Holistic Accessibility and Inclusion
I had some interesting conversations about masking in the context of academic spaces this week. And when I say masking I mean masking as in N-95s, but ultimately I do also mean masking as in neurodivergent masking. In one conversation someone was mentioning how they felt they had to stop masking because it was causing them to be excluded from academic places that they wanted to be a part of. I then had a custodial staff member give me the third degree about my mask in the elevator, asking me why I was masking and was I sick and should he be worried. It was a weird and uncomfortable 2 minutes. Then I had another conversation where someone reminded me that masks can be activating for some people who experienced a lot of trauma at the beginning of the pandemic. So I have been sitting here all week reflecting on how we can make our spaces more holistically inclusive, and trauma-aware when so many folk have so many bodymind needs and experiences. But also at a time where empathy seems ...