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This thread reminded me of something 
We had a fire alarm at work, I was on the 22nd floor. My manager (a friend) and I were both disabled (her temporarily, me invisibly) and went to the emergency lift. There was no way to call it without a key and no 1/ https://twitter.com/imani_barbarin/status/1304453575041601538
We had a fire alarm at work, I was on the 22nd floor. My manager (a friend) and I were both disabled (her temporarily, me invisibly) and went to the emergency lift. There was no way to call it without a key and no 1/ https://twitter.com/imani_barbarin/status/1304453575041601538
instructions for how to use it. We got yelled at to go down the stairs. We had to go really slowly and grip the handrails so people were getting angry and passing us. The fire stairs in an alarm are a sensory nightmare of LOUDLOUDLOUD and BRIGHTBRIGHTBRIGHT and I was 2/
having a v hard time seeing anything and was close to overwhelm and shutdown. My manager has an autistic son and probably saw the signs even tho Iâd never told her about my #ADHDAutism. She had a knee brace and was in a lot of pain but she stuck with me and 3/
talked me through it all. It took us a long time and we were amongst the last ones out even though there were a number of higher floors than ours. I âtrippedâ down the very last stair and hurt my back, or re-hurt it, as I had had a fire alarm in a hotel a few 4/
months prior to that where I was only on the 5th floor but was alone and super stressed. I had also negotiated a dark hallway and fire stairs with very little light due to power outage. Iâd made it down the steps and fell on the v last one and hurt my back, so that injury was 5/
re-injured in the work fire alarm. It wasnât a drill in either case, but both âturned out fineâ. Except I did shut down after the work one and had to stay in the gathering place for two hours after everyone left. The safety officer kept drilling me about what had gone 6/
wrong and I couldnât answer. My manager pulled him aside and told him not to talk to me, thank god. Her knee was a wreck. They were chiding us for not following procedures, which was to call a certain number (??) to ask for someone to come collect us with the emergency 7/
lift, but how were we supposed to know this? And I can only imagine how weâd have incurred contempt and anger for asking for that lift without being (visibly) disabled enough. It was a whole load of awful, all around. After I recovered and thought about it, I asked some 8/
wheelchair and crutches users about it, like did they know the procedures. They all did. They said they HAVE to know them and be willing to aggressively demand them or risk being left behind. I was heartbroken to realise that, and that I hadnât thought of it before 9/
despite having fought a previous employer to provide super basic accessibility to buildings.
They pretty much donât much care about humans, but they really donât care about disabled ones. I definitely paid better attention after that, knowing Iâd not be able to count 10/
They pretty much donât much care about humans, but they really donât care about disabled ones. I definitely paid better attention after that, knowing Iâd not be able to count 10/
on myself as well as worrying Iâd be unable to help someone else. So just a shitty situation all around. I stopped going to that office as much as I could, but thatâs no solution.
Reality is, no matter our disabilities, we MUST stick together and look out for each other 11/
Reality is, no matter our disabilities, we MUST stick together and look out for each other 11/
ALWAYS...cos weâre in it together or weâre fighting alone.
12/EoT
12/EoT
