We've been noticing a disturbing trend of ND people on here prioritising their own comfort over accessibility or even common courtesy, and then using the language of "access needs" to justify it.

That's not ok. Needs can conflict sometimes, but not every preference is a need.

Look, we get it: for a long time, we would post screenshots without image descriptions because the whole point of taking a screenshot was that we didn't have the spoons to describe what we were seeing.

If we could have described it, we would not have needed to screenshot it.

Over the years, we eventually arrived at the following compromise: if it's important or funny enough to post on a public account, it must be made accessible.

If we don't have the spoons to do that, we either share it in private instead or wait until we *can* make it accessible.

Now, the thing you must realise about the above example though is that it was not, in fact, a clash of access needs. "Sharing this funny thing I just saw" isn't a need. We can simply choose not to do that.

But wait - what about the need to socialise? Let's examine this.

Obviously, there is a big difference between needing to socialise in general and wanting to share a specific image at a specific time. If you are capable of socialising in another way, then posting that image is not a need, sorry.

So ... let's say you've gone nonverbal.

You can't speak, you can't type, and you know it's going to pass eventually but you're feeling really lonely and would like to at least experience the satisfaction of posting an image and seeing the likes roll in.

That's super relatable! And I'd argue it does fall under "needs."

In this case, consider the following questions:

Is your account public or private? Do you have a lot of followers? Do you know if any of your mutuals need image descriptions? How likely is it that someone will RT the post?

Bigger reach = bigger responsibility.

Another relevant question is how often this happens. If it's a regular thing, you may want to put a warning in your profile or make a pinned tweet about it.

If it only happens rarely, I wouldn't worry too much. Even if you have a lot of followers. Seriously.

Us Disabled people are a compassionate bunch, on average - especially the ones who do advocacy. We understand clashing needs, we understand low spoon days, we understand forgetting.

But when something becomes a pattern, you have to ask: what needs are involved here, exactly?

And sometimes it turns out you don't actually need to do things that way.

The only person who can make that call is you - but you have to be willing to examine your motives in the first place. Critically. Don't jump straight to self-defense.

Sometimes, yes, your needs will be in direct conflict with someone else's needs and that's okay, too! You may have to avoid each other or get creative trying to find a workaround.

But what I'm saying here is that *some* things are simply not necessary.

You can post whatever you want, whenever you want, in whatever format you want.

The issue arises when you use the language of Disability advocacy as justification for things you don't NEED to do that are bothering other people.