I'd like to make a few comments here:
* Adele is very, very smart but is not trained as a social worker, therapist, or disability liaison. She uses her lived experience as a DA person to thoughtfully filter the needs of DA people on this site up to us and to provide guidance on these kinds of discussions and to answer questions of newbie DA folks. She isn't in a position of authority, she is here because I asked her to help keep watch for places that we could improve the experiences of DA folks on this site, to answer questions, and to check our processes for accessibility.
I think she does an excellent job.
* The experiences of DA people on this site is important to me, as well as the experiences of people who are not DA. That means that we need a healthy symbiosis for people of all levels of ability to interact here. The TOS is the structure for that and provides a standard code of conduct for everyone to follow.
* I think we do a pretty good job on this site of reaching out to one another when there is a need. Sure, there's room for improvement but I do see many people willing to give time and energy to help people who need it.
* While I am completely comfortable with people offering help and answering questions on a member to member basis, I dont see a time when the site will institute an administrative structure that will take on the responsibility of providing therapeutic assistance to DA people. It would put us in a really bad legal position and open us up to alllll kinds of potential lawsuits.
I see the position of Ability Ambassador as a member-supported function that provides guidance, limited assistance, and a higher level of visibility for DA folks here. That position is not and can't be responsible for the experiences of the many DA folks here. It simply isn't possible or responsible. I think that providing a clear and concise TOS, being available as Admins and Mods, and checking our processes for holes and marginalizing verbiage can go a long way. The other parts, we can do as a membership. The main part, in my mind, must come from a person's willingness to follow the TOS.
What I mean by this is that I see a huge difference in people who are having difficulty understanding things and making mistakes but who generally try to interact in healthy ways, and people who are differently abled but who also interact in intentionally hateful, rude, or shit-stirring ways. Some things are about the difference in ability and some things are about a person being unwilling to follow the rules because they think they are the only person who matters.
I will also say that I do see how people who have *physical* disabilities can have a harder time interacting on this site.
For example: Member "A" has both feet amputated due to Diabetes and is on an incredible amount of pain meds. Posting will on pain meds, Member "A" makes statements or interacts in ways that are against the TOS, outside of the range of how they normally behave, etc.
Another example: We recently had someone who is on partial disability for carpal tunnel ask us to provide voice-to-type software for them to be able to participate here.
Another example: Users who are sight-impaired and who use a voice service to transcribe the words that are typed for them might not be able to participate in chat because the voice service cant transcribe the conversation as fast as it happens, thus the sight-impaired member is constantly behind on the conversation and cant participate with other members on the same level.
Im pretty thankful that this conversation exists. I am learning a lot.
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