Thread by @sebastianyue, One of the comments that I hear most often as a sensitivity [...]

One of the comments that I hear most often as a sensitivity consultant is that people don’t know what to expect from the process. So, I thought I’d share my own process and define my role as a sensitivity consultant more clearly. This is a thread

First of all: why “sensitivity consultant” and not “sensitivity reader”? Aren’t they the same?

I prefer the term “sensitivity consultant” because I think it covers the scope of my responsibilities more accurately. Consultation is an ongoing process and is more than just a read.

Typically, sensitivity consultants work on topics that relate to particular marginalised communities that they are a part of, but the client is not, and the client seeks a deeper understanding of nuances of and issues affecting the community they are depicting.

That’s a clear instance of when you should hire a sensitivity consultant, but you can hire one whenever you’re dealing with experiences that aren’t your own and you aren’t sufficiently familiar with those experiences to be sure you’re depicting them respectfully and meaningfully.

I view my role as a sensitivity consultant as an ongoing commitment to the entire project. It should be a process that is integrated into the development of your work.

I won’t just read your stuff, make edits and leave; I’m available to support you throughout.

Although it can begin with me reading your work, the conversation doesn’t end there. When I read your work, I will likely have questions for you, so that I have a full understanding of the concept that you’re looking to express.

Sometimes, I’ll ask you to confirm your intended meaning if it’s ambiguous, like “From reading X, the meaning that I’m getting is Y. Is this what you want?” and that helps to identify areas that might need to be rephrased or reworked.

Sometimes, the questions are things you might not have thought about before, and that’s totally okay. A big one that I discuss frequently is how you want gender to function in your setting.

My questions are designed for us to share knowledge with each other, and from there,

find a way to convey your intended meaning in a way that is clear and respectful.

I’ll usually leave my questions as comments in a doc, but I also like to do calls or a live chat. It’s often easier to discuss complex topics in real time, though of course it’s not mandatory.

Once I have a solid understanding of where you’re at, what issues you’re having and what your goals are, I’ll make recommendations. These are based on my own personal experiences, as well as knowledge I have from the community in question.

Sometimes there is no easy answer and we’ll talk about things that are contentious within communities themselves. In that case, I’ll explain why it’s contentious and what the different arguments are so that you have enough context to make an informed decision.

I can also provide sources and places to go if you’re interested in doing further research, and I can give my personal opinion on the contentious topic, with the understanding that you might choose to do something different.

And that’s another thing: my suggestions are always just suggestions. As with any piece of advice, you can take or leave it.

As a sensitivity consultant, I’m not the arbiter of what is and isn’t “problematic,” and I can’t runner stamp your work in that way—nobody can.

There might still be people who disagree with what you choose do, and I can’t guarantee that you won’t face criticism. But you can consider that criticism as someone who learned more about a particular topic in good faith, and who made an intentional choice for a good reason.

What I can do is help you avoid stereotyping, slurs, or inadvertently saying something that you don’t actually mean. I can share knowledge that you wouldn’t get anywhere else so that you can figure out your work’s place in the world, and develop your project accordingly.

As a consultant, I’m available for the entire project timeline and you can reach out to me at any point during development if you have questions or if anything comes up. If you have a later-stage draft that you’re not sure about, you can share it with me and we can talk about it.

This is my personal process and other people might do it differently. On a relative scale, I’m quite new to this, but I truly love the work that I’ve been able to do.

I hope this thread has given you some insight into what to expect when working with a sensitivity consultant

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