These tweets all make really good points about how the pandemic made tons of accessibility measures possible that workplaces, schools, etc. had previously claimed would not work. When a person with a disability or chromic illness asked for accommodations they were denied or forced out. Accessibility should be made for everyone. And now that we know that it can, there are no more excuses going forward. Listen to people with disabilities. Listen to people with chronic illnesses. Don’t be ableist. We can do better.
(via: Queer Jewish Crip)
So… Yes, COVID did show that accommodations that disabled people had been asking for/needing COULD be implemented, but the reason they were was not just ableism (that’s definitely part of it) – it was because during lockdown, when people would actively choose to quit their jobs because they made more in the stimulus checks anyway, the only way anyone could work was with those changes. When it’s just one or two disabled employees, the cost and effort of developing those ways of working aren’t justified, but when it’s a choice of accommodate or go under, a business will accommodate. What’s really galling is companies refusing to allow those with disabilities to continue to use those accommodations, like working from home, now that things are “back to normal”, despite it being proven that people who work from home are more productive and happier (just less able to be micromanaged). If an accommodation is available to “senior management” or “sales only” or some other privileged demographic within a company, it stops be illegal to deny a disabled person the ability to do the same!