Month: September 2017

andreashettle:

notdifferent-justme:

As an abled-body person, you do not get to decide what a disabled person can and can’t do.
You do not get build a world that is only suited for your needs, and then tell us it’s not your fault we can’t do something.
You do not get to blame inaccessibility on our disability.
You do not get to choose if you want to accommodate us.
You do not get to limit us just because we are disabled and “that’s the way life is.”

THIS. I co-sign ALL THIS ^^^^^^^^^

I cannot count the number of times that I have explained that I can’t do X because X is not accessible, only to be told, “Oh, you mean you can’t do it because you’re deaf,” as if no other factors can possibly matter.  

Oh, really, then? So the ONLY reason I can’t go watch that movie is because I’m deaf?  So explain to me what is happening when this happens:

  • I go to a movie and understand every word in the whole movie. (True story. I have experienced this many times. Yes, really.)
  • Later on, I again go to see a movie, but this time cannot understand a single word. I have to ask for a ticket refund and leave the theater because of it. (Also true story, on multiple occasions. Sometimes it is for the same movie and/or the same theater as before, and sometimes it is for a different movie and/or a different theater.)
  • And later on, I again go to see a movie, but this time I can once again understand every word in the whole movie without any difficulties. (Also true story, sometimes the same movie and/or theater, sometimes a different one.)

If my deafness is the ONLY factor important enough to mention that limits me from understanding what is said in a movie, then obviously I must have miraculously become hearing as soon as I walked into the theater all these times that I have successfully watched a movie with full comprehension! Maybe there is magic in the movie popcorn, or maybe they use water from a healing spring in the beverages!? And on the occasions when I have needed to walk away from the theater in frustration due to being unable to understand? Oh well, for some reason the sudden miracle cure didn’t work this time!

What?

No, you don’t think I have been miraculously cured of my deafness all those times that I successfully saw a movie?

Okay then, surely it must follow then that my deafness IS NOT THE ONLY CRUCIAL FACTOR IN MY INABILITY TO UNDERSTAND MOVIES. Because, see, my deafness is not a thing that varies from one day to the next. I have been alive for … well I’m not going to do ALL the math to give an exact figure, but it’s definitely well over 17,000 days so far. (47 years and some change.) Well, guess what has happened on all 17,000+ days of my life? On every single day of my life, I woke up deaf. 

On the day of my birth? Yup, deaf. Second day of my life? Yup, still deaf. Day number 10,000 of my life? Yup, still deaf. And today, another few thousand days later? Yeah, nope, nothing has changed there. 

So, no, the reason why I don’t bother to mention my deafness in explaining why I can’t see a movie is not because I have somehow managed to forget such a constant, unchanging fact of my life. See, the reason why I don’t bother to mention my deafness is precisely BECAUSE it is such a constant unchanging fact of my life. When something like my ability to understand a movie keeps CHANGING all the time, then you can’t look to the constant, unchanging factor as the only cause. You have to look for that OTHER crucial factor that profoundly influences whether I can understand a movie or not. THIS is the crucial factor that people so often stop me from trying to explain in their rush to put all the blame on my deafness instead.

So what’s the other crucial factor?

CAPTIONS. Of course. When the captioning technology that some theaters use is operating correctly, then I will understand everything said in the movie with no difficulty (assuming, not just correctly operating technology, but also good quality and consistently reliable captions … none of which are guaranteed, but that’s another blog post in itself). But if anything goes wrong with the captioning equipment that day, then no I will not understand anything said in the movie.

When you keep trying to talk over my explanation about how an inaccessible environment impacts me, you not only erase my lived experience, you ALSO abdicate the responsibility to help FIX THE ENVIRONMENT so that the environment can be fully accessible for ALL people with ALL disabilities. Not just captions, but also wheelchair ramps, braille or audio format for blind people, sensory-friendly environments for Autistic people, information provided in a wide array of accessible formats, and so forth.

Of course, that’s probably exactly why many non-disabled people keep trying to put all the blame for the consequences of an inaccessible environment on our disabilities instead.

jumpingjacktrash:

thefingerfuckingfemalefury:

thesociologicalcinema:

Why Microaggressions Hurt

Artist: Alli Kirkham

this made me cry so much ;_;

this is why i say you can’t save the world, but you can do your little bit to make it a little better – because so much of what hurts people is a million tiny things. it’s not one big monster you can fight. it’s a lot of thoughtless talk.

work to be less judging and critical of the people around you, and to be more aware of how your words come across. it will make a real difference.

Source: thesociologicalcinema

A problem with “behavior is communication”

alexeidarling:

butterflyinthewell:

realsocialskills:

In certain contexts, just about everything a disabled person does will result in someone following them around with a clipboard, taking notes on their behavior, and designing a behavior plan for them.

This is often called ‘listening to what the behavior is communicating’ or ‘keeping in mind that behavior is communication.’

I know that nothing I’ve ever done was intended to communicate ‘please put me on a behavior plan’. If anyone asked me, they would know with certainty that I don’t want them to do anything of the sort.

I’m not alone in this. Very few people would willingly consent to intense data collection of the kind involved in behavior analysis. Far fewer people would willingly consent to the ways in which that data is used to control their behavior. 

A lot of people never get asked. People do these things to them that very few people would willingly consent to — without asking, and without considering consent to be a relevant consideration.

Somehow, an approach that involves ignoring what someone might be thinking gets called ‘listening to what is being communicated’.

That is neither ethical nor logical. Behaviors don’t communicate; people do. If you want to understand what someone is thinking, you have to listen to them in a way that goes beyond what any behavior plan can do.

Collecting data is not the same as listening, modifying behavior is not the same as understanding what someone is thinking, and disabled people are fully human. 

I think a better phrase might be “people use behavior to communicate” because I know I do. I have very specific stims that pop out when I’m in distress and they’re a warning signal that might as well mean “I’m in trouble!”

My mom can tell when I’m in pain by how I’m acting. She can’t tell what part of me is in pain, but she knows my pain cues. (I get very quiet and listless unless I’m having a full on SIB meltdown from said pain.)

Soooo yeah, I think “people use behavior to communicate” is probably better.

Because everybody does that! We nod our heads for yes, shrug for “I don’t know” and point to indicate something. Body language can express things words don’t.

It’s just when autistic people use their own body language, it gets called weird and “therapied” to look not-weird.

…I mean, that’s what I always took “behaviour is communication” to mean. That the behaviour had a purpose (so to speak) and didn’t need to be therapied away.