Hello! My name is Kyra & my pronouns are they/them.
Are you disabled? Black? Indigenous? Queer? Whoever you are - how can your community be sensitive to your identity? List in the comments your pet peeves and wishes! I want to hear more. I’ll add my own too.
Being trans & gay, I don’t want invasive questions about my body or the relationship with my family.
Being disabled & chronically ill - I need patience and space to recover after what are usually considered basic tasks. Walking hurts. Standing hurts. Lifting 10+ lbs hurts. I cannot contribute as much physical labor and that should be respected and accommodated.
More specifically - being HOH - I have a “deaf” voice at times when I am not carefully paying attention - where my consonants sound soft. Please don’t make fun of me or criticize me for something that is difficult and sometimes impossible to control.
My self-worth is not tied to my physical abilities.
As a low income person - I cannot afford the “right livelihood” I would like to. I sometimes have to buy necessities made of plastic. I hate it too. Please stop preaching to me: I don’t have the luxury to spend money on ecological alternatives every time.
Hi Kyra, I’m surprised this topic hasn’t gotten replies. As someone with disabilities myself I can relate to some of the things you said about your potential experience in community and some of the possible challenges therein, particularly that I can’t afford to buy all the eco-friendly products because they do cost more and I haven’t got a lot of money.
As someone with low-vision my biggest concern about finding a community is finding somewhere I want to live that still has access to public transit. I utilize paratransit for almost everything, work, dr. appts, etc. so I either need to be able to access that daily or I’d need to live in a community that is big enough to have a rideshare system set up to get all the nondrivers into town to get things done each day.
As someone who is neurodivergent (schizo-affective disorder since childhood) I need to feel safe in my invironment and one of the things that helps others with disabilities to feel safe and thrive does the opposite for me, namely having dogs everywhere (service or otherwise), that is one of my paranoia triggers so I have to limit too much fur in my life. For this reason I don’t have a goal of being in a disability-centric community.
Thanks so much for starting this topic because its important to talk about barriers and needs!