This was a tweet I read today “Saw 2 blind folks today who put a PS at the end of e-mails apologizing for dictation errors. Seriously? How unprofessional! Unless you have another disability that prevents you from typing, find some way to type, or at least check your dictated messages first and correct them!”
The person went on to say “Oh, come on! For iOS, it’s really as simple as getting a bluetooth keyboard! Also, I learned touch typing in high school!”
So the person writing this was blind as a child, can touch type, etc. However not everyone was born blind, learned to use technology at school, and can touch type. It’s also very possible that people have multiple reasons that make dictation easier. Editing using assistive technology is very difficult (I haven’t mastered it yet) and it’s not always possible to use a keyboard (qwerty or braille).
Lateral ableism in this case is being blind taking your skills, abilities, equipment etc. and presuming everyone one else who is blind has the same experience and equipment and can do the same things you can do.
It’s not cool, it’s not clever, and it’s not acceptable.
Until next time
Was that a dinosaur? 1.0 