no, i don’t want anyone to feel out of place. for me the commercial is great because it shows what life is like for disabled people, kind of like a “wear our shoes” for a day but done in a way that is effective in getting the point across about inaccessibility and ableism.

speaking of “wearing shoes” or whatever the phrase is, i’m really admantly opposed to any kind of simulation because when people finish them, instead of knowing about oppression or ableism, they think of the physical aspect and go “glad i don’t have to deal with that!” (which is totally against what the simulation was for in the first place.) if you have a disability, you learn to adapt things—it’s impossible to get the whole experience by riding in a wheelchair or using a cane for a day. thanks for the link, i never have heard of simulations regarding older people.

But for more info, Big Noise has a really good blog post on simulations here: http://mybignoise.blogspot.com/2007/10/disability-simulations-need-to-be.html

perhaps what is so appealing is to get the Other to empathize (not sympathize)? so perhaps awareness courses like one which ages people and helps them empathize with the elderly is a better tactic? what do you think of that type of activity?

I wrote about that French ad a while back. Link here. It seems to be a favorite for a lot of people since I’ve had quite a few emails over the past couple years asking where it is in my archives.

I love your poem. Some of it sounds like an ADAPT Action!