Features

Two sisters are documenting the 'jerks and perks' of living with disability through witty comics

Written by : TNM Staff

Jessica and Lianna Oddi are Canadian sisters and illustrators, who are both wheel-chair bound due to an undiagnosed genetic condition.

To share their personal experiences of living with disability, the duo decided to make witty comics "documenting the jerks and perks of living #TheDisabledLife". 

And thus was born their blog on Tumblr called "The Disabled Life".

In an interview to indy100, the women said, "[We] started the Twitter account just to post funny things that have happened to us over the years. Then a little while back, I was looking through funny comic blogs, and I thought we should do something relatable to our disability. I hadn't seen too much of it around, and thought it was time to put our art with our humour. And obviously we wanted to do it together!"

The comics reflect many of the difficulties they face, including, "assumptions or judgements from complete strangers", being pitied at and the lack of accessibility for people with disability in several public spaces.

While Jessica and Lianna told the website that their comics have generated a positive response, they recently put a disclaimer on their site stating, "Most things we post are just based off our life experiences. Other people with disabilities may not agree with us. And that's cool! Because we too are people, with opinions and stuff. On that note, hope you enjoy our blog!" 

As The Mighty reports, the illustrations of the 20-something sisters not only reflect their personal experiences, but each comic is also crafted with “exceptional care and provides a thorough written description for those who are visually impaired."

“I wish people would just see us as human beings, like the rest of society. Sure we have limitations or differences, but we’re all people. Just because my random mutation at birth changed some cells around, doesn’t make me less than any of you normies," Jessica told portal.

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