In my mind where nobody can bug me I’m actively working against the compressed and dystopian capacity for hope, joy and access. There are limitless opportunities for positive change there. Barriers don’t exist. We all win!

Crip Tick

Every building, business and organisation is required to have the Crip Tick. Riffing on the Rainbow Tick (read up at your leisure) this magical sticker denotes that not only getting into the building but moving around, interacting with other people and spending time there, will be accessible.

When we say accessible we mean for all kinds of disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent people. Wheelchair access, bathrooms we can get in and out of as well as use easily that aren’t gross or stacked with cleaning products and furniture, lighting that doesn’t trigger migraines or overwhelm, different options for seating and desks. If there are stairs in the building, that a lift is available in the vicinity so you don’t have to pay the crip tax of spending hours finding the entrance you can use.

People who are often in the building or organisation have an understanding and demonstrated usage of varying forms of communication. Non-verbal communication is never deemed less than or lacking intelligence.

The quiet spaces aren’t limited to a handful of cushions on the floor and a stack of manky fidget toys from Kmart.

In Crip Tick accredited spaces, there’s understanding of exhaustion incurred via all forms of travel. Sometimes getting there takes all of the day’s capacity, so we can send our access needs ahead of time. We won’t have to ask for anything and carry the heft of a reaction or frustration. It is not more comfortable for everyone when our needs are unmet.

Funding is part of infrastructure and is never at risk of being pulled or diminished. When a building requires amendments so that any disabled person can be part of things, there is no red tape and it just fucking happens. Universal design practices are understood to be the bare minimum and it isn’t just disabled people who advocate, agitate and enact change. Everyone notices. Everyone makes the effort required to right the wrongs.

Accreditation is reassessed annually by a group of Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent people. There are ample opportunities for respected and well remunerated employment for Disabled people to conduct, update and manage the Crip Tick accreditation process nation wide.

The United Nations raises a charter that sees the Crip Tick required world-wide. The logo is recognisable and respected after being designed by a disabled person.

Eventually we won’t need the Crip Tick because all of this stuff will go without saying.

My Crip Rider

All this musing reminded me of a workshop I attended a few years back. I think it was on IDPWD and I was in bed with the curtains drawn, watching Ruby Allegra speaking about their art practices. When there was Q and A I sent in a little message saying I was watching this from bed and it was really giving me a boost during a crash. Ruby referred to our beds as disabled people being sacred spaces and I felt the synapses in my brain electrify and sparkle.

There’s so much that happens in our places of deep rest. We work there too, stay connected to others through the phones in our hands. Apply heat, ice, balms, medicine. It’s not about fixing a broken thing but tending a perfect body with love and care. Pleasure, laughter, dreaming, creating, holding. They all happen in bed.

Ruby also referred to having a written list of requirements ready to go for anyone who wanted them to work or attend another space in any capacity. I’ve thought about this a lot over the years and it’s only when I feel that I’ve been clear but haven’t that I can identify what I need to have equity when being away from my home base.

Here’s what I need as a baseline to go places and not be harmed in the process. A lot I do for myself. I don’t have an expectation that anyone can read my mind. There is a lot of labour that goes into being places that people don’t know about until they know. There are reasons for each item which I’m not going to explain.

• my car to be full of petrol already

• no other people in the car

• fully charged phone and working charging cable in the car

• a large Stanley cup rip off with a reusable straw, bubbly water, ice and some kind of hydralite or kombucha mixed in ready in my car

• a few snackies I can eat while driving as needed that adhere to the many food restrictions I have

• time to get where I’m going without stressing about being late, time allowed for getting lost, finding parking very close to where I’m going and having 10 mins or so in my car after parking and before getting out

• knowing how to get where I’m going beyond lady in the phone, for example if I’m in the State Library, where do I park to be closest to the right entrance?

• knowing what the seating is without asking

• AIR FILTRATION

• no stairs

• no fluorescent lighting

• somewhere to plug in my heating pad thing from Korea that will give third degree burns if on any setting other than the lowest one because it’s very powerful (ILY heating pad, never change)

• gendy nooch bathroom

• if I’m doing a talk or running a workshop I would love a quiet, dark space where I can lay down on a couch for a bit beforehand and afterwards

• air con or heating for my temp regulation issuessssss

• mask mandated audience if it’s an audience thing

• hand sanitiser dispensers to be working and used by people in attendance

• a place to stay overnight if I’ve driven more than an hour (this can be with a friend)

• info about where food is if it’s near a meal time and what the options are, I get distracted and forget to sort this out when I’m focusing on a work thing

• if it’s a workshop situation and there’s food provided, please not a grazing table where everyone is touching everything and breathing all over it oh my god

• when there are more than four people in the room if I’m speaking for an hour please give me a microphone so I can conserve energy by not needing to project my voice

I’d be curious about reactions when reading this list. Writing it was confronting - lots of self talk about diva behaviour. But it’s just access, babes. When I go without any of these things my recovery time is monstrous and more painful. If I can prevent that by getting ahead of potholes and barriers, why wouldn’t I?

The unholy union of a dog and a cat who embody Crazy in Love before Kanye cheated on Beyonce.

I think I’m going to go early vote today. Standing in a line is sadly outside of my capacity at the moment. I am very nervous about this election. Let’s think golden loving thoughts about the good that humans are capable of, and hope to see that good embodied and enacted.

Big love from JP