tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1785248711810287089.post3638948436315470425..comments2023-10-26T14:24:47.978+01:00Comments on (Old) Musings of a Quaker Witch: Blogging Against Disablism: Why I'm tired, why I'm sick, why I feel embracedMorganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05201286586062722169noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1785248711810287089.post-27129996371068430652011-06-01T03:54:01.368+01:002011-06-01T03:54:01.368+01:00I came here via BADD (I am way behind with it, but...I came here via BADD (I am way behind with it, but each year I do still make a point of reading through all of them).<br /><br />One blogger who I read sometimes (http://abnormaldiversity.blogspot.com) likes to argue that people with disabilities can sometimes end up serving the social function of a canary in the mine: Meaning, things that may be an absolute barrier to some people with certain disabilities (such as, fragrances for people with MCS, or a noisy chaotic environment for a person who is autistic, or a long flight of stairs for a wheelchair rider) may ALSO happen to be difficult to deal with for many other people. So learning how to accommodate people who are absolutely excluded by certain things (be it steps or fragrances or whatever) can end up helping a much wider continuum of people who maybe were upset all along but didn't raise as much complaint because they *could* just barely get by without the accommodation. <br /><br />For example, fragrances are not an absolute barrier for me, I can still share space with, say, one of those plug in fragrance thingys if I absolutely had to. But it would still trigger my allergies giving me really bad nasal congestion, which in its furthest extremes can interfere with my ability to really accomplish much (if you have to stop what you're doing literally every minute or two to blow your nose yet again ... and again ... and again, it's hard to do anything else that requires the use of your hands or sustained concentration ... during one really awful allergy attack, I was supposed to carry clothes from a closet to the nearby bed, which should have taken maybe five minutes at most but 20 minutes later, once she realized I was having so much trouble, my Mom kicked me out of the house to protect my health because I was so occupied with blowing my nose continuously that I simply couldn't do the task) or breathe in a comfortable way (having had nasal congestion all my life from various allergies, I'm used to alternating between nasal breathing and mouth breathing when I have to, but if I cannot breathe through my nose *at all, whatsoever* for a prolonged period of time, it gets old quick)<br /><br />The point being ... accommodations set up for people with more severe MCS reactions can also make the environment more friendly and comfortable for people like me whose reactions are considerably more mild than yours by comparison, but who still aren't that thrilled to be around excessive amounts of certain types of fragrance either.<br /><br />For whatever it's worth, I did read somewhere that SOME people with MCS do seem to be able to handle oil-based fragrances much more easily than alcohol based fragrances. But it is still good for me to be aware that for SOME people, oil-based is still just as bad.<br /><br />One issue that can complicate things is that SOME people NEED certain fragrances as an accessibility issue: for example, some people with migraines apparently find it helps to use a bit of lavendar or peppermint scent to prevent or alleviate migraines. If they can't use those scents, then that becomes an accessibility issue for them as well. I read somewhere (dang, I can't remember where now) where one conference space dealt with this by having certain rooms or something where scents used to control conditions such as migraine were allowed and other spaces where they weren't, so people who needed to wear scents for medical reasons had a place they could go without causing as much of a problem for people who needed to avoid them.<br /><br />Sorry to ramble and use so many parenthetical comments along the way (apparently it's typical to do this when you have attention deficit disorder, or at least it is if you have ADD and also have strong verbal/writing skills ... finally, one of my quirks explained!) Hope this still made some sense!Lynnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1785248711810287089.post-61251030385460244272011-05-11T00:20:33.401+01:002011-05-11T00:20:33.401+01:00Thanks for commenting!
I'm pretty sure we&#...Thanks for commenting! <br /><br />I'm pretty sure we're friends on Athena's Web, and I've sent you an email that way. :) And yes, if you're whom I think you are, we have definitely met in real life (and danced together, too!). <br /><br />Thanks for your article. It's very helpful for me.Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05201286586062722169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1785248711810287089.post-75644594207409474102011-05-09T01:16:27.664+01:002011-05-09T01:16:27.664+01:00This is powerful, thought provoking stuff. I got ...This is powerful, thought provoking stuff. I got here by a link on the BADD page and discovered - I think I know you! - through BMC folks(I'm '98) and Del Val SCD, although it's been a few years. I keep moving.<br /><br />My BADD post is <a href="http://nightengalesknd.livejournal.com/79346.html" rel="nofollow">here </a> if you'd like to stop by. Nightengale of Samarkand was also my backsmoker handle.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1785248711810287089.post-27780952077550779972011-05-07T20:31:24.848+01:002011-05-07T20:31:24.848+01:00I completely agree with you that people who use wh...I completely agree with you that people who use wheelchairs or who have severe food allergies are <i>not</i> always accommodated -- in fact, folks with such disabilities aren't even <i>often</i> accommodated, in my experience. However, in many of the circles I travel in, those disabilities are taken more seriously -- even if we then fall down on implementation. Feh. <br /><br />So, yes -- again, I agree with you: it's about a broader problem of ableism. Well-said. <br /><br />Thanks for your comment, Sparkly!Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05201286586062722169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1785248711810287089.post-9038353040534152582011-05-07T18:09:33.323+01:002011-05-07T18:09:33.323+01:00I really, really like this piece. However, I take ...I really, really like this piece. However, I take issue with the assumption that wheelchair users and people with life-threatening food allergies are always accommodated; wheelchair-accessible venues are limited, and sometimes, people don't even try. I've also seen people bring common, severe food allergens into spaces unchallenged. So I'd say it's a broader problem of ableism, not necessarily just with chemical sensitivities - although people are definitely ignorant about chemical sensitivities which makes things worse.Sparklynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1785248711810287089.post-6562524592550532022011-05-06T21:15:00.106+01:002011-05-06T21:15:00.106+01:00Thought after a conversation with someone about so...Thought after a conversation with someone about some of these issues: <br /><br />If someone agrees to be the point person for making a space or an event accessible to people using wheelchairs, it's not acceptable to say, "Sorry, I ran out of time before I could find a place to rent us a ramp, so this won't be accessible to wheelchair-users after all." <br /><br />If someone agrees to be the point person for making a space or an event accessible to people who have chemical / fragrance sensitivities, it's not acceptable to say, "Sorry, I ran out of time before I could find soap for the bathroom that's fragrance-free, so this won't be accessible to people with fragrance sensitivities after all."Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05201286586062722169noreply@blogger.com