Also worth noting... not all equality of access for people with disabilities is about topology (e.g. stairs vs ramps, etc). There are many people whose disabilities are related to temporal factors (when things are on, how long they last) that can be severely lacking.
Consider the example of a person who has a sleep disregulation issue. Expectations of an 8:30am start time for such individuals might occasionally be manageable, but generally won't be. Such individuals are no less capable of doing their job than anyone else in their own time.
Or for someone who is has some form of neurodivergence resulting in problems sustaining attention for long periods - forcing them to contribute to meetings that last several hours is outright cruel. Their contribution is no less valuable than anyone else's.
Stand-up meetings that don't honour the kinds of problems that people with arthritic conditions face standing still for any period of time - and possibly even demonise them for their need to take a seat... outrageous.
Or when communication aids (ASL translators, text to speech programs, etc) are required for full participation in collaborative spaces by people with hearing or vision related disabilities, they are branded as "a hassle".
Our feudal culture of supervised work and social natural selection needs to change. When I see AUSLAN interpreters used in news conferences I get a buzz of satisfaction, then get disappointed again when I realise that it's exciting because it's not the norm.
We need to stop thinking of things like flexible working hours, support-integrated work and social scenarios and use of outworking technologies and services as economic burdens. Rather, we should view them as investments in unlocking the contributions of people with disabilities.
We also need to understand the intersections of ability privilege and the assumptions they permit us to make about what's "Normal" and not. Most people wouldn't see a need to consider whether any of their friends or colleagues have a disability requiring support. So they don't.
PS: Pet peeve here - when someone claims to have a form of disability, the simple assertion of that disability should be sufficient to warrant action. PROVING disabilities can be expensive, awkward and time-consuming. Why not just find ways to foster more inclusivity by default?
If your friends and colleagues aren't worth a little effort based on trust... perhaps you are the problem.
@threadreaderapp Please unroll this thread.
