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Every time a major academic conference has come around during the pandemic there have been debates here on efficacy, accessibility, and outcomes. And I have to say - it is incredibly painful to watch non-disabled people shrug at how momentous this is. 1/6
We don& #39;t have those discussions after in person conferences. We don& #39;t have follow up discussions where we ask "Was the format accessible for you?" It& #39;s just assumed that in person conferences are always good. And for disabled people overwhelmingly they& #39;re not. 2/6
So when you say "I don& #39;t know I didn& #39;t get to chat with people" or "I didn& #39;t get to have natural conversations between sessions" all I can think is "yeah and?" Because that is me at every conference. And that is the least of my concern at most conferences. 3/6
I& #39;m usually more concerned with finding food I can safely eat, finding seating so I don& #39;t need to stand, making sure my assistive devices are out of the way, and getting through the day despite being in a flare because travel always affects my chronic pain and fatigue. 4/6
It is offensive to say "I can& #39;t wait to go back to normal." Because effectively you& #39;re framing an access issue as one of personal taste. I& #39;d like conferences if they were designed for me too. In fact I really enjoy digital conferences because they suit my access needs. 5/6
When we frame access and inclusion as a personal preference rather than a necessity we frame discrimination as a personal issue rather than a collective one. I need non-disabled scholars to do better. 6/6 #AcademicChatter #DisabilityTwitter
