disabled joy collective
a whole community, just for disabled joy.
The Disabled Joy Collective is an online community space for disabled folks where joy is the whole point.
Every single space within the community is centred around fostering, sharing, and celebrating disabled joy.
You can join at one of three rates, depending on what is accessible to you right now, and you get the same access regardless.
who is it for?
The DJC is for disabled people, across the whole beautiful sprawl of it: chronic illness, neurodivergence, mental health, sensory, physical, visible, invisible, self-identifying.
You might recognise yourself here:
You're newly diagnosed and still figuring what joy looks like
You've been disabled your whole life and you're exhausted from always carrying your armour and resilience
Your energy doesn’t really allow for anything with a fixed schedule
You've never had a place to claim (and celebrate) your disabled identity out loud
You've got plenty of joy already, and nowhere to put it down and share it
You love your disabled self, but don’t feel like you have a soft place to land with it
You want a space with people who understand that disability is all about the both/and: both the hard AND the joyful
why disabled joy?
There are really only three stories the world tells about disability. That it's tragic. That it's a burden. That it's something to overcome. And if you manage it, you're an inspiration.
None of those leaves any room for joy.
So we spend our lives arguing with them, and it's exhausting, and joy becomes the thing we squeeze in at the edges when there's energy left over. Which, let's be honest, there often isn't.
A space built entirely around disabled joy offers a different story. One where disabled people experience joy in ways that are specific to being disabled. Where we get to hold the whole thing at once: the parts that genuinely suck, and the parts that are beautiful and funny and ours.
Both/and, always.
The collective is made up of a bunch of different spaces where you can pick and choose where and how you show up.
The Collective lives on Circle, a community platform actually designed for community building. I picked it deliberately, because I wanted somewhere sustainable and easy to be. Somewhere you can show up at your own pace, in whatever capacity works for your body and brain that day.
some of what you’ll find inside
WELCOME SPACE
🟢 Start here → the welcome, how things work
👋 Say hi! → introduce yourself whenever you're ready.
THE SITTING ROOM
☀️ Share your joys → the big and tiny good things: songs, photos, sensory moments, wins
🪴 Tend to each other → the soft space for harder days. Post where you’re at and tell us what you need: comfort, ideas, or just to be heard.
💕 Make connections → This is the space for finding your people. This could be someone who shares your specific experience, a 1:1 chat, or folks near you to meet up with.
📔 Journaling prompts → a prompt every Friday morning, plus a live half-hour journaling session each week if you fancy doing it alongside other people.
📚 The reading nook → books that bring you joy. Current reads, recommendations, the ones you go back to.
🧶 The crafts corner → works in progress, finished pieces, hot glue surprises.
💭 Ali's thought bubbles → my musings, half-formed ideas, whatever I'm noticing lately
THE DISABLED JOY FRAMEWORK
📍 The path to joy → five short videos covering the phases on my own journey towards disabled joy: learn to love all of you, find your mirrors, become the mirror, choose ease, throw a party.
THE COLLECTIVE
☎️ Collective chat → the lounge. Loose, ongoing, anything goes.
👩💻 Monthly meetups → live gatherings on Zoom, with guest speakers coming in to talk about what disabled joy means to them.
how we show up
The DJC works because of how we treat each other. So:
Come as you are. Full energy or on your last spoon, sharing loudly or reading along. It all counts.
Joy is the point, but we know it doesn’t exist in isolation. Hard days are welcome, that’s what the Tend to Each Other space is for. Nobody has to be relentlessly positive in here.
Your lived experience is your authority. No proving, no justifying, ever.
Ask before advising. We ask for consent before sharing our input.
What's shared here stays here.
Contribute to access where you can. Share image descriptions where you can, content notes when it makes sense, and never make anyone explain what they need to take part.
And the firm lines: no ableism, racism, transphobia, homophobia, fatphobia, or any flavour of bigotry. There is absolutely zero room for harassment of any kind.
a note on access
I am making a conscious effort to make this space as accessible as possible for as many people as possible. There is always room for feedback around what I can do better.
Videos come captioned. Every video in the Joy Framework is captioned before it goes up. Our monthly meetups run on Zoom, so you can switch on live captions whenever you want them.
You tell me what you need when you join. The onboarding form includes a section on access needs. And if something changes, or there's ever anything that would make taking part easier, just message me.
There's nothing to keep up with. Lurk, dip in monthly, or show up every day — completely up to you.
Content notes are normal here. A quick heads-up at the top of a heavy post so people can choose when they read it.
A mix of formats. We have real-time calls, message boards, and various ways to participate so you join in the way that’s most comfortable for you.
what it costs
There are three tiers, with the same access across the board.
I’ve structured the Disabled Joy Collective as a a pay-what-you-can (ish) model where you pick the tier that makes the most sense to you when you join.
For all of autumn 2026, you get the first month, free. Just use code AUTUMN26 at checkout.
ACCESSIBLE RATE → $9/MONTH
For when finances are tight and you need the lower option. No explanation required.
GOING RATE → $19/MONTH
The standard rate, for folks with a bit more flexibility.
SUPPORTING RATE → $29/MONTH
For folks who can pay a little more and want to help open the door for someone else. You'll get a personalised thank-you note from me in the mail, and on your one-year anniversary I'll send you the stats: how many people your support helped into this space.
No lock-in, ever. It's month to month, so you can move between tiers whenever your circumstances shift. Stay as long as it's good for you, step away the moment it isn't, and you're always welcome back — the door stays open. 💛
faqs
If you still have questions, send me an email at ali@seatedperspectives.co and I’ll try to answer them.
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Then you're in exactly the right place, because there's nothing to keep up with. No streaks, no live thing you have to attend, nothing sitting there going unread and making you feel guilty. Lurking is full membership — loads of people will read far more than they ever post, and that's a completely legitimate way to be here. Dip in when you've got something, disappear for a month when you don't. You're still one of us either way.
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Yes. I promise. Self-identifying is enough here. Whether you’re diagnosed or waiting or never going to be, visible or invisible, lifelong or brand new. Nobody in here is going to ask you to prove a thing, least of all me. If the words disabled joy made something in you go oh, that's your answer.
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Not even slightly. You can read, react, and never post a single word, and you'll still get plenty out of this. Say hi whenever you feel like it — or don't, and just enjoy everyone else's joy for a while. There's no minimum.
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The $9 tier gets you exactly what the $29 tier gets you. Pick whichever number sits comfortably in your life right now, change it whenever you need to, and please don't feel weird about picking the lowest one. It’s there if you need it.
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Any time, in two clicks, without messaging me or explaining yourself. And if you come back in six months, you'll be welcomed like you never left. The door stays open. 💛
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Circle, on both desktop and app. You can turn the notifications right down, switch them to a daily digest, or off completely, whatever keeps this from adding to the noise.
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Most calls are held at 10AM Pacific. The monthly meetups are also recorded so you can watch them at your own pace.
The true value of the space is in the connections made with others, and that happens in unscheduled moments.
come on in
If you're craving a corner of the internet that celebrates disabled humanity — fully, honestly, unapologetically — you're in the right place. But if now isn’t the right time, that’s totally ok.
P.S.: I write long-form pieces about disabled joy and life as a disabled women still figuring out how to fully embrace her disabled identity over on Substack. Click here to subscribe.