Thread by @DisInHigherEd

Discussion: How can Allies Tackle Their Ableism!
Hello to allies in the community! You may be wondering how you can participate in #DEHEM21 & support disabled students, staff, faculty, colleagues, and individuals in the community. 1 thing you can do is tackle your ableism (1/31)

Ableism is the discrimination & social prejudice against disabled people. Everyone can experience ableism, but it is most prevalent for disabled individuals. It can be both explicit or implicit. What can you do to tackle your ableism? (2/31)

Here are some Don’ts for Disability as an Ally: 1) Don’t use disability as a punchline or to mock people with disabilities. Often, people use disability in jokes or use ableist language to describe others. This language harms disabled people & the disabled experience. (3/31)

2) Don’t ask disabled people invasive questions about their medical history or personal life. People often assume they can ask whatever they like, but no one has a right to know anyone’s medical history or have access to their personal life. (4/31)

3) Don’t talk to disabled people like they are children or speak for them. Often, people presume that disabled people are incompetent to express their own needs. This isn’t true. It often leads to the neglect of what a person’s needs are. (5/31)

4) Don’t assume that if you can’t see someone’s disability, then that person must not be disabled. Visible disabilities are only one type of disability, and invisible disabilities make up a large majority. Disabled people are diverse and dynamic! (6/31)

5) Don’t frame disability as a tragedy. Don’t assume that our quality of life is less just because we have a disability. While it is difficult to be disabled, disabled people also have fantastic lives & accomplish many things. (7/31)

6) Don’t frame disability as an inspiration. This is often how the media portrays disability, and it is called inspiration porn. This is harmful as it portrays disability as something deserving of pity & objectifies disabled people to the benefit of nondisabled people. (8/31)

Inspiration porn can seem well-intentioned, but it is very exploitative, dehumanizing & makes assumptions about how disabled people live or what disabled people think or feel. This perpetuates stereotypes of what disability is and what disabled people are capable of. (9/31)

Don’t refuse to give disabled people the accommodations they deserve. Accommodations provide disabled people access to the same world you have access to. They are a necessary part of the inclusion of disabled individuals. Refusing them is to deny access to disabled people (10/31)

Don’t assume that if you know one person’s disability, you know every other person’s disability. Disabled people are diverse and each person’s needs are different (11/31)

Don’t assume disability is static. What one disabled person needs one day can be different the next. It can change even within hours & can vary across time. Disability is dynamic! (12/31)

Here are some Do’s for Disability Allies: 1) Do understand what ableist language is & why it is harmful. This website provides some background & substitutes for ableism language [link] autistichoya.com/p/ableist-word… (13/31)

Understand the language preferences of disabled people around you. Most disabled people have language preferences for how they describe themselves (ie person-first vs identity-first). Ask individuals what language they prefer, & stick to that. It is always best to ask! (14/31)

2) Do ask disabled people about their needs and accommodations, if appropriate. Often, we may need accommodations & accessibility is not considered by others in our environment. (15/31)

3) Do talk directly to disabled people when they are present. Disabled individuals are experts in their own lives and in their own needs. Be respectful & treat them as valuable members of the community! (16/31)

4) Do understand that disabilities come in all forms & from all backgrounds. Disability affects so many different people in different ways. People may be physically disabled and/or they can be invisibly disabled, or both! (17/31)

5) Do understand that disability is dynamic. Disability can be temporary or life-long. It can be visible or invisible, or somewhere in the middle. Presentation & needs can change on a daily or hourly basis. Understand that disability is not a monolith & is very diverse! (18/31)

6) Do consider accessibility in everything that you do. By considering accessibility from the get-go, you can ensure disabled people have access to the community & other environments. Think about whether your university, lab, &community are accessible to disabled people. (19/31)

Likely, you'll find that places are not readily accessible to disabled people. Start thinking about how you can improve the environments around you to be more accessible & inclusive to disabled people. Understand frameworks such as universal design & how to implement them (20/31)

Hire disabled people as consultants for events or in other planning. Make sure that there is an office or forum for an event that can take accessibility requests. Make sure these things are well advertised so that people know where to go to request accessibility. (21/31)

On the internet, make sure your images have alt-text or image descriptions, use camel case in hashtags (#DisabledInSTEM), & use captions on videos. You have privilege as an ally. Use that privilege to help make accessible spaces for your disabled friends/colleagues! (22/31)

7) Do make sure you are providing the accommodations disabled people need and believe disabled people about their needs. Again, disabled people are experts on their own lives & needs. You may not understand every need, but do respect them. (23/31)

8) Do listen to us! Being a good ally to disabled people means being able to listen and not speak for us. Do not come into conversations with disabled people with assumptions. Listen and you will learn how to best support us! (24/31)

9) Do remember that you are not our savior. Disabled individuals are full individuals just like anyone else. We deserve to be seen as valuable members of any environment we are in. Remember that disabled people have unique perspectives to bring to the table. (25/31)

10)Do listen to the disabled community on issues affecting them. Here are some great examples: @DisVisibility @AAPD @BlackDisability @HabenGirma @Imani_Barbarin @sampson_dog @the_tweedy @bennessb @DisabledAcadem Tag your favourite accounts to let others know about them! (26/31)

We welcome allies into the community. They are vital to our mission of dismantling ableism & other forms of systemic oppression.But, it is important that disabled people have agency over their own lives and stories as well as be seen as valuable members of the community! (27/31)

These are only some things that allies can do to tackle their ableism. Does anyone else have anything else to add for allies who want to unlearn their ableism? (28/31)

Thank you to Lindley, Ava, and Nicole for compiling this thread!

Here are some more resources for allies on ableism & supporting the disability community:
accessliving.org/newsroom/blog/…
forbes.com/sites/andrewpu…

buzzfeed.com/maayanziv/how-… (30/31)

socialdiversity.org/updates/00n8u4…
forbes.com/sites/andrewpu…
Demystifying Disability By Emily Ladau - penguinrandomhouse.com/books/646508/d… (31/31)

Whoops miscounted and skipped 29 🙃🙃

#DEHEM21 #DisInHigherEd #DisabledInHigherEd #UnlearnAbleism

We said this before but thank you to @lrslipetz, @nmelzack, and @Ava_Nicole23 for building this thread!