Access the plain language version of this post here!
I’ve pondered putting my thoughts, research, and experience with intellectual disability into writing for some time now. Many things delayed me, most of them pretty typical—work is busy, my laptop is on the fritz, and it’s just generally challenging to sit down and start a new project. But the thing that caused me the most pause was the fear that starting to write about this topic would undermine the entire premise of my argument that intellectually disabled people are whole and worthy of care and community, and don’t need to be “saved” by people like me.
In activist spaces, I see a lot of focus on “own voices” narratives. This makes sense to me. If we’re trying to lift up a group of people who have been historically (and presently) silenced, the first step is to listen. I believe this should be true for intellectual disability, as well—but for some reason, many of the loudest voices advocating for the rights of intellectual disability are not themselves intellectually disabled. The advocates themselves aren’t the problem—the problem is the ratio. And I don’t want to be part of skewing that ratio further in the wrong direction.
But a lot of what I want to use this space to talk about is barely being talked about at all, intellectually disabled or not. The cultural history of intellectual disability plays a huge role in the present lives of people with intellectual disability, and so I think it should be talked about.
Accessibility challenges
As I got deeper into research, I began to understand why so few advocates with intellectual disabilities are talking about this—historical materials about this topic have major barriers to accessibility. The bulk of the material available is either written for an academic audience or primary source material, or both. Any narratives from historical disabled people themselves, which are rare, are often buried inside longer pieces and are challenging to find. These type of academic or historical writing styles are typically inaccessible to people with intellectual disabilities. And that’s not to mention the physical and bureaucratic barriers, such as memberships to specific libraries, good internet access, ability to read cursive, practice optimizing search terms, knowledge of which databases to search, transportation to various archives, and ability to navigate outdated laws that restrict access to the materials. I have struggled to access many of these materials, and I am able to do most of the above without support.
People with intellectual disabilities should have access to this information. It’s their history. Sometimes it’s very dark—they’ve been treated very badly—but that doesn’t mean it should be hidden. And sometimes it’s less dark. Sometimes there are stories about people persevering and thriving despite what the world has thrown at them. But regardless, people with intellectual disabilities deserve to have access to information about the history of their communities.
My commitments
With these things in mind, I’ve made two decisions. The first is that I will make everything I write available in plain language. Plain language is a style of writing that prioritizes the understanding of the reader. It uses simple sentence structure, common vocabulary, the active voice, and a clear overarching structure to make it easier to understand. Plain language is an important accessibility tool for people with intellectual disabilities, but there are other reasons for plain language, too. People who are learning a new language may benefit from plain language, and there is a growing push for the use of plain language in science communication.
This post, the one you’re reading right now, is not written in plain language. I will publish a plain language version of this post on Substack at the same time, and I’ll do the same for future posts, so that anyone with an intellectual disability will have access.
My second decision is that I will dedicate a portion of this space to promoting the work of advocates with intellectual disabilities. There are many wonderful people with intellectual disabilities working very hard to make the world a better place, and I want more people to hear their voices. If you are a disability advocate with an intellectual disability and would like to be interviewed or to have me promote your work, please do not hesitate to reach out.