After mental health problems forced me to take a two month break from working on this article, I have finished it! I really hope these ideas to help others in the way that they have helped me. For me, this is the beginning of a conversation. I’m sure there are other categories and different ways of thinking about this topic and I’d love to see this get used, grow, and evolve! <3

A visually impaired Black person uses a safety rail to guide themself onto a bus. They are wearing a work uniform, head wrap, and prescription glasses. The scene is set at a sheltered bus stop next to a streetlight with a push button and a posted schedule for the bus line. The overall illustration is set in tones of pink, purple, and teal, while warm, yellow lighting highlights the bus interior. Illustration by Sherm for Disabled And Here.
The mainstream understanding of access needs is that they are binary—they are either met or not. For example, a multistory building has an elevator or it doesn’t. An event has a sign language interpreter or it doesn’t. A store has a staff person who can carry out heavy items for disabled customers or it doesn’t. While this is an imperfect understanding of access needs, it works okay for some access needs. I’m calling these “Binary Access Needs.” Binary access needs are easy to define, and when they aren’t met, there is a clear consequence.
However, there are many access needs that can’t be understood in this binary way, and trying leads to misunderstanding, judgment, and stigma. I’m calling these “Nonbinary Access Needs.” While nonbinary access needs are diverse, there is something about each one that is more complicated than a binary access need, which is either met or not. For example, rather than not being able to do an activity, a disabled person might have a limited ability to participate that is quickly exhausted. A disabled person might have a limited tolerance for something harmful. The consequences of not meeting an access need might be hard to perceive. Or an access need might not have an easy to define “met” or “not met” state. Continue Reading »
Tags: ableism, access needs, accessibility, article, chronic illness, cluster, disability, Fay Onyx, hidden consequence, limited capacity, limited tolerance, neurodivergence, nonbinary, writing alchemy