[ id: a twitter thread by user @androgynosis that reads as follows:
speaking as someone w mild and variable cognitive impairment that affect my reading comprehension, online arguments abt accessibility when it comes to "social justice" related stuff online are still missing the mark almost completely.
on one hand, i most often see "omg type this in a way that normal ppl can read" or accusations of inaccessability leveraged against particularly marginalized groups like poc (esp black ppl) and transfems. i don't think that's a coincidence
white ppl and tme ppl (jic i'm tme+white) are not exempt from unfairly demanding poc & transfems to do the legwork for us in understanding racism & transmisogyny/acting entitled to that effort. our expectations of poc & transfems exist in the context of racism+transmisogyny
on top of that it's not inherently ableist for ppl to use complex language or academic jargon. it's ableist if say, a disabled person politely requests that smth be reworded in a way they can comprehend due to impairment, & they are met w mockery or accused of laziness
but what seems to happen most of the time is ppl act hostile/aggressive/entitled over the matter as if this is abt moral superiority & not abt allowing more of an audience for "social justice"-related concepts. try asking *politely* first instead of being smug & rude
however, i also see ppl imply that since illiterate / poor folks in the past still found ways to understand complex theory, then that means anyone who claims this stuff can be inaccessible 2 certain ppl are simply not trying hard enough. this is not always true
i see a lot of ppl say "i'm disabled & i understand this fine" but experiences w disability are not universal. some ppl are intellectually disabled. some ppl otherwise have cognitive issues that strongly impair reading comprehension no matter how much "effort" they put in
i'm not *significantly* impaired in that respect but, as an example, i can't read marx or butler & understand what they're saying. usually i understand the words on their own but together its difficult. it's like slamming ur head into a brick wall over & over. it doesn't work
so while the "jargon is inaccessible" side has a plethora of issues, esp privileged ppl demanding labor from those they hold leverage over, but i also want ppl on the other side 2 stop implying this viewpoint can only come out of "not trying hard enough." sound good?
additional note: just as someone has limitations that may make them unable to understand smth, someone can have limitations where they're not able to make their writing more accessible.
using myself as an example again, my neurodevelopmental stuff makes me tend to overexplain things to the point of confusing others. idk how successful i would be if someone asked me to simplify smth i wrote for them. i might just confuse them further
other factors that could play into that are stuff like not having the energy / spoons, or even just not having the time. communication and understanding is key here. pls be compassionate w one another
