The Future is Disabled

by Adana Protonentis

"It’s radical to imagine that the future is disabled. Not just tentatively allowed to exist, not just ok I guess there’s one white guy with a wheelchair, cool, diversity. But a deeply disabled future: a future where disabled, Deaf, Mad, neurodivergent body-minds are both accepted without question as part of a vast spectrum of human and animal ways of existing, but where our cultures, knowledge and communities shape the world.

What would a future look like where the vast majority of people were disabled, neurodivergent, Deaf, Mad? What would a world radically shaped by disabled knowledge, culture, love, and connection be like? Have we ever imagined this, not just as a cautionary tale or a scary story, but as a dream?” – Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

‘Radical’ is our middle name at Kindred (Okay, our middle names are actually Nicole and Marie, but you get the idea). We love a radical vision and questioning the status quo is one of our core values. As authoritarianism rises, our commitment to a radically just, abundant, and connected future deepens. And the bright lights leading the way toward that future are disabled folks. 

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). To us, this month represents an important opportunity to reflect on our gratitude for the leadership of disabled members of the organizations that strengthen our communities and also to engage in some radical dreaming about a disabled future. What changes can we make now - how can we shift conditions now - to build the disability-affirming future of our dreams?

It’s important to think about, and plan for, a majority disabled future, because the disability community is growing rapidly. We, humans, are becoming more disabled. Our collective awareness of neurodivergence has improved dramatically in the last 10 years. We’ve made great progress in removing barriers to identification and diagnosis for neurodivergent people, especially for women, BIPOC, and gender expansive folks. We’re living and working longer, and with age we tend to acquire disabilities. The Covid-19 pandemic fueled a significant increase in the disabled population and more than 20 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with long Covid. And we’re living and working in the context of interlocking systems of oppression: racism, classism, sexism…all lead to increased rates of disability. In the words of Dr. Ashley Shew, “The future is surely disabled - whether through changing climate, new diseases, or space travel. It’s time we learn to envision disabilities not as liabilities, but as skill sets enabling all of us to navigate a challenging world.”

Disability is a profoundly intersectional identity, which makes it an effective and strategic place to focus equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts. And the higher concentration of disability among folks from marginalized groups also means that as we deepen the work of diversifying our workplaces, we must strengthen our support systems for disabled employees, many of whom will be members of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities. It’s all connected. Yet, only 19% of DEI programs in the United States include disability in their definition of diversity and far fewer organizations are actively working toward not only being disability inclusive, but truly disability affirming. It’s a terrible missed opportunity.

At Kindred, we think a majority disabled future is one full of possibility and promise. Centering disability helps us be innovative and adaptable. When we center disability, we identify opportunities to practice interdependence and collaboration, to improve retention by prioritizing sustainability, and to maximize the gifts our teams have to share by removing barriers to access. We’re firm believers in the ‘curb-cut effect’, because we’ve seen it in action. Email summaries of important meetings aren’t just helpful for folks with memory-related disabilities, they’re also helpful for the new parent on your team who’s experiencing sleep deprivation. Offering verbal and chat options in online meetings is both good for accessibility and improves participation equity, so the extroverts don’t dominate your meeting. Remote work options and flexible schedules make work more accessible and sustainable for team members with chronic illness and for team members with dynamic parenting and caregiving responsibilities.

We’re excited about a disabled future for our organizations and our communities. We’re eager for “a world radically shaped by disabled knowledge, culture, love, and connection.” Let’s build that world together, starting now.