a future where "cringe culture" doesn't exist. neurodivergent people's interests and self-expression are celebrated and not pathologized/shamed/mocked. furries, deviant art sparkle dogs, sonic OCs, naruro runners, xenogenders, otherkin, fandom, role-playing, fanfiction, you name it - all the stuff that's completely harmless to others and brings people JOY. if you see someone mocking others for being "cringe", challenge that. if you catch yourself feeling cringe at someone's "unconventional" interests, challenge that too.
hey everyone! captions for this video should be up soon, they’re complete youtube is just still “processing” them whatever that means. should be within a couple hours! sorry for the ironic caption issue lol
there shouldn’t even be auto captions i wrote a whole caption file!!! 😔😔😔 i’ll check on em when i get home from work. thank you all for letting me know!
My disability justice future would be a day to day world that’s not so overstimulating. There’d be no super highways filled with car horns honking and cop cars speeding past with their alarms, no big TV screens filled with ads everywhere you walk in New York or billboards filling the sidelines of every street you drive, there’d be no ads at all, no 10 hour work days just to live, no expectations of collared shirts and tight skirts just to “go to work” or to school, “schools” and “work” in the ways we know them wouldn’t exist, and instead we could actually prioritize community & education while valuing each other, and instead there’d be clean & accessible sidewalks and accessible public transit, and the concert venues would all be each others backyards.
ik its such a small thing but it means a lot to me that ash made sure to say like "just because ive studied this in college doesnt mean im better than anyone else who hasnt" i mean he didnt say that exactly but thats how i interpreted it and it actually helped me feel so seen like.. idk i just get way too in my head abt dropping out and i feel like everyone sees me as just a dumb unreliable source, not worth listening to or taking seriously, and it just means a lot to hear that no my opinions do matter actually. im disabled and that gives me as much a right to speak on disability as any other disabled person, all our experiences should matter (not to say that my words hold as much weight as ashtons tho, i do recognize that having studied disability justice in college def gives him more perspective than i have) anyway i just wanted to say i love this vid and id love to see more vids related around disability because its something not enough ppl (even self proclaimed leftists) talk abt and really engage with. ive been craving vids on disability sm i actually started making them myself lol. its really important to talk abt, esp invisible disabilities have sm stigma and unfair expectations that i could rant abt forever, but i should stop lol
sorry to comment again lol but i just have to thank you again for talking abt accessibility like you did!!! legit gave me chills and helped me see accessibility in a more nuanced way. i was nodding along agreeing with you watching this whole vid, i really needed this tysm
Your opinions so matter! If this story is any help at all in boosting your confidence, I am currently a full time college student but my twin is not, they haven't even technically finished their GED because their ADHD symptoms made school physically impossible and too emotionally straining to "complete". But even though we're on different life paths, i and all of our found family can acknowledge that that doesn't make anyone inherently superior of inferior. They're still one of the most intelligent and kind people I've ever known in my life, and multiple people view them with respect and love. Im glad that this video made you feel so seen and I hope that you can have that with your immediate surroundings too! Thank you for sharing your story :-)
I get you. I'm in college and I originally was going for psych but realized I'm not someone who can really function in that space for various reasons and so I switched to an art major and I've had to deal with some massive Imposter syndrome (not the right term but I can't think of something better) when I talk about psych or mental disability stuff. I'm mentally disabled and have been in therapy most of my life (like almost 14 years now) so of course I have thoughts on it! And they're not less than just becausei. Haven't studied it in a classroom.
Im so sick of people judging me for still wearing a mask. I'm not sure i will ever stop wearing one in public either. I have borderline asthma and use an inhaler due to untreated allergies making my lungs inflamed for years lmfao so i would prefer not to struggle to breathe for months again but tbh I dont think you should need to have a medical reason to still be masking. Wearing a mask in public just is way more comfortable for me. I don't notice bad smells as much, My hair dosent get in my mouth, and most importantly I don't have to worry about freaking people out (and embarrassing myself) when I make an overly pronounced facial expression. It also helps me physically distinguish between socializing/work time (where I have to mask certain behaviors) and by myself time. Also one thing in my DJ future would be ease of diagnosis! In my experience it is incredibly hard to convince people to take you seriously even if this has been something you have experienced for years. It makes me feel totally gaslit and insane. I start to think im making stuff up or a baby that just needs to toughen up. its wild. I have been standing in front of people with proof of diagnosis and they have deadass said "I don't think that's what the doctor meant". At this point I don't think I will be diagnosed with anything thats not extremely obvious as a minor.
I don't really have anything to contribute to the conversation, but I just want to say you're rad and thanks for holding space for important conversations like this.
the social model was touched on in my ‘knowing young people’ class while studying for my degree in international development and the one critique of this model that was given was in that it fails to acknowledge the inherently disabling characteristics of some disabilities (in my personal view these are things that are personally disabling, not things that impact a persons ability to capacity to participate economically in our society but this wasn’t explicitly explained in my class) eg. how depression, anxiety, chronic pain, other physical disabilities etc affects the ability for someone to do things they would like to do, and the emotional or physical toll a disability may have. It was framed that disabled people are disabled by society - the discrimination, silencing, lack of accessibility & accommodations etc, but that disabilities are also inherently disabling to the person too. Sounds like the complex embodiment model includes this line of thinking, considering the disabling nature of society and personal impairments. I really have so much more to learn about this. My class clearly only scratched the very top of the surface! We weren’t taught about how it was developed by straight white men! Seems like this critique isn’t discussed much, at least it wasn’t shared academically in my experience in Australia 😤 but now that I typed that out, it doesn’t surprise me at all 🙃 Would love to hear your thoughts on the above critique!
it’s pretty cool that you learned a bit about the social model and i’m glad i could expand on that! i think you’re exactly right that complex embodiment addresses both society & some aspects of disability as disabling. :)
My disability justice society would have open and equitable access to education. In with the homes there would be a garage/workshop/lab/kitchen/library where everyone is learner and teacher
Such a critical topic, thanks for this video! I was working for Sins Invalid for some time and always recommend their Disability Justice principles. Bookmarking this for later as i love your videos.
I loved the video ashton! /genuine the part about interdependence made me think a bit about my own situation, since im currently living in a youth living group for teens who cant or don't want to live with their parents, and "becoming independent" is a large focus here, so it does sometimes just make me feel kinda left alone in a way? they still help with stuff if you ask for it, but the whole individualistic lense of doing everything yourself just gets overwhelming, especially since its pretty much just a lie. as you said, i cant live without the people who plant, grow, harvest and process the food i eat, or the people who made the clothes i wear, or my loved ones ect. so yeah, thanks for talking about that /positive Also, one thing that i noticed is that at 42:04, you say "three disabled Asian American women" but in the subtitles it says "three disabled American woman" which is a pretty important difference, so i just wanted to point it out. /positive
Omg I'm so glad this popped up! I've been missing ur uploads for a long time & this channel fell into the object impermanence pit of my brain. I havent watched yet but SO glad to see this & I love the purple hair!!!
I have been wearing a mask again since January and it has been going well! I have also offered to give my friends some but I should consider giving that option to more people. I have been meaning to watch this video for a while and I'm so glad I finally did, thanks Ashton!
i loved this video, and would adore if you decided to turn the masking essay into a video, or even if you made the essay available !! amazing as always ashton :)
also i'm so glad you made a video about this because i definitely should learn more about it on a side note tho i've just been told by my little brother that i've had a memory disorder since birth and i didn't know this i've known i'm mentally ill its very strange i didn't know this but anyway thanks for this video!
very important topic, thank you. i've had to read a few articles on it in uni, but it's a topic i've been meaning to get a bit more of my teeth into, thanks for this excellent resource
something i really don't like (especially as a blind person) about the social model is that it is prescriptive in its language, as in "this is disability and this is impairment", because many blind struggles according to this model are disability rather than impairment, and yet, many blind people also identify as visually impaired. this is such a common identifier in my community and defining it so narrowly feels dismissive of such a common personal identity.
Hey, ashton! Thank you for this video and the sources you shared. I'll be reading up on stuff when time allows. I have a specific question if you've got resources or info on that. One of my most severe experiences is a psychotic episode in my teens that was shrouded in a lot of mistreatment /institutionalization/prolonged sedation and shaped some extreme views i have regarding psychology and psychiatry. Well, now finding out (after your psych video) that maybe specifically my opinion on psychology isn't that unusual after all (so thanks for that too ((: ). But some time ago i tried to find additional info or maybe people -- i was looking into antipsychiatry and such, but nothing was fully congruent with my beliefs, which is that (sorry for following bad wording) it's not necessarily medication that's the issue (which antipsych basically is antivax for mental illness :/), i'm not against getting medical aid as you personally would need, but the lack of informed consent (and looking at situations holistically) that is hugely prevalent. And by informed i mean in a reciprocal way -- the power imbalance between doctor/patient especially when the patient is deemed impaired in their understanding of ""reality"". Obviously this comes with a lot of complexity when it comes to the psychotic spectrum (the example i'll stick to since that's what i have most experience with), but imo it's not enough to "cure" psychosis like that. I think had i had community, people who view me as equal and dont dismiss my reality, doctors who are somehow trained in empathetic communication (for a lack of a better wording?) and mediation, a working wellfare system or smt to that end, i would have had 1) a chance for full recovery, 2) no medical ptsd, 3) less medication needed in the first place, among else. Obviously some holistic issues as well which is that my psychosis was rooted in abuse so if that was taken care of before it got bad -- who knows. I most simply think that psychology is too individualizing and needs a severe uhaul. The resources im asking for are somewhere in the realm of antipsychiatry -- but not dogmatic? Readings on how psychiatry/psychology *could* be useful, but they need to exist in a completely different system, they need to be basically so entirely reconceptualized as to probably become unrecognizable from their roots. I have no idea if this makes sense. And i'm aware it may sound like your video is exactly about that (and it is, it is very very helpful in understanding a little bit better), but im in search for resources specifically targetting "severe" stigmatized mental illnesses just because i'd like to be able to articulate and understand what i think better. And maybe feel less alone and not like some crazy anti medicine (which im not) paranoid person all the time.
What if people in mass went to the emergency room (as a form of protest) to receive basic medical care (check ups, screening, blood tests)? They can't be refused. It would overwhelm the hospital system, and, over a long enough period of time, likely force a medical strike (doctors would be inundated with non-critical patients). A medical strike would have far-reaching effects on the insurance industry - dramatically increasing risk. This could destabilize for-profit medical care. Because hospitals must stay operational, the government would probably absorb the risk. It would force the medical system to socialize. Once that happens, it would be difficult to reverse.
Thank you for the captions. Part of disability awareness is the realisation that some of us are hard of hearing. I still found it difficult to follow at times. For example, what exactly is a “bodymind?” I have never heard that portmanteau before, and I am almost 60 years old?
THANK YOU for all there work and time and love you put into this Ashton! I wonder if there's a DJ future where we can provide a communal care/habilitation/framework for people who cling to identity power if they have it, and build a world that helps everyone move beyond it. (Hear me out) I'm thinking of people who wish to unlearn their ingrained messages and modes of survival which might be learned from privilege, capitalism, colonialism, and other sections you mention to survive. In a world of justice, the imperative to cling onto these is harmful to a collectivist mission, not to mention corrosive to a just future everyone wants (even if they might not know it or how to begin). Without using the term "disability" - I'd consider those accepting and living with the toxicity of individualism and societal power as a setback to collectivist justice. These people are certainly not facing more oppression than disabled people, nor will they leading the work, but the mindsets and people who embody them are a setback nonetheless. I like to think of a DJ world where even those who might not be considered "disabled" or "disabled enough" to have a place to equitably transform their positions, powers, and talents toward 'anarcho-collectivism'; with agreed upon expectations, protections, appreciation, and reciprocation for everyone's contributions. Once the marginalized of our pre-DJ world find our place, my DJ means also making a world that doesn't exclude, but forgives and integrates with the pain of those who've lived in privilege and built their safety and success off of marginalization. Taking back the justice in our own hands, so all people can live free of shameful concepts tied to ones abilities. I think there's a long way to go, and it first starts with interdependence and solidarity between the systemically oppressed first. However, in my DJ future, we will eventually shift from categorization of abled/non-abled to appreciation of mixed attributes and qualities of people.
Off topic but have you noticed how many of us are specifically queer in someway normally trans, autistic and have hEDS? I'm in a group for trans autistic people, and like a third of us also have EDS lol
I think that is lovely. I think it would sound a lot like that. But im curious about how schools and hospitals would work? And how connected other communes are with eachother? And the global connections? I do not know why my brain goes there. But transportstion accessibilty and being able to get places without going broke would be amazing. Public spaces.
Critical questions like those are absolutely essential. The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin is a very insightful novel about a possible anarchist society. However, I’ve done some research into actual existing communes, and the results are not encouraging. The ones that endure the most, and provide for their members the best, are NOT queer-friendly places
Thank you so much for the resources, I love your video essays and hearing your thoughts/perspective on issues especially where they intersect with anticapitalist/anti-goverment ideals
If I were to speak honestly. There's a gap here that is not taken account of, I don't know what it is. I have made sure to engage with disability justice content. Ive kept it in my mind for a few years now and I am for every single access offering except one. I'm aware of my hypocrisy and the dissonance it induces. I'm literally afraid of saying the specific as there will be anger towards me. But just thinking about living in that very specific change again forevermore brings deep deep dread. I'm not going to do it, I can't do it, I don't know why I can't do it, it makes me so mad that as a leftist I can't do it. I think about this regularly and question why not and I feel my agitation irrationally increase. Something is not accounted for and it's taken a lot for me to say that, I wish this one specific aspect was easy, but I think there might be reasons why people don't do it, like crime, there has to be more to it. Because I just can't deal with it and I'm sure other failing leftists feel the same. Like, what the fuck is going on and why can't we do better.
I am wondering if you’re talking about masking? Regardless, I would suggest pushing into the discomfort you feel. You say “I don’t know, there’s a gap, failing leftists, my agitation increases,” and these statements have a vague blamelessness to them. You know the areas you feel confusion in, yet you have chosen to stop investigating “why.” Your self-descriptive statements ring as though you may expect someone else will fix these problems for you. Or to soothe your FEELINGS over a marginalized population’s livelihood. And to offer more, please remember that the state has failed disabled people multiple times. People not masking is not an individual failure as the state has not funded mask distribution, healthcare is shit, etc. But choosing to continue to not mask is, like I’ve said, a choice. I’d hope to softly suggest, being an ally is an ACT, not a noun. -sincerely, a black trans disabled person
I dont relate and kindof dont like your ideas, but the way you present them is amazing. 🤷 I found you cuz I was trying to understand a friend and I think I wont be able to xd
