Tiffany Yu's Anti-Ableist Manifesto: From TikTok to Global Change

In this episode of The I Can’t Stand Podcast, Peta Hooke speaks with disability advocate, entrepreneur, and author Tiffany Yu. Tiffany is the founder of Diversability and the author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto, a powerful guide that evolved from her viral TikTok series. Together, they explore how social media can be a gateway to deeper conversations, how to confront internalised ableism, and why disability pride and disabled joy are essential in the fight for inclusion.

Episode Highlights:

• Why Tiffany started her advocacy on TikTok

• The power and persistence of microaggressions

• How guilt and shame can both hinder and help allyship

• Disability pride, disabled joy, and unlearning internalised ableism

• The challenges of representation and inspiration tropes

• Why inclusion must centre disabled voices

Listen now to hear how Tiffany is using art, storytelling, and social media to change how we talk about disability, one mind at a time.

Buy the The Anti-Ableist Manifesto: https://www.tiffanyyu.com/book

Connect with Peta:

Instagram: @petahooke

Website: www.icantstandpodcast.com

Email: icantstandpodcast@gmail.com

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Peta: Hello, and welcome to the I can't stand podcast, the show that explores what it's like to live with disability. My name is Peter Hook. I have several palsy and I'm your host. Every week I sit down with someone who's lived experience and perspective is reshaping how disability is understood, not just within our community, but by non disabled people too. Today I'm joined by the incredible Tiffany You. Tiffany is a disability advocate, entrepreneur, and founder of Diverse Ability. Today, she's here to talk about her brain new book, The Anti Ablest Manifacto, which builds on her viral TikTok series and sets out bold, powerful call to actions for a more incline Worte. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with Tiffany, and I hope you do too, So without any further ado, let's get into it.

Tiffany: Hi. Everyone, this is Tiffany You. My pronouns are she her, and I'm a Tony's American woman with below the shoulder length black hair, and I'm wearing a purple top. Joining you from Los Angeles. I run an organization or a community business here called Diversibility, which is focused on advancing disability leadership and building disability power. And I'm also the author of a book called The Anti Ablest Manifesto, which actually has a different US cover than it does the one available in Australia. So if you are tuning into the video, I'm going to switch my book cover so we have the appropriate one.

Peta: Fantastic. Sorry, I want to, of course talked to you about the book, but I know the book started actually sort of on TikTok, so I want to explore that. First, what made you explore ablisma on TikTok and then what brought you to creating the book and thinking, you know what, this is really great content here, there's a need for it, there's an audience. Talk to me about that.

Tiffany: Yeah. So my journey onto TikTok and also probably as a content creator started right around July of twenty twenty. I was creating a lot of content specifically around how I navigated daily life as someone who has a paralyzed arm, and I was trying to think about ways that I could continue to make video content and be a little bit more consistent with it, but be something more in line with the advocacy work that I was doing. More more supporting the broader cross disability movement than how Tiff Need, I don't know, puts on a necklace or cuts her fingernails, although that is a different type of educational comment. And there are a lot of people from the Brachioplexus injury community, people who had paralyzed arms or recovering from stroke, who benefited a lot from that early content. But I started to shift, and so I started part one of the Anti Ablism series in December of twenty twenty. And the inspiration for that series actually came from a newsletter that one of my friends, Nicole Cardoze, had started, called the Anti Racism Daily. Now, after the murder of George Floyd in twenty twenty, a lot of people were turning to Nicole, who is a black woman, about how they can better show up for the black community. And she did what she knew how to do, which is to start a newsletter just talking about daily ways to be an anti racist. So I said, I don't know from the type of person to create a newsletter every single day, but I can record a TikTok. So it started as the Anti Ablism Daily. The series started as mainly just me sharing things like, Hey, did you know that they're over a billion disabled people globally. Here's the definition of ableism, here's the definition I use of disability. A literary agent actually saw the series and reached out to me proactively asking me if I had thought about writing a book, and one thing led to another, and now we have a whole book. And in some ways I think about wanting to create content in all different forms, no matter whatever your best way of learning is. So if you are someone who prefers bite sized media, we are continuing on with the social media series. I did have a couple of people reach out wanting to engage more deeply with the work. So now you have a two hundred and fifty page book or an eight and a half hour audiobook. If you are someone who prefers more interactive learning or a workbook, we actually just launched an online self pace course which is based off of the b book the content in the book. And then if you're someone who maybe just wants a one hour training, I'm available for hire or you can hire. So many other people in the disability community who are taking learnings from the book or their own frameworks and introducing them into new spaces as well.

Peta: Well. You're clearly living out what you speak to me, because that really encompasses a true understanding of how different people learn and engage with content, and that is truly so inclusive to so many different people, because not everybody has the ability, or has the opportunity or has the access to be able to read our entire book. And as you say, TikTok is so great to allow all sorts of people with different levels of understanding to engage with content and allow them to learn at their own pace. Which is why I always get a little bit protective of social media in some ways because I think it's not always evil, you know, it could be the entire opposite, and how powerful social media could be, particularly for marginalized communities like the disability community. Before I go on with my questions that I have on my list, I'm just really keen on how it was to interact with your audience. Based on making such amazing content like three hundred and fifty videos is nothing to be sneezed at. You must be very proud because creating content is such a time consuming piece of work, particularly when there's so much behind what you post. I'm keen to hear about what it was like to gain an audience, and then also knowing that you're not going to get the same response from a book. Of course it's a more intimate They have to dedicate more time with your book. How has that transition been and if you found the feedback to be different.

Tiffany: So one thing I will also share in terms of different methods of learning is at the end of the book, I introduce the anti Ablist Manifesto art and it's a piece of art that has about thirty statements on it that range from things like disability is not a bad word or a bad thing, disability is intersectional, We're not your inspiration. And every statement on here actually correlates to a chapter in the book. So even if a book seems overwhelming to you, I kind of wanted to create a piece of art with it because everyone has a relationship with art. Now, I think to your question around kind of watching the platform grow, it has been heartwarming and scary all at the same time. On the one hand, I think I understand that there is responsibility with having a platform. I think part of why I was a little bit nervous about coming out with a book is that the book. Of course, you can come up with second editions and updates and edits. But now, whatever I believed as of October twenty twenty four or March twenty twenty five of your Australian audience, there was a little bit of a hard back to paperback transition there. It's now in print right. And I will say I have videos that I see of myself from twenty sixteen or twenty eighteen where I've used outdated language that I may not use today, not only to describe my disability, but to talk more broadly about the disability movement in general. I think part of what I'm hoping for is a little bit of grace and compassion as we evolve as human beings. I will say I actually wrote this book for someone who is newer to the disability community, and that actually includes people who are non disabled, and also people in the disability community who are maybe working to unlearn their own internalized AID or have shame around their disabilities and want to better understand what it looks like to be anti ablist in their own lives. I actually just spoke with someone earlier today who told me that they really enjoyed reading the book they're a disabled mom of disabled kids, and they're also going to buy copies of the book for their disabled kids teachers. I think about that trickle effect of impact, and sometimes it starts from an intimate place. So maybe someone who had the dotted liigne to me to resonating with the title or having their own disability lived experience, and then for me hearing stories that a disabled person shared this book with their therapist and they're working through their reflection questions together.

Peta: You must be so proud. I don't know whether I just live in social media world too much, And that's a really good reminder. To me personally of how important books could be because of the sort of impact your book could have to give. Just somebody's teacher, for example, like I wish that opportunity had happened to me going through what you call elementary school or what we call primary school, particularly here in Australia and high school. It's sort of any measurable impact not only to the student, but also to the teacher that they could use going forward in their practices. So you must be really proud. You start in the book with a reflection around guilt and shame and unconscious bias. Why did you start there and why did you want to include that in the book.

Tiffany: Part of why I wanted to talk about guilt and shame is that I feel like oftentimes we shame people into caring about our community. We'll say things like you could become one of us one day. Shame can be an intense, short term motivating factor. So this is kind of where counsel culture comes in. I guess the power of social media to create an uproar so that song will take action, is that enough to create sustained care for our community. My hypothesis is I don't think so. Right, it will force someone to do something quickly, but I don't know if it will change their heart and mind so that they will continue showing up alongside us. And one of the things I learned in my research around guilt is that there is guilt that leads to inaction, and then there's guilts that leads to action, right, and each person that fine line is a little bit we don't know where it is for each person. And one of the things I say in the introduction of the book is, at least for me, learning is never about shame. So if someone comes to me and they're well intentioned, and a lot of microaggressions are well intentioned, right, How can I meet them where they are and at least just make a little bit more progress forward? So I just wanted to knowledge that I think sometimes people's entrance into our community or wanting to show it better for us sometimes is motivated through the lens of shame or guilt. And how can I meet them there and have them join us in a non performative way.

Peta: You said there that sometimes microaggressions I might be misphrasing you, so I apologize that they's sometimes not badly intentioned. Can you explain to me what you mean by that.

Tiffany: I interact with all different types of people all day, and I'll have someone say, but you're so pretty. Underlying that is an assumption that disabled people are ugly, right, And so in that particular example, that's a microaggression where the response was kind of like a backhanded It was meant to be a compliment, but it was a backhanded compliment made with underlying assumptions that disabled people look a certain way and don't look attractive. I will acknowledge there is such a thing. I don't know if I talk about this in the book as attractiveness, privilege, and I do even think about in the context of disability advocacy, who gets platformed. And one of the chapters in the book, right around the ones around guilt and shame, is around privilege.

Peta: One microaggression that I used to get quite often, particularly when I was younger, was at least you have a pretty face, and it's like, well, that sort of means that the rest of my body isn't pretty inherently, so you know, it's a backhanded compliment that now I certainly would correct someone if they said it, but when I was younger, I would be like, well, at least I have a pretty face. It's one of those things that disabled people live with every day, whether it be the microaggressions that we've spoken about, unsolicited advice, particularly the amount of people that used to slide into my DMS and give advice and sometimes yes, they're extremely well meaning, but also nine times out of ten it's not applicable to me or I've thought about it, and if we have no relationship, then that's in my opinion, not appropriate. Also, inspiration palled is prolific still in our society, and it's something that disabled people face every day. As I say in your opinion, why do you think these elements are still so pervasive and persistent?

Tiffany: That's a good question, I guess My answer to everything is eblism. The definition of abilism that I use is when we devalue someone based on the way their body and our mind works, we are dehumanized to the point that we kind of just become objects. We become objects in the sense that people can pick and prod and make opinions about our bodies that's unsolicited advice, or become objects that our sole existence is to make other people feel better about themselves. We still have media other disabled people, large disability nonprofits leaning into what I call these tragedy stereotypes, tropes and stereotypes and these harmful ones that again dehumanize us and minimize our stories into something that is either we are tragic, our lives are tragic simply for existing, or our disabilities are our whole lives and we don't have hobbies and interests or aspirations outside of just dealing and living with our disabilities. Although I will acknowledge there is a level of privilege there that I have to be able to have my needs taking care of related to my disability, so that I can go pursue other things because that can be a full time job in itself, or on the alternative, just being superheroes being seen as superheroes. And again, I think this comes back to part of the reason why I feel really excited about the emergence of more disabled voices on social media is that now we have so many more examples of disabled people just living their everyday lives. And Emily Ladau has this really great quote. She says, in order to make the world more accessible, we need to make the disability experience more accessible to the world. If the Hollywood storylines and the one percent of disability representation that we're seeing and advertising are all leaning into inspiration, exploitation, or tragedy tragic stereotypes, then there's no room for that in between. And social media essentially gave us space to become that in between and fill that space.

Peta: For me, I can try get stuck in my own silo and sometimes get frustrated with the lack of progress when it comes to inclusivity of disability. You know, as a white woman, I'm very aware that I have a lot of privilege and that you know, diversity inclusion doesn't just include disability, it includes all sorts of different minorities, and I want to be really aware of that. But also I get frustrated when disability doesn't even come up in the conversation of diversity and inclusion. And that's where I think your perspective is really valuable and I'd love to touch more on that. As an immigrant, how you feel that interconnectivity of diversity and inclusion and whether you're able to use all your lenses of marginalization in your work.

Tiffany: Yeah, such a good question, and I do agree with you. I feel like disability is the last frontier or the forgotten sibling of diversity and inclusion. May is Asian American, Native, Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month here in the US, and I did have a couple partners reach out because they were looking for they were looking for someone with my Asian background, but they let me talk about disability. Here I was being able to lean into intersectionality in some ways, or even being a woman during International Women's Day, and can I bring a disability lens. Into those spaces. So I've been disabled for almost thirty years, I've been active as a disability advocate since two thousand and nine, so a little over fifteen years. And one of the things I have seen is that in two thousand and nine, I said I wanted to start a movement around disability pride, and I would get so many strange looks and people could not fathom that a disabled person could be proud. In two thousand and nine, California, last year, our governor proclaimed the entire state of California Julia's Disability Pride Month. Up until that particular point in time, I want to say probably only four or five cities had proclaimed Disability Pride Month or a Disability Pride Day. Part of why I feel grateful to have been active in this space for this long is is that I have seen progress. Even if it doesn't feel like it right away, I do think. I do think it takes It does take a period of time.

Peta: And that's where I think your book is so relevant, because even today, disabled people are facing extreme amounts of ableism, even if it's unsaid. Progression has certainly slowed, which is extremely frustrating. And that's where I think internalized disablism can really foster in amongst the disability community to make sure that we do feel value in who we are and there's nothing wrong with who we are and we should feel proud. Of course, there might be a perception of like, oh, we understand what ableism is now in the disability community, but I really do think it's important to keep working on yourself to make sure that internalized ableism doesn't foster, because we're the frontline to make sure that this access and inclusion does eventually happen. I'd love to think other people are going to advocate for us, and yes, there are some amazing people out there, but in the end, it's going to be the disabled people that are going to get this done. With that in mind, do you have any advice for the disability community to continually stay positive and manage their internalized ableism today?

Tiffany: Internalized ableism, the way we as disabled people combat it is through disability pride and disabled joy. And it sounds simple, but you know, even in my research, I couldn't find a I couldn't find a definition of disability pride. I found a lot of me talking about it. I've found a lot of different advocates talking about it and what it meant to them. And the one uh. The one quote I ended up including in the book was from Archer Shepherd, who talked about how being proud to be disabled wasn't about loving your disability every moment in time. It was just acknowledging that you are valuable and worthy simply by existing. Part of why I added disabled joy in there is that pride to me is more what we're doing to show the world that our lives are full and whole, while disabled joy, to me feels more or internal. One thing that I've realized is that part of where ableism gets its power is by us thinking as disabled people that we have none. Part of how we us disabled people think that we don't have power is by feeling isolated and alone and excluded in our experience. And so when you are in that loneliness state, you become so disempowered that it impacts your sense of self worth, your sense of confidence, etc. And it becomes this inward spiral where you're kind of caught in this loneliness cycle. This hope in finding community, finding each other, finding belonging is to meet other people so that we don't feel as alone in our experience. And that is I think how we unlearn this internalized ableism, right, That is us devaluing ourselves because of societal messages we have subconsciously internalized. Think about sometimes I think about nine year old Tiffany. I do wonder who she would have become if she had found her people earlier. And maybe all those core moments in time happened for a reason that I feel so grateful to now be almost forty years old and see our community and see it as magical and this generative force that not only is uplifting this book, but our whole community and figuring out ways that we can shine bright on each other.

Peta: Thank you so much for your time, Tiffany. I'm going to finish up today with a question I ask at the end of every episode. I started the I Can't Stand Podcast for a very simple reason. I got sick of waiting for my morning coffee in cafes and getting asked by strangers what happened to me? And while I don't necessarily mind. The question, particularly if the coffee is good, and I know that's not the case for everyone, and I know that not everybody is comfortable about talking about their disability, and I've started the podcast to allow for people to feel seen understood and also be educated. But in that vein, I'd love to ask you, what's one question you wish strangers would stop asking you.

Tiffany: The first question would be what happened to your hand? Then I say, oh, it's paralyzed in a car accident, and then the follow up question will be can it be fixed? And I'm like, oh, you know, it's a permanent injury. It's a permanent proalysis. I mean, it is interesting that the formal name of my diagnosis is called an injury, and so I can connect some dots. When something's called an injury, maybe you would think that there is a pathway. But part of the work that we are doing in our small breakial plexus injury community is letting people know this is a lifelong injury. Part of my shift has been starting to explain to people that my arm is prominently paralyzed, because just saying it was paralyzed wasn't enough. Now I have to add permanently. And even in reflecting on this question, you're making me realize that I had gotten that question can it be fixed? So much that I added the word permanently in front of it without even realizing. That's where the inspiration for It came from.

Peta: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the I Can't Stand Podcast. If you enjoyed today's conversation, the best way you can support the show is by sharing it with a friend or posting about it on social media. And if you have a moment, leaving a rating and review helps more people find these stories. Don't forget. You can always send me an email I Can't Stand Podcast at gmail dot com, or you can follow me over on Instagram at Peter Hook. I'll see you next week. I would like to respectfully acknowledge there were wondery and bun wrong people of the Coulan Nation of which I record the podcast to day, and I pay my respects to both elders past and present, along with and especially to those in the first Nation's communities who are disabled themselves