It was a busy Monday and after a long day, I still planned to participate in a three-hour meeting on Zoom.
The large, global meeting concerned disability justice. Persons with and without disabilities were invited.
Afterward, I was glad I’d attended. I felt inspired, energized, peaceful and deeply informed.
What made this possible?
I realized this had been a disability-led meeting. By disability-led I mean the facilitators and participants were leading with their disability identities.
Examples of this included: American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and closed captioning. As a hearing person, I often use closed captioning when a speaker has an accent, low voice, speaks fast or when I’m challenged to understand them. The technology used and the venue can also make it harder to understand someone.
The meeting also ran on Crip Time. I think of Crip Time as time adapted to what works for persons with disabilities instead of a strict adherence to a linear time frame. Participants were welcomed to attend when they could and for as long as they wanted without judgment.
Folks with disabilities are accustomed to evaluating the number of “spoons” they have to work with each day. Spoons Theory (2003) was designed by disability activist Christine Miserandino. “Spoons” represent units of physical/mental energy. A few body breaks were built into the agenda, not just for using the bathroom but for stretching, taking medication and eating.
There was also no expectation to use one’s camera although several of those on screen could be seen lying in bed, on the floor or on a gurney.
Additionally, at the start of the meeting participants were encouraged to put the names of their disabled ancestors/heroes/heroines in the chat.
And facilitators and presenters acknowledged their privileges before they spoke. Privileges such as socioeconomic advantages, having reliable caregivers and relatively stable health.
Before getting into the extensive agenda there was also a discussion of ableism. Ableism is a discriminatory belief that says typical abilities are superior. Everyone carries ableism, including persons with disabilities. Lateral ableism also exists in the disability community. It often has to do with dividing a group because of the fear of an inadequate supply of resources. Lateral ableism places peers into subgroups. For example: congenital or acquired disabilities, visible or invisible disabilities and levels of function.
In this meeting participants were asked if they preferred person-first (person with a disability) or identity first (disabled person) language. Participants put their answers in the chat like meeting attendees often do with pronouns.
You’d think with all of these meeting process tasks that this meeting would be chaotic. Instead it was kind, efficient and productive. Everyone without exception was heard and respected.
I’ve also attended many in-person disability-led meetings. I’m always impressed by the following: Universal access is a given — lodging, transportation and meeting venues. Budgets are built from the start to include all universal access costs. No one is expected to give extensive advanced notice of their needs. Meetings are created at the onset to serve everyone. And, no one with a disability is expected to extensively educate anyone for free — be they other professionals, the media or public officials.
People without disabilities also made equally important contributions to this meeting and everyone learned together.