plans for being a more inclusive speaker/leader at group events

[belenen]

icon: "incitement (painting of a bald purple-skinned naked person standing among thick vines and ferns: from Joan Slonczewski's "Door Into Ocean")"I recently went to an event that was really inaccessible, but didn't have to be. Through my frustration at not being able to do anything about it, I've realized that as a presenter at conferences or

Comments

[wantedonvoyage]

Agreed... it's impossible to predict what everybody at an event will need (especially if it's a group of strangers, but even people who know each other may bring unique circumstances on a particular occasion) and there are going to be times when you miss something, but the idea of stating this intention and willingness to learn up front would definitely make a big difference by making it safe and "normal" to ask for help from the presenter or the group.

I like sessions where they start out with introductions (even though I know this is fraught for some folks too) with the opportunity to state what you hope to get from it as well as to make requests like these to make sure you are able to fully participate and be included.

[belenen]

yes, exactly, I want to normalize talking about access needs!

yes, introductions would be an excellent way to do that. I could ask people to share their name, their pronouns, and any access needs that the rest of us could be helpful with. Hm.

[wantedonvoyage]

Another idea for that list list, especially if you have an established group where you either a.) get into potentially fraught topics, b.) have strong introverts or highly sensitive personalities, or both, is to ask people for their "crayon color" or something similar, where green is "I'm in a strong, confident place, ask away!", yellow is "it's been a long day and/or something happened so I may not be on my best game, and red is "I barely got myself here, I may be easily upset today" or any similar protocol the group agrees to.

We used this for a while after one group member missed the body language another was giving off and it turned into a brawl (they both eventually left the group) but it turned out to be more than we needed.

[belenen]

that is an excellent plan, and I think I may incorporate that into intimacy practice! It'd be good to take the temperature at the beginning, I feel.

[sammason]

Interesting. You'd be welcome to post something like this toe friendly_crips.

[belenen]

thanks, I'd like to do that!

[ragnarok_08]

I definitely agree with you there.

[belenen]

cool ;-)

[thatunicornfizz]

I think this is a wonderful, and considerate, idea.

[belenen]

I was very happy to think of it, I hope it works!

[slipjig]

That's beautifully worded, and I think it'd go a long way to help create safe space. Here's hoping for a world where that safe space is the norm, and no longer something we have to fight for.

[belenen]

We can make our own spaces safe, and hopefully others will follow suit!