Simulating Disabilities
When is it OK? When is it disrespectful? My thoughts on a complicated topic
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Simulation is a common but misguided approach to invoking empathy for disability and accessibility-related issues. This is often done in group settings and is incredibly common in training sessions — where participants wear blindfolds or ear plugs, sit in borrowed wheelchairs, or swap their mice for keyboards trying to experience what it means to be disabled.
Where simulation falls short is in five very specific areas that can never, ever be simulated no matter how good your facilitator is or what type of disability they may have:
- People simulating disabilities at the end of the session know that the simulation will be over. People with actual disabilities are rarely that lucky.
- People simulating disabilities aren’t carrying microaggression baggage from having dealt with years if not decades of being treated…
