Mondays With Tas: Acess is Equality
The importance of accessiblity for recreational activities.
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A significant obstacle for autistic, neurodivergent, and disabled people is access to recreational activities. Attending an event online or in person is a chaotic mess because people often see access as work.
Anything considered “extra” is shunned even when it is the law. Even when it is not actually special treatment, but creating equality.
Access looks different for each person. There is no one size fits all for accessibility which is the point of personalized accommodations. It is important for businesses, venues, and online content providers to understand that they will need to adapt.
Access is more than physical
Sensory needs, cognitive processing, mobility, and auditory, and visual are some of the most common forms of access. However, many recreational venues will only accommodate a fraction of the items on the list.
Because of this, neurodivergent and disabled people have to avoid certain activities.
Dungeons and Dragons is an online and in-person activity. In the past, we participated in campaigns and were sadly met with resistance to access. It took us years to find a dungeon master willing to provide reasonable accommodations. It is a niche community that was not willing to create an access point for neurodivergent people.
Forging a path
When no one else will create access — you make your own. Many neurodivergent, autistic, and disabled people start in person and online groups or other activities to make a safe space.
Look at these content creators, advocates, and professionals that have created access!
Personally, we are hosting a Dungeons and Dragons Neurodivergent Accessible Campaign! The goal of the campaign is to create access in every way possible.
This includes sensory, communication, and gameplay modifications to make sure EVERYONE can play and have fun. We are excited to launch the first campaign in October with the hopes of hosting many more!
Question of the week
How do you create access for yourself or others that are neurodivergent or disabled?
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Tas is an autistic, queer, nonbinary, person of color that a neurodivergent writer. They are advocates for social justice, and equality, and are scholars of life.
