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Oh, boy, has this been a fun couple of weeks to be disabled* in fandom. Not! And fortunately, other people have reported on it, so I don't have to, I can just point to their responses.
So, first up, we have the ongoing clusterfuck of WorldFantasyCon 2016. Background: in past years, they technically were accessible, in that they passed the minimum requirements for ADA, but not actually accessible, in that they had a panelist in a wheelchair (author and blogger Mari Ness) and provided no way (ramp, lift, etc) for her to get on to the stage with the other panelists. This is, apparently, not the first time this or similar things have happened. Previous disabled panelists and con-goers report other similar problems at previous World Fantasy Cons. (Thank you, File 770, for a writeup and for links to other commentary on the piss-poor quality of World Fantasy Con 2015's harassment policies, or lack thereof.) (Further background: a writeup of all the harassment at World Fantasy Con 2013 and the 2013 concom's problems doing anything about it.)
For obvious reasons, various disabled people did not want to register for this year's Con until they had an accessibility policy stated, so that they would know whether or not it was worth it to go. I mean, if you're deaf/hard of hearing and they don't have sign language interpreters, that means the panels aren't worth going to, for example; and if you can't get to where you need to go in a wheelchair, well, again, not much point going. And they had been repeatedly requesting clarification and, in fact, any response at all, and getting bupkiss from the con organizers, when the early-bird discount expired on February 1, leading to a significant rate hike. Then Jason Sanford got (and posted) screencaps from the con's organizing Facebook Page where the concom mocked the very idea of needing any sort of accessibility or harassment policy. (Yeah, inaccessibility and harassment have only been major ongoing problems at World Fantasy Cons for years, so why should the concom care about the whiny jerks who want to actually be able to participate?) Cue uproar. The Concom tried to cover their ass and attack their attackers, and got justly taken apart for it. (And a more general look at why accessibility is such a big issue at cons, sparked by this whole thing but not directly about it.)
After getting hit with all kinds of well-deserved crap for their attitude and (lack of) policy, they posted one. Sort of. It's ... better than nothing? And still no word on whether people who didn't register because of the lack of policy will get the early-registration price break.
And then, when the dust was still settling from that, came a far more (to me, personally, as an autistic) infuriating thing: the horrifyingly ableist piece on SFSignals' "Special Needs In Strange Worlds" blog, "We Are All Disabled" (since taken down). Folks, this is about the pinnacle of well-meaning Nice Lady attack on disabled people. You can probably guess from the title what it was like, but I'll summarize. The author talked about how everyone has something that makes getting through life a little bit harder, so therefore everyone is disabled! (No.) Her "disability" is that she's too "empathetic." (Note that this "empathy" didn't lead her to do ANY BASIC RESEARCH ABOUT THE PEOPLE SHE WAS WRITING ABOUT.) What followed was inspiration-porn tripe DRIPPING with just about every stereotype and ableist slur you can imagine, much of it specifically aimed at autistics. And using pseudo-Christian "everything happens for a reason so you must be disabled to learn something from it" platitudes as well. Some responses by tilisokolov, India Valentin, Lev Mirov, Kayla Whaley, David G, and Jim Hines. SF Signal took the post down and apologized, and the author gave a sort of mealy-mouthed half-apology of her own, but good God, people. That they would put up such an article in the first place shows an APPALLING lack of knowledge about the very thing (disability) they claim to be writing about. That post was horrifying on so many different levels that anyone with even a basic knowledge about ANY kind of disability should have been able to go "wait a minute ..." And SF Signal's first response (which I didn't see personally before it got replaced with a better one) was apparently to go "well, it's a guest writer, so Not Our Fault." Yeah, but it's your blog! You have a responsibility for the content on your own blog!
So, first up, we have the ongoing clusterfuck of WorldFantasyCon 2016. Background: in past years, they technically were accessible, in that they passed the minimum requirements for ADA, but not actually accessible, in that they had a panelist in a wheelchair (author and blogger Mari Ness) and provided no way (ramp, lift, etc) for her to get on to the stage with the other panelists. This is, apparently, not the first time this or similar things have happened. Previous disabled panelists and con-goers report other similar problems at previous World Fantasy Cons. (Thank you, File 770, for a writeup and for links to other commentary on the piss-poor quality of World Fantasy Con 2015's harassment policies, or lack thereof.) (Further background: a writeup of all the harassment at World Fantasy Con 2013 and the 2013 concom's problems doing anything about it.)
For obvious reasons, various disabled people did not want to register for this year's Con until they had an accessibility policy stated, so that they would know whether or not it was worth it to go. I mean, if you're deaf/hard of hearing and they don't have sign language interpreters, that means the panels aren't worth going to, for example; and if you can't get to where you need to go in a wheelchair, well, again, not much point going. And they had been repeatedly requesting clarification and, in fact, any response at all, and getting bupkiss from the con organizers, when the early-bird discount expired on February 1, leading to a significant rate hike. Then Jason Sanford got (and posted) screencaps from the con's organizing Facebook Page where the concom mocked the very idea of needing any sort of accessibility or harassment policy. (Yeah, inaccessibility and harassment have only been major ongoing problems at World Fantasy Cons for years, so why should the concom care about the whiny jerks who want to actually be able to participate?) Cue uproar. The Concom tried to cover their ass and attack their attackers, and got justly taken apart for it. (And a more general look at why accessibility is such a big issue at cons, sparked by this whole thing but not directly about it.)
After getting hit with all kinds of well-deserved crap for their attitude and (lack of) policy, they posted one. Sort of. It's ... better than nothing? And still no word on whether people who didn't register because of the lack of policy will get the early-registration price break.
And then, when the dust was still settling from that, came a far more (to me, personally, as an autistic) infuriating thing: the horrifyingly ableist piece on SFSignals' "Special Needs In Strange Worlds" blog, "We Are All Disabled" (since taken down). Folks, this is about the pinnacle of well-meaning Nice Lady attack on disabled people. You can probably guess from the title what it was like, but I'll summarize. The author talked about how everyone has something that makes getting through life a little bit harder, so therefore everyone is disabled! (No.) Her "disability" is that she's too "empathetic." (Note that this "empathy" didn't lead her to do ANY BASIC RESEARCH ABOUT THE PEOPLE SHE WAS WRITING ABOUT.) What followed was inspiration-porn tripe DRIPPING with just about every stereotype and ableist slur you can imagine, much of it specifically aimed at autistics. And using pseudo-Christian "everything happens for a reason so you must be disabled to learn something from it" platitudes as well. Some responses by tilisokolov, India Valentin, Lev Mirov, Kayla Whaley, David G, and Jim Hines. SF Signal took the post down and apologized, and the author gave a sort of mealy-mouthed half-apology of her own, but good God, people. That they would put up such an article in the first place shows an APPALLING lack of knowledge about the very thing (disability) they claim to be writing about. That post was horrifying on so many different levels that anyone with even a basic knowledge about ANY kind of disability should have been able to go "wait a minute ..." And SF Signal's first response (which I didn't see personally before it got replaced with a better one) was apparently to go "well, it's a guest writer, so Not Our Fault." Yeah, but it's your blog! You have a responsibility for the content on your own blog!
