#disability access

Okay. Have you taken time to consider how many disabled people you have already worked with in that field that you didn’t realize are disabled?

I know able-bodied people like to think that disability is obvious and visible all the time, but it’s not. The fact is, you don’t know what someone else is capable of in their own body, even if you know everything there is to know (not possible) about their disability/s.

I’ve helped with medical emergencies with my own equipment, I’ve had to administer medication or do extra checks at work, I’ve had to explain that I’m not being rude when I’m eating fruit snacks during a meeting, I’m just trying not to die, and every time someone (not everyone, but always someone) finds it incredibly difficult to comprehend that I am disabled.

I’m young. I’m skinny. I’m active. I do a very physically demanding job. They can’t understand how I’m disabled and all of those other things, nor how they didn’t know about it until that moment.

I had this discussion very recently with a coworker at a new job. She said disabled people shouldn’t be in archaeology; it’s too physically demanding and when they inevitably can’t live up to the standards, the people around them have to “pick up their slack”.

I explained my view as above and she said “I’ve been doing this longer than you, I don’t think you understand.” I said “I understand perfectly; you think I can’t or shouldn’t be doing this job.”

She stared at me. Dumbfounded.

People never stop to consider who they are having that conversation with. When able-bodied people think “disability” they think they are the all-knowing authority on who that applies to, but most have a very limited grasp on the sheer coverage of that word.

Please send me any and all ideas you have around this— especially accessible ways I can make the workshop interactive! It will likely also be primarily abled attendees also, but some folks are disabled. I’d love to highlight the joys of accessible spaces & ways in which disability and nature are connected.

teachers of neurodivergent students, what the fuck? Ok im going to be up front: NOT ALL OF YOU DO A BAD JOB! Some are amazing (posted about this in the past but tyyyy profe libby). It’s just some of you, weirdly in my experience usually health teachers, who REALLY seem to need more training.

Recently I had a panic attack, my first in a while. Wha happened was a children’s game that we were playing in class (which had caused many openly neurodivergent students to cry before) was played and made one of my friends have a meltdown. The teaches dealt with this in a harsh manner by grabbing their arm and pulling them outside. I have trauma around my meltdowns and had a flashback/panic attack. The teacher left us in the hallway with only the care of a third friend, who is not trained. We are all under 18. This has happened to me before, with different teachers.