When audiences at disability conferences laugh instead of listening
A challenge to disability professionals and disabled presenters at conferences and panels: Please find a way to respond to the routine contempt that presenters with disabilities are treated with.
Iāve gone to a fair number of disability-related conferences in the past few years. At nearly every conference, I saw an audience laugh at a presenter/panelist with a developmental disability. This happened particularly often to presenters with intellectual disabilities, but I also saw it happen to autistic presenters and presenters with speech disabilities.Ā
This isnāt a matter of random jerk encounters; itās a major cultural problem. Even disability professionals who pride themselves on inclusivity and respect tend to behave this way.
This isnāt nice laughter. Itās not a response to something funny. Itās a response to presenters talking about what theyāre proud of, what theyāre good at, or talking about wanting control over their own lives. People also laugh similarly when parents and siblings talking about their disabled relative wanting autonomy or objecting to being treated like a little child. This happens all the time, and it needs to stop.
If youāre moderating a panel and the audience laughs at a panelist, hereās one method for shutting this down:
Be proactive about taking the panelist seriously:
Donāt look at the audience while theyāre laughing, and *especially* donāt laugh or smile yourself.
Wait for the audience to stop laughing.
Pause briefly before going on. This will make the laughter feel awkward.
Ask the panelist a question that makes it clear that you respect what theyāre saying.
You can explicitly ask āDid you mean that seriously?ā
You can also be a bit less direct, and say something like āThat sounds important. Can you say more?ā
You can also ask a follow-up question about the specific thing they were saying.Ā
I think that we all need to be proactive about changing this culture. (Including disabled presenters who get laughed at; we need to insist on being taken seriously. More on that in another post).
There are more ways to shut down disrespectful laughter and insist on respectful interactions than I know about. What are yours?
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