begging for scraps of acceptance but actively reject normalcy as a concept to strive towards, due to strong criticisms of what is actually normal currently..are just enjoying letting go of the pressure to act like a "Real Adult Human". Harder to control ones that aren't particularly driven by a strong desire to be part of the "in group". Who might prefer to be homeless than to feel controlled by capitalism, ala RENT(though not even close to a majority reason for autistic homelessness, to clarify) The ones I like to call "the pack of Diogenes" And this causes intersectional harm in the realm of healthcare. Like how TERFs try to paint autistic people as so child like and incapable of understanding our own genders and what we want in life that we need to be blocked from trans healthcare. Or even under a conservativorship with few human rights. Second class citizens, right next to children. Not me. I live "independently" with an also autistic partner. But it isn't easy because of rampant social discrimination and physically inaccessible workplaces. Autistic people are the most unemployed disabled group. With 85% unemployment among even college educated autistic people. 15-40% of the homeless population in any given area is *diagnosed* autistic. Let alone all the ones who didn't get diagnosed but then fell off due to adult onset regression. 1/3 autistic people experience hikikimori. And this is all while at every turn people say it's "not a real disability" and heavily police how you present as the perfect clinical informationist type or the most vocal about every little negative experience in life. Even the concept of sharing autistic joy is met with aggressive Hostility in the name of defending Really Disabled/Autistic people. Anyone unmasking is treated as extremely privileged or just faking for attention. Despite how bad masking (not the COVID type) is for health. Autism is complicated and presents differently for everyone. Yet there's this expectation to always put on a very rigid performance to advocate in exactly the right way. Otherwise you aren't being autistic "Correctly". It's a whole mess. (And that's only one disability. But it is autism acceptance month so important to focus on)

I was half hoping to see the opposite form (malevolent ableism) mentioned, at the very least. You could argue that it's obvious that's a bad thing, but people seem to have this tendency to over correct. I could count the times I've experienced benevolent ableism on one hand, while I've lost count of the times people have crowded my wheelchair to the point I can't move or have kicked it.

I think is one those things that the writer's have a bad portal of a disabled person, but no even a disable person can be disrespectful , you can feel sorry for them but it doesn't mean is okay for them to be awful to towards them

My friend's personal experience with this was that in elementary school there was a Autistic bully who always picked on my friend and the teacher would force Her to play with the bully every recess until the bully pulled a chunk of hair from my friend's head. My friend's mother had to go to the school and tell the teacher that my friend didn't have to be friends with anyone she didn't want to

I offered some water to an old guy with crutches that was taking a break, he didn't need it, i told him good day, and that was it.

As someone who is autistic I had autistic friends who would act the same way and would try to get their way and use their disability to get their way and it really got under my skin

My bestie got stalked and her co-workers even let a guy leave her love letters, on college campus because he was autistic and would throw meltdowns if she wasn't around. People around her would pressure her to baby him and this guy, after she told him repeatedly to leave her alone, then started harassing ME her bestie online and sent me some creepy artwork of my persona (dude was a deviantART furrry too..)

I am neurodivergent, clinically level 1 ASD. Even before being diagnosed, people would often tell me that I was "doing it wrong," often times yelling no like I am a dog or grabbing things out of my hands, even though I am more than capable of doings things. I just take a slightly different approach than "nOrMaL," and it makes some neurotypicals super angry and they can't handle it. Like I am being reckless or disobedient or something. But half the time, I find a better way to do stuff than they are doing it.