Dear Reviewers,
We know from experience reviewing can be tricky. It’s hard to come up with fresh copy for multiple shows, every single day of the Fringe and still try to contribute something worthwhile. We don’t always get it right, and there is woeful support for many publications who work on a voluntary basis.
Having said all that, there is really no excuse to write reviews that are ableist and have little understanding about various neurodivergent and disabled creatives. We have been notified of reviews where performer’s stims are referred to in derogatory ways, executive dysfunction ignored in favour of judgements and ableist language when referring to disabilities.
Now, I understand that most people don’t intend to cause offence or be ableist, and we, in good faith, want to offer our help. We are offering a one-off zoom session to answer questions and to educate around how to be inclusive and sensitive around disabled creatives work.
We are not in the business of shaming anyone for making mistakes, our goal is to make things more inclusive, at the same time, it would be worrying if reviewers did not take us up on this offer, as ableist language has been seen amongst most publications.
We are proposing a zoom session on Monday 14th August at 9am, please contact us via our form to obtain the link.
Yours,
Simon Jay
Editor, Neurodiverse Review
