sherry-toh
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For me, Disability Pride Month is about honouring the people who came before us and got us to where we are today, as well as looking ahead to our future and breaking down barriers and stigma for the generations after us. Modern societies are only just breaking away from eugenic philosophy that’s permeated every social sphere and lent credence to ableism. We’ve seen the poor responses disabled folx have gotten during the pandemic, the utter devaluation of our lives. If Disability Pride Month is the one time of year we get a megaphone, I say we yell into it and point at the unnecessary losses and barriers until we’re heard.
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Also, the forums aren’t letting me post or edit my full reply. Sorry. But basically: Yes to your first question, sans cough assist, and yes to your second question.
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Thanks for the info DeAnn and well wishes! I wasn’t aware of SMA Support System and Breathe With MD. I’ll check them out. <3
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sherry-toh
MemberMarch 3, 2021 at 7:36 am in reply to: Columnist Writes About the Importance of SMA FriendsY’know, I wouldn’t have said what I did if you hadn’t essentially pointed out that we aren’t lazy, just struggling, and that it’s okay. You are far too modest, babe. Love you and wouldn’t be where I am without you.
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One argument that might help, as Kevin said, is to show that businesses will actually benefit from being made accessible. Techradar did a story on AbleGamers last year, and I’ll always remember what the founder said about how he got game companies onboard with accessibility:
“If you look at the buying power of the population of people with disabilities, I would always talk to a game company and I always say this. I could tell you a sad story and get you to do one thing, one time, as a developer.”
But you haven’t made any systemic change for players with disabilities. But if I tell you that people with disabilities have billions of dollars in discretionary income and that they want to play that game and they’re going to gravitate toward those goods and services?”
There will always be that cost-gain concern business owners have and we’ll need to speak to. It’s something I wish we had more research and numbers on to aid our push towards integration. It’s an approach activists involved in the fight for women’s equity have taken, and it’s been met with success – for example, they’d do the math for how much it costs to send girls to school vs. how much those girls earn for their families and countries compared to their peers.
Sadly, we don’t have the same amount of studies (or any) in disability activism, but you can try to find the numbers on how many disabled people and wheelchair users are in your area, and do the math from there.