On a personal note I gotta share how this thread makes me feel a min:

Just over 2 1/2 years ago when I wrote my first talk I spoke about how my cognitive disabilities (Autistic/ADHD/BI) impact gaming & some design solutions. I hadn’t seen anyone say ANYTHING like it in public >> https://twitter.com/sarahlongthorne/status/1293586503298428928

Since then I’ve seen multiple talks, heard of panels, lots of streamers etc. more and more twitter posts on it over the years, & now, this thread.

Not just talking about it: MANY in this thread use the EXACT words I’ve always used to talk about it (years before my talk even)

>>

AND many of those in the replies are able to PUT THEIR BARRIERS INTO WORDS AND TALK ABOUT SOLUTIONS THAT HELP

I cannot tell you but that right there is the real ground being broken today. VERY few people could do this a couple years ago.

A bit more about why in a moment >>

I’ve been open about and talking about the cognitive barriers I face in GAMES on the Internet since 2013. At the time I couldn’t find anyone talking about it. All games accessibility was focused entirely on motor, hearing, vision.

Things have massively changed since then >>

But also, things have changed not just in games, and games accessibility but ONLINE -

Exploding in the past couple of years are vocal and successful people talking about cognitive disabilities

( @ADHD_Alien & @danidonovan being two main proponents for ADHD in particular)

This has not only brought a scattered community together, it’s helped people get diagnosed, and more than that - there’s a collective language

The experiences aren’t just relegated to text books written by doctor’s observations. The shared language IS our direct experience

>>

I first saw this begin on Tumblr way back from the VERY beginning in 2007. It started the revolution. Tumblr is how I ended up with my cognitive diagnoses. That community lead me to figure out who I am and why I always struggled pretty profoundly!

I got my ADHD Dx in 2008ish >>

(Autism recognition followed years later after I also survived a stroke that made me a Brain Injury survivor - the lasting prominent effects being cognitive functions not motor as it is with most people - my motor disabilities have different causes)

>>

When Tumblr started to dramatically change and push progressive and revolutionary marginalized communities out they ended up on Twitter, and that’s how we got here. I’ve always been on both (more on twitter) and so I saw the transition.
>>

Now Twitter has THRIVING neurodiverse communities, with hashtags and leaders to rally around and help people gain insight and understanding to their own brains & experiences. It’s far more successful than many medical programs at least on that front

>>

It doesn’t rely on scientific research which is problematic & ltd (whole other thread)

There’s a lot of crossover with other platforms like YouTube thanks to the amazing work of people like @HowtoADHD, and then Twitch with MANY streamers just talking with their communities

>>

In parallel, thanks to those communities finding their voice, growing a shared language, this leads to ‘awareness’ ( hate that concept but can be important)

This, along with people like me (+ many others now! @ShellELittle, @spacedoutsmiles, more!) talking about it in games >>

We’ve slowly over the yrs seen it become not just talked about in games accessibility but beginning acceptance

We still have a long way to go because it’s still neglected & rarely named - e.g as celebrated as TLOU2 is there was no ‘cognitive’ accessibility pre-set & little PR >>

Part of this is lack of understanding, ongoing stigma, it being confused with mental health, so many more reasons I’m too tired to go into.

Cognitive disability is the most widely represented amongst full time games developers but also the least widely discussed >>

This is illustrative of the stigma, & quite honestly the fallout/lack of safety for developers in the industry. I went into that in my latest GDC talk. This isn’t so much about that

These are the winds of change my friends!

They’ve been around for a while but now we SEE them
>>

That thread gives me all the damn FEELS. It’s a huge sign of change. People are no longer afraid to start these conversations - have them in the open, LINK them to the concept of accessibility & discuss what it might look like - reinforcing the work we’ve been doing for years

I still remember a time in VERY recent history where prominent games accessibility resources didn’t even list cognitive accessibility as a thing. I’m not writing this to call them out - progress should be celebrated

I’m highlighting it to show we’ve damn well skipped a level
>>

We went overnight (in industry terms) from it being terrifying to get up on stage and say things like ‘cognitive accessibility’, ‘sensory processing disorder’, ‘adhd’ and talking about how some cognitive barriers make it just as impossible to play as motor, hearing, or vision >>

To, today... this thread and conversations like it.

PEOPLE ARE NAMING THEIR BARRIERS, DISCUSSING THEM IN DETAIL, COMISSERATING!

Most importantly: they’re able to vocalize some design solutions (not all, but SOME).

THE FEELS

There’s so much work to be done. Many are doing it, already.

It’s very early days still but this thread? It proves that we’re working on the right solutions (which happened by centering people with first hand experience) and most importantly - it is very, very needed