Many students and staff with disabilities simply do not apply for accommodations. So when claims are made like "well no one else has ever needed this" or "this seems excessive, another student only needed x" they are way off the mark. 1/5
Oftentimes we need far more than we ask for, and we ask for only the things we absolutely NEED in order to scrape by, rather the things we could use to thrive in the system. Why? 2/5
Because the accommodations process is expensive, exploitative, degrading, and exhausting. We're asking for accommodations because our resources are stretched thin in an ableist system. 3/5
And then we're told that in order to fight for the resources everyone else has access to, we need to undergo scrutiny, medical examination, and assessment about the validity and extent of our disabilities. In a medical system that has practiced eugenics since its founding. 4/5
So just because an accommodation request seems novel, doesn't mean it hasn't been needed by many people, for many years. We just know to pick and choose our battles. 5/5 #DisabilityTiwtter #HigherEd #AcademicTwitter
For everyone mentioning they're not sure what accommodations exist, or what are available to apply for, you can use the tools at askjan.org to get full lists of helpful accommodations sorted by disability

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Disabled Academic Collective

Disabled Academic Collective Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @DisabledAcadem

23 Jul
From the thread yesterday, it's clear that many educators are not using Universal Design, guiding their students to Disability Services, or implementing accommodations on a 1-1 basis. 1/9
I've posted a LOT on UDL (Universal Design for Learning) before and we have a whole guide on our resources page on the DAC website. Build access into your course with flexible deadlines, assignment choices, captions, etc. 2/9
You should also consider Day 1 of class a time to talk about the accommodations process. Don't just add it as a copy paste section of your syllabus. Walk students through the process, tell them what they can expect, remove the stigma and fear from it. 3/9
Read 9 tweets
23 Jul
Today while repacking moving boxes I got super overwhelmed and started crying. Because moving is expensive, moving is physically demanding and painful, moving means losing my medical team. It means straying from my family again. 1/6
But it's also an opportunity to build a career that I can manage with my disabilities. Where I have flexibility and control. As shitty as the academy is to disabled scholars, it affords a lot of flexibility wherein I can manage my care. 2/6
But it's hard to do this again. Senior scholars cannot grasp the toll of it. Throughout grad school I moved to Charlottesville, two more times within Charlottesville, once to Philadelphia, and once back home to MA. And now this is another move. Six moves in six years. 3/6
Read 6 tweets
26 Jun
I hope everyone is acknowledging how poorly universities handled, are handling, and will handle protections for disabled students throughout the pandemic. 1/6
Some things to think about when discussing uni responses:
1. Unis have never been safe spaces for disabled people, accommodations have been denied to students long before, and will be long after - how do we enact change? 2/6
2. Nowhere is safe for disabled people. Telling us to leave academia is not an option. Regardless of the sector - capitalism is built on ableism. We need solutions in every sector. 3/6
Read 6 tweets
26 Jun
If you are able-bodied and working in #DisabilityStudies because you were inspired by a relationship with a disabled person, I have some tough love for you. I am all for allyship, but allies cannot weigh in on all topics. 1/5
Why does it matter?
1. Because we're not there to correct you or intervene or combat stereotypes. Roughly 1.5% of tenured faculty and 6% of grad students are disabled.
2. You don't face the ramifications of poorly framed arguments, language choices, or research outcomes 2/5
3. You can proudly state your relationship to disability (my parent/sibling/partner/child is disabled) bc at the end of the day proximity is harmless, you're still able-bodied. But if we identify we're risking our jobs to disclose. 3/5
Read 5 tweets
23 Jun
Why does it matter if grad students are "employees" rather than students? Maybe bc we have literally no protections from the uni or the fed govt as "students." I'm moving to a postdoc and I'm ineligible for COBRA because I wasn't "employed" for the past 6 mo. 1/3
Right so I guess I just didn't do all that service for the uni? Or finish that dissertation? Or defend and receive my PhD? Or help any students? Or serve as a disabled mentor? 2/3
Now I'm going to have a gap in care when starting my new job. Because I can't buy a short term plan bc I'm disabled, and short term plans don't cover us. Which means I will also lose a month of the life saving allergy injections that cost 12K a pop. Love it. Go unionize 3/3
Read 4 tweets
22 Jun
Things I did today: emailed HR about accommodations, printed off and wrote out comparison charts for medical plans for new job, wrote list of questions about the plans bc so far I haven't been given detailed info. 1/7
Searched for Drs in new area based on recommendation lists from rare disease communities. Mapped each doctor, put each in a spreadsheet, listed the insurance plans each takes. Cross referenced these with the plans being offered. 2/7
Researched a new diagnosis that I was given a half assed explanation for by my neurologist yesterday. Read articles on PubMed about it. Took notes on potential therapeutics. Cross referenced these recommendations with patient community data. 3/7
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(