Thread by @DisabledAcadem

All the time, whenever I ask or complain about access issues, I am framed as "angry" or "excessive" or "bitter" and very often "a bitch." And I know all these things are said behind my back, because it's not hard to find out from friends and acquaintances. 1/6

At the same time, I'm almost always told that if I want to see a change in policies, I need to give my time for free to consult on access issues. And this of course almost always comes from someone with more power, privilege, and security than I have. 2/6

When you tell me I need to build change, and yet you give me no resources to do so, this is what I hear:
- it's not worth my time to learn accessible event planning
- this person is attacking me but it's not my fault things are inaccessible
- they should fix it for me 3/6

If you are not interested in learning to plan for access, I am not interested in building something FOR you. I need to know that access measures will continue after my consulting ends. And that I will not have to be called in for every single event that happens in the future. 4/6

If you don't give me the space to plant a tree, I'm going to go plant it where I believe it will grow and thrive. I'm not going to plant it where it won't receive care and attention. And I won't plant it in a place where ppl will mourn its death but never support its life. 5/6

If your gut reaction to a complaint about inaccessibility is "this person is over exaggerating" or "I already do so much work, now they want even more?" It's time to decenter yourself and it's time to DO the work. 6/6 #AcademicTwitter #AcademicChatter