It’s nearly impossible to explain to non disabled people the hope we had at the beginning of the pandemic. Hope for inclusion & accommodation. For better awareness & treatment of chronic illness. Having that hope ripped away and replaced with increasing ableism, eugenics & hatred? Its devastating - ThreadSky

broadwaybabyto.bsky.social • 40 days ago

It’s nearly impossible to explain to non disabled people the hope we had at the beginning of the pandemic.

Hope for inclusion & accommodation. For better awareness & treatment of chronic illness.

Having that hope ripped away and replaced with increasing ableism, eugenics & hatred? Its devastating

Reposted from Briana Mills, LMFT ♿️🏳️‍🌈

Remember when the pandemic began and everyone started accommodating remote work? Everyone began showing brand new movies and live concerts streaming? Disabled people had been fighting for this for decades. Now it’s all taken away. It’s not that they can’t accommodate us, they just don’t want to.

Comments

catebridget.bsky.social•40 days ago

i’m not even disabled but i felt the same hope about making changes

corbieailin.bsky.social•40 days ago

I really thought accommodations were permanent. I thought folks saw that all the excuses were lies and they'd never be able to go back. People would just refuse.

I can be so naive and optimistic.

cptbeebi.bsky.social•40 days ago

The framework exists and works damn near perfect as 2020 and 2021 showed us, and it even costed companies substantially LESS.

They'd literally rather pay more money at the cost of accommodating disabled/ill individuals and parents just because mid-level managers couldn't micromanage.

disgaybled.bsky.social•39 days ago

People's rampant promotion of the ongoing plague has fundamentally killed my faith in humanity. Red guys openly want us dead, blue guys claim to be our allies but can't be inconvenienced so our lives are worth taking for their luxuries. We truly are lost as a society. And proud of it.

polarisu.bsky.social•40 days ago

i don't know if i'm an outlier, but the second the pandemic hit, i had zero hope and zero expectations.

thelongshot2112.bsky.social•40 days ago

I do think it is slightly better, in that remote work is possible for me now when it wasn't before. Still, could be better.

botticellibelle.bsky.social•40 days ago

I seriously don't even give one single fuck about most of my friends, anymore.

Realizing that most of my friends would literally watch me die so they could go back to brunch almost ruined me.

I still talk to most of them, but any trust between us is forever broken.

warlockofwires.bsky.social•40 days ago

This...

jentrification.com•40 days ago

so much hope.

that I could wear my pj's and be off-camera without it affecting my ability to be productive and collegial...

oldautisticwoman.bsky.social•40 days ago

Really??? In the pandemic I found that disabled access in my bank was blocked off to funnel people one way. I had to stand in pain in long queues due to limits on people in shops. Seats in the library were removed. It was ableism all the way.

lilthinker.bsky.social•40 days ago

It’s frustrating cuz it’s obviously possible and yet they’re like no no way we want to be absolute villains and take it away. So many benefited from the accommodations and inclusions.

mstiahmarie.bsky.social•39 days ago

There was much I did not enjoy about the start of the pandemic.

Nor will I pretend that watching my father’s funeral via WhatsApp didn’t add an extra layer of hurt.

But my body felt better than it had in over a decade. That was highly enjoyable.

andyfg.bsky.social•40 days ago

My son, who's had ME for about 15 years, was so pleased that under lockdown etc all his friends were keeping in touch online so he was once again on same terms as them. Sadly they no longer keep in touch to the same extent.

annaliisavilppu.bsky.social•40 days ago

I’m a founding member of a school board and being able to attend our meetings remotely was a lifeline for me. Now that the accommodation has been reversed and is illegal, I struggle to make it to monthly meetings and parents no longer have a remote viewing/participation option.

annaliisavilppu.bsky.social•40 days ago

We want civic engagement and then aren’t willing to facilitate it. I could sit in a parking lot at the little league fields and watch a local meeting when they were streamed on Zoom, even when they were also in public. People working and/or parenting can’t easily attend meetings in person.

annaliisavilppu.bsky.social•40 days ago

Our school board can’t make decisions about accessibility unless it’s allowed by state law governing public meetings.

seamstress22.bsky.social•39 days ago

What? It's illegal?? Again, what did I miss?

miri100.bsky.social•40 days ago

Until we get rid of Trump, all of those things are not going to be possible because he hates women disabilities veterans disabled veterans. He’s just a vile bucket of pus! And they will pass anything they can to hurt all that he hates PS he only likes billionaires!

rinewithoutacat.bsky.social•40 days ago

Writing this as a disabled person: As a then-higher ed union official, I had the opposite exp. I fought against coverups of COVID exposures, for students and workers to have access to masks, and much much more until I and some colleagues got physically ill from the stress of fighting for access.

rinewithoutacat.bsky.social•40 days ago

I do think that things like online options being rolled back is bad, ofc!!! But please, don't lump all disabled people as having a singular experience, I can go into more detail about how bad it was for me/colleagues, and this is setting aside bodies loaded out daily of the care home near my apt.

kristenlindop.bsky.social•40 days ago

100%

delightw2023.bsky.social•40 days ago

I had recently interviewed for my dream job, most of which could have been done remotely but they would not entertain the idea. What blew my mind is how many things pivoted overnight. It turned out it wasn't hard at all. So why is it reverting. (Bc they don't want to include US)

botticellibelle.bsky.social•40 days ago

Yeah, I lost my entire writing community as soon as I graduated from my MFA b/c they went back to in-person readings in tiny unventilated bookstores immediately.

I can't teach at my alma mater b/c the classes are in-person. It doesn't make any sense!

botticellibelle.bsky.social•40 days ago

Remote readings allowed friends & family from all over the world to tune in. The audiences were much larger!

But they won't want increased access. Period. They want stuffy little cliques in bookstores.

dottiedino.bsky.social•39 days ago

even goes beyond that, a gleeful vengeance quest to do harm to disabled people.

Cuz we remind them now how close they are to it.

Cuz our existing remind them of how pandemic is real.

They need us to go to get “back to normal,”

brianamillslmft.bsky.social•40 days ago

Truly!! Thanks for sharing, Kelly.

assfarter.bsky.social•40 days ago

for a few months it felt like we were building a better world and everyone was seeing the value. then a bunch of dickheads decided that if they can't dine in at fudrucker's their freedom is violated and they need armed protest to fix that, and somehow we catered to them

olivekosheluk.bsky.social•40 days ago

Remember the few months when everyone made signs saying "we're in this together" and clapped for essential workers? Everyone seemed to become more caring and empathetic until they all started getting COVID.

I genuinely think COVID altered people's minds, worse than lead exposure did 40-50 years ago

shadenightingale.bsky.social•40 days ago

Or simply revealed what was already there.

olivekosheluk.bsky.social•40 days ago

Yes, by altering their minds. I think it's likely everyone who's been infected has had their brain altered to a degree. In some cases it might mean brain fog, reduced cognitive tempo, impaired emotional regulation, or loss of memory. It some, it might inhibit empathy or imagining other perspectives

slooterman.bsky.social•40 days ago

I mostly just remember the constant terror about the possible death of my spouse, wiping down groceries with Clorox and being uncertain if it was safe to go outside. It was nice more people were willing to do stuff like wear masks, but I do not remember the time period fondly.

slooterman.bsky.social•40 days ago

I’m honestly sort of baffled by folks who are nostalgic for the early pandemic. Some of my friends died. One friend lost all four of her grandparents in the span of a couple weeks. There were literal stacks of corpses.

autsciperson.bsky.social•40 days ago

I'm still terrified that if I go visit my grandmother I'll get covid from the plane because everyone has stopped masking & k*** her. COVID still exists and people still die from it (albeit less so).. it's just that no one talks about it anymore. Family has been guilting me for years to visit her.

autsciperson.bsky.social•40 days ago

Even my liberal close family doesn't mask regularly. She had a 90th birthday this year and at least 8 relatives came to it, no masks. A relative (a nurse) gave some very old relatives COVID about 3 weeks before they went to all visit my grandmother in person. No masks were worn.

slooterman.bsky.social•40 days ago

Fewer people are dying, we understand how transmission works, we have a vaccine and there are now treatment options for severe COVID. It’s not great, but it is actually objectively better than 2020 by basically any reasonable metric.

rinewithoutacat.bsky.social•40 days ago

Thank you, and I am sorry for your losses. I did labour work in Canada the first two years, and who had family doing public health in the US for that time...yeah. The early weeks, months, years were not rosy, I did not have hope broadly, my access to needed care was curtailed, I lost dear ones.

slooterman.bsky.social•40 days ago

I think disruptions in support services killed at least one of my friends. They didn’t have COVID, but they relied on DSP services for help with activities of daily living.

rutiregan.bsky.social•39 days ago

Things were already so precarious for her (if we’re thinking about the same person), and I absolutely believe that the additional precariousness from covid killed her.

brainmist.bsky.social•40 days ago

I don't think it's nostalgia, by any means. I think people were hoping that, with a majority suddenly acutely aware of risks to their health, and the subsequent push to rapidly adapt remote options, that would finally open the door to accessibility that has been possible but unimplemented for years.

broadwaybabyto.bsky.social•39 days ago

I remember the terror too, but I think I separated out the two? I don’t know if that makes sense. My healthcare was curtailed in a big way which was scary … but I also naively thought we would move to a more inclusive society & towards more disease prevention.

karistinalafae.bsky.social•40 days ago

It was terrifying, but there was also the hope that, once the pandemic was over (which we still thought could happen) we'd get to keep the accommodations that became magically available when everyone else needed them, too.

We got neither of these things, but loads of contempt.

nerdymarie.bsky.social•39 days ago

What blows my mind is how much better things got for SO many.

Can't afford Broadway tickets or a trip? No worry, they're streaming it now!

Grocery pickup/delivery has got to be handy for a LOT of ableds.

Media artists doing really cool things online, down to earth, etc.

nerdymarie.bsky.social•39 days ago

I miss the ways people got creative.

A local nerdy burlesque group started doing online shows, the performers all did whole *videos*, being able to do things that stage performance didn't really allow for.

A Canadian radio host did an AMAZING TV show, interviewing stars in their homes, over zoom.

lei304.bsky.social•40 days ago

In a forgotten reality, no explanation would be required, but we've relied too much on the government to carve out too many special exemptions for every person with a tick. When all our needs should be met just on the basis of our humanity. Then racists would be abased as in the Bible.

nannyogg63.bsky.social•40 days ago

It was so good for such a brief period of time. Now it’s worse than it ever was. People are big mad about not being able to eat peanuts on flights because they don’t care if someone could die.

seamstress22.bsky.social•39 days ago

I'm missing the who what when why and how here. Is this about any particular employer? Who's doing this? What's the actual story?

broadwaybabyto.bsky.social•39 days ago

It’s about a broader issue of people being forced back to in person work. Telemedicine is on the docket to be cut soon in the U.S. and has already been cut in other countries. Most of the remote entertainment options went away years ago.

seamstress22.bsky.social•39 days ago

I actually don't think my HMO would abandon telemedicine. Is someone trying to make it illegal?

broadwaybabyto.bsky.social•39 days ago

They were trying to end coverage for it. Disability activists fought back and there’s been an extension. Here’s an article and you’re welcome to search for more. This has been an issue for months & we’ve been working hard to keep our access.

Many workplaces have already removed telework

seamstress22.bsky.social•39 days ago

I don't know who "they" are, but they're sure keeping a low profile.

broadwaybabyto.bsky.social•39 days ago

Did you read the document I attached? That explains a lot.

@joffirphd.bsky.social if you’re able could you perhaps clarify why telehealth is on the chopping block?

seamstress22.bsky.social•39 days ago

I was just out on Google looking for news of this and I haven't found very much yet.

seamstress22.bsky.social•39 days ago

I doubt this is the end of telework. It's so economical for companies to operate this way.

broadwaybabyto.bsky.social•39 days ago

Unfortunately many people have been forced back to the office who didn’t actually need to be there in person. Some have lost their jobs. There will still be telework but nowhere near the levels we had or need for both Covid and the climate.

seamstress22.bsky.social•39 days ago

Is there a link? I missed the first few pages of this saga

broadwaybabyto.bsky.social•39 days ago

There are hundreds of links. I’m sorry I can’t provide them right now … if you search you will find many stories of people being forced back into the offices.

Here’s a place to start. https://tech.co/news/companies-ended-fully-remote-work-2024

seamstress22.bsky.social•39 days ago

Is this all pursuant to the impending mistreatment of Federal workers? Like private industry suddenly decided to follow suit? What exactly happened?

mirrinigma.bsky.social•40 days ago

for the first time in my life all of the accommodations i'd ever wanted, ones that i'd had to take legal action for in the past, were available without me even asking

and now... well, lol.

is it still agoraphobia when now it's justified? it's been a rough 5 years for my "anxiety"

blazewarriorwolf.bsky.social•40 days ago

Society loves backstabbing people. You bring on something huge and positive and those in power and their bigoted supporters want it taken away immediately.

mattoslo.bsky.social•40 days ago

We became full time care for our profoundly disabled son during COVID and, for a brief moment, thought the playing field might be levelled enough for some real change to happen.
Nope.
The abled world took back everything and more. Seemingly angry it had been denied it's "right" for just a while.

warlockofwires.bsky.social•40 days ago

It feels like one step forward and then later on three steps backward...

I've seen humanities true colors and the abled just don't understand what they've done...

broadwaybabyto.bsky.social•40 days ago

That’s exactly it. We saw that inclusion and accessibility were possible, and people just didn’t WANT to. That’s all it boils down to. They wanted their normal back and were in such a hurry to get it they took even more from us.

It’ll never stop hurting.

mirrinigma.bsky.social•40 days ago

hearing people suddenly start to spout, "but it's about equity!" in order to take away accommodations made me lose faith in humanity.

an uncomfortable number of people genuinely believe disability accommodations are a means to unfair advantage and are asked for near-exclusively by "illness fakers"

exilednomo.bsky.social•40 days ago

🫂

tyrotcm.bsky.social•40 days ago

It's still during COVID.

mattoslo.bsky.social•40 days ago

True.
That's ignored because otherwise restrictions might have to apply again.
Can't have that!

dibbitydop.bsky.social•39 days ago

All I saw was fascism under the guise of "public health." There can be policy improvements for the chronically ill without the tyranny of lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

miishiikins.bsky.social•39 days ago

That and marriage too

ph-ph-ph.bsky.social•40 days ago

And it just gets incrementally worse and worse. 😔

rwruedii.bsky.social•40 days ago

Political parties in several countries managed to twist pandemic response to hate of people with disabilities.

It is awful.

gingercruiser.bsky.social•40 days ago

Never trust the system

normfrom1957.bsky.social•40 days ago

I fear for the vulnerable in society. This hateful regime of Trumps will impact us all but the marginalized will feel it the most.

alittler.com•40 days ago

And I continue to feel lucky. I have an incredibly supportive family, and I’m Canadian, so my disability payments more than payed for having to order some food in/ renovate my apartment/ get rid of second hand stuff.