Working WITH disabled people - as an educator, a medical professional, etc. - does not mean you understand the needs of disabled people. I'm really tired of people substituting proximity for lived experience. They're not the same. 1/5
Disabled people may agree with you, may thank you, they might give you good feedback, they might say they loved working with you. And all of those comments might be false. Because there is a power dynamic here. 2/5
If you're in control of someone's access, health, and accommodations, you're in control of their quality of life. Disabled people know that if they say something negative, or disagree, or refuse to pander, they might be framed as noncompliant or denied the care they need. 3/5
Just absolutely begging health and education professionals to acknowledge that they have been trained in ableist professions. No matter how long you've worked with disabled people, you might still be perpetrating harm. 4/5
And the only way you will ever find out is if you request training, access audits, and consultation with disabled people who are not reliant on you for care. 5/5 #AcademicChatter #AcademicTwitter #HigherEd #MedEd #MedTwitter #DisabilityTwitter

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More from @DisabledAcadem

Mar 15
Disabled scholars can't consult on access and accessibility in higher ed if they're constantly being forced out of the academy. We can't do this work without employment or security. And all the employment standards are based on inaccessible metrics we can't hit. 1/6
How are we supposed to present our latest work when conferences are inaccessible? How are we supposed to find coauthors or collaborators if networking events are not planned with accessibility in mind? 2/6
How are we supposed to publish on the same schedule as our non-disabled peers when we're wrangling with our health situations, and fighting for accommodations at work, and providing tons of unpaid and unrecognized consulting work to make the uni more accessible? 3/6
Read 6 tweets
Nov 21, 2021
Academic ableism is so wildly pervasive it is built into everything in the academy. And yet, once again, I've been asked to a meeting to describe its direct impacts and offer solutions. Ones that I know admin will not take. 1/5
Please stop asking disabled students/staff/faculty what is ableist. Everything is ableist. You could look at any uni policy and it would be correct to assume it's ableist. I shouldn't need to point them all out. That means you're not really looking. 2/5
I'm tired of meeting admin at the negotiation table with recommendations, notes, presentations, and data. Just to be told that this is just a discussion so they can understand better. 3/5
Read 5 tweets
Oct 7, 2021
I gave a talk at my alma mater this weekend. And it was wonderful. No one at the conference asked why I needed to eat different foods. They offered seated and standing presentation modes. Whenever I was seated everyone who wanted to speak to me shifted to the same level. 1/4
When we went to a restaurant and I declined from eating there, no one asked why. And when I casually mentioned that I'm allergic to corn to a colleague, they asked what my favorite meals to cook are and how I like to spice my foods. 2/4
None of my former professors asked if I'm better. Even though symptomatically I can argue I am. No one asked how brain surgery went or if I'm healthy. They focused on me - as a historian - and my work. And it was so easy to be there. 3/4
Read 4 tweets
Oct 7, 2021
Hi everyone - we have a request to reach out and ask the community "what accommodations have other individuals secured and used for ADHD and depression at the PhD level?" The individual is in evolutionary biology and they're wondering if they're missing out on useful supports
As always - feel free to reply directly to the post or message us and we'll keep the content anonymous! Safety first
One PhD student in English reported anonymously that they were given extra time on comps and extended deadlines for coursework/milestones.
Read 6 tweets
Oct 4, 2021
Performative allyship is not activism. Just a reminder for everyone "celebrating" Disability Awareness Month without looking over their campus policies regarding faculty hiring, student recruitment, and retention of faculty, staff, or students. 1/5
If you're "celebrating" our existence in #HigherEd, you should also be listening to all of the stories where we've recounted barriers, discrimination, neglect, and abuse by academic systems. See #WhyDisabledPeopleDropout 2/5
And you should be doing the real work of implementing policy changes and investing money in disability culture. If you're an educator or admin - read about academic ableism. 3/5
Read 5 tweets
Sep 8, 2021
For everyone teaching this term: do you recommend students to go to the Accommodations Office at your uni? If you do, are you aware of what that process looks like? Hint - the process is not good. It is not empowering. It is costly, time consuming, and demoralizing. 1/10
Have you looked up the paperwork your students are expected to fill out? Does that paperwork center them and their needs, or does it center doctors? Does it ask students what accommodations they'd like to see? 2/10
Or does it ask doctors to recommend a set of accommodations based on diagnoses? Does the paperwork give students room to voice their own needs, needs that a doctor may not anticipate or understand? 3/10
Read 10 tweets

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