Writing Disability with Cy Cyborg
Writing and creating disabled characters can be a bit tricky, and it’s so often handled poorly.
My goal with this blog is to help creators of all kinds, from authors to character designers, game developers to comic creators, be more empathetic and sensitive in their depiction of disability.
New posts on the first Monday of every month
New Posts
Forgetting your character is disabled isn't a "good representation" flex - Quick tips
“This character is written so well, you forget they’re disabled!” is not really the flex you’d think it is. It’s not a good thing to be forgetting a major part of a character’s identity is there, and yet, I see the sentiment all the time, from authors and readers alike. So let’s talk about why it’s not the beacon of good representation a lot of people think it is
How your disabled character's allies react to their disability matters - Quick Tips
The way other characters interact with disabled character is just as, if not sometimes more important than how you depict their disability itself, and it’s a part of writing disabled characters so many creatives overlook!
Toph Beifong doesn’t hold up as disability representation - Disability in the Media
I love Toph and the original Avatar series, and while her creators got a lot right, they also missed the mark in a few ways that mean she doesn’t really hold up in the modern day. So let’s talk about it
Proximity to disability is not the same as living with it - Writing disability quick tips
Knowing or caring for someone with a disability is not the same as living with it, so let’s talk about why just being close to a disabled person in your daily life, doesn’t always mean you know enough to write a disabled character, at least, not without input from actual disabled people.
We have communities - quick tips
Disabled people don’t exist in a vacuum, we often find ways of finding one another, and acknowledging that can do a lot for your representation of disabled characters
Baldur’s Gate 3’s (accidental) examples of accessibility in a fantasy world
Baldur’s Gate 3 seamlessly included accessibility accommodations into it’s world that some TTRPG fans have been saying would be “jarring” and “immersion breaking” for years, and no one even noticed, so let’s talk about what they were and what you, as a writer or creator, can learn from it.
Please note, all posts with images and video should contain alt text. However, some posts, especially those from 2024 and earlier, may not have alt text embedded, however, in those cases, it is provided in text below the image or video
If you encounter any that do not have any alt text at all, or encounter any other accessibility issues with this blog, please let me know and I’ll fix it ASAP at
CyborgDragon@outlook.com.au