Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 01/09/2026You can bring in the best ASL coaches in the world, but you can’t predict which of your cast is going to pick it up the most fluently. I really wish they had cast a CODA or an interpreter in Harbour’s role. Sign was critical to this story and it’s sad it didn’t get the respect it should have. 141
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 01/09/2026A funny thing happens when you don’t cast authentically to storylines. I was watching DTF St. Louis and by the end of the series Jason Bateman is signing much more fluently and legibly than David Harbour who is meant to be the ASL interpreter. 121
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 25/08/2026You can tell that I’ll always be a CYC when @wheelimm.bsky.social and I are having a 3 am case conference about how we can best support our dog in success in using her buttons to communicate about her needs and desires. 010
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 21/04/2026Today I did the thing anyway. Had a shorter day to help with the energy of navigating inaccessibility. I’m glad I did. The spoon cost was immense, but it was an important room to be in. Met new people, connected with awesome folks I know and shared my excitement too. Wish I didn’t have to choose 031
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 20/04/2026I’m mostly just exhausted of being put in this position. I want people to do better now not next time. Disabled people do better on smaller budgets with fewer staff. We prioritize it. We think about what it means to be included and welcome. Why is that such a hard standard for others to meet? 051
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 20/04/2026At the same time, it is me who loses. People go years without seeing my face or hearing from me directly because of the systemic lack of access. Opportunities to have conversations and make connections are lost. It’s me who loses there in concrete terms too. 150
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 20/04/2026I never know what to do when something isn’t accessible to me. A lot of the time I just don’t go. It’s exhausting to bridge the access fails. The fact that I do it undermines when I ask for it the next time and someone saw me go without it before. 182
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 05/04/2026As someone who geeks out about world-building, there is nothing more amazing than being the one to build the entire world, set the terms of engagement how I want and let people live their way through my world. Who have their own experiences and interpretations and reality with that world. So cool!!! 010
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 05/04/2026Something that has surprised me in my work this year is how much I love making video games. I hope that games get to stay a big part of my creative practice moving forward. We are just hitting the point where the game is developed enough to make the proof of concept in earnest and it’s amazing. 121
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 24/03/2026It’s really disappointing to see the only disability content included in HotDocs festival this year is a film about a disabled person dying. Festival juries are more compelled by stories of disabled people dying than disability joy, disability living, disability triumph. We are more than death. 020
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 09/03/2026If you’re a disabled person looking for a sign to stay home today, this is it. There’s a lot of abled nonsense out there in the world. 054
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 06/03/2026It got shut down so hard because they thought that this was some kind of potential like gateway to a gang fight 🤣🤣 so now I see these recruitment reels and they just transport me back to their incredulity that this could be a legitimate youth expression activity and not a secret knife fight. 010
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 06/03/2026The community theatre near me is running a rap/spoken word program for youth and I just got thrown back into being a student youth worker. I was working with a young person who loved rap music and making up lyrics so I wanted to go to some spoken word workshops together. 110
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 19/09/2025Disability-led space is magical. Rehearsals for this project have been some of the most grounded and healing dance spaces I’ve ever been in. Almost every rehearsal someone has the experience of being in dance space in a new disabled way. And we get to share it with you all next week! Please join us! 040
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 09/09/2025Now I’m imagining a 2025 remake where the main romance is a femme queer awakening and hernandos hideaway is a drag joint and queer bathhouse. But seriously - has anyone else ever done a self duet like “Hey There”? 010
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 09/09/2025For some reason the last few days The Pyjama Game soundtrack just will not dislodge itself from my brain. Something about 7 1/2 cents and pro-union messaging seems appropriate at this moment… 110
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 09/08/2025And of course not a single local conservation area has a meaningful accessibility section on their websites to make this easier. The AODA is such an utter joke when it comes to outdoor environments and it’s one of my biggest sources of grief as a wheelchair using outdoors human. 020
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 09/08/2025That uniquely wheelchair user experience of being desperate for a hike, think you’ve found an accessible trail after an hour of searching trail maps and then realize that it was the one that laid the boardwalk perpendicular and your wheels kept falling through the gaps in the boards last time. 130
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 01/08/2025Fascinating thread on some major breakthroughs towards an enduring HIV vaccine in our lifetimes. 063
Reposted by Shay Erlich (They/Them)yipeng ge 葛义朋 @yipengge.bsky.social · 01/08/2025I resigned from the board of directors for the @cmadocs.bsky.social in December 2023. I tried to push the institution to take a stand against Israeli attacks on Palestinian healthcare in Gaza. Instead, I learned they are racists, genocide supporters, and genocide deniers. 29118
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 31/07/2025I am so grateful for the ways that my biologic meds are changing my life for the better in amazing big and small ways. However, a 12 week dosing schedule is just enough time to forget how knocked out I get for a few days after each dose. A kick to the immune system indeed! 020
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 24/07/2025It’s always fun when your med goes on hiatus for a few months each year and you have to scramble to source alternate formulations or brands just to survive. More use cases means better availability. 020
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 24/07/2025The one benefit to being on a super niche life sustaining medication is being able to recognize a clinical trial aimed at expanding the use potentials of your med from 1000 paces. The evils of pharmaceutical greed aside, it would be really nice to have larger med runs produced annually. 140
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 23/07/2025Absolutely, but for the sake of this thread we are assuming genuine good faith engagement and a commitment to finding solutions that include everyone as the baseline for meaningful engagement 😊 I’ve met some really awesome and thoughtful public space planners and they deserve credit for their work! 120
Reposted by Shay Erlich (They/Them)Shannon Hammond @shannonhammond.bsky.social · 23/07/2025Exactly. Nothing without us means NOTHING without us! 001
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 22/07/2025Disabled people need to be a part of these conversations from the beginning. How can we create public spaces that serve us all when people without that experience can’t see the unintended consequences of their decisions? Nothing without disabled people. Period. 040
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 22/07/2025This isn’t to say that it’s always bikes versus wheelchairs, but had a wheelchair user been a part of the planning process they might have seen this problem coming. We might have signs on the elevators reminding people to prioritize disabled folks. Or a better process that served everyone. 140
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 22/07/2025Sometimes you get lucky and a gate agent will give you the gate in advance allowing you to skip the horde of bikers. Sometimes you get verbally abused with a threat of it escalating into violence. Either way you never quite know what to expect. 140
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 22/07/2025So, now as a wheelchair user you’re left staring down a pack of folks on e-bikes who have formed a group bond as colleagues who don’t respect the prioritization of wheelchair users on the elevator (because of the need for advanced boarding) 140
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 22/07/2025However, e-bikes are generally heavier than someone wants to carry up and down stairs, and it’s created a massive demand for elevator space at major hubs and during peak hours. They also only announce the platforms a few minutes in advance to avoid crowding on the narrow platforms and permit flow. 140
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 22/07/2025Now - add in an influx of bikers, many of them with e-bikes commuting into the city to gig work as bike delivery workers in the downtown core. It’s a way to reduce the overhead required to be a courier downtown and it’s a popular gig. 130
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 22/07/2025Most train stations in the GTA are primarily accessed by stairs and have a single elevator to access the platform level from any given entrance. They do the work to make it accessible, but generally the bare minimum with no or few redundancies. 130
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 22/07/2025In recent years the GO Trains in the GTA have expanded to have cars full of bike racks to encourage cycling and emission-reduced commuting. Overall, a pretty innocuous thing and you wouldn’t necessarily expect to invite wheelchair users to that consult - except there was an unexpected consequence 130
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 22/07/2025I think all too often people don’t understand the importance of including disabled people into planning decisions that seemingly don’t impact them. When we say nothing about us without us, that truly means everything. An example for you: 160
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 22/07/2025Grabbed the Citizen Sleeper bundle this weekend and I’m about 5 hours in. Really enjoying myself so far. I’m noticing that more often than not fellow traveller being involved with a title is a pretty strong signal that it’s going to jive with my gameplay values and desires. 000
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 16/07/2025Building from Access Intimacy - Crip-Platonic would refer to the types of love and intimacy that come from platonic relationships rooted in a deeply intimate co-created access system. That disabled person who does medical triage just like you, and rides along to the ER is a Crip-Platonic Bestie. 010
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 16/07/2025Thought of the Day: What about Crip-Platonic Partnerships? Both as something distinct and intertwined with Queer-Platonic Partnerships (Queer-Crip Platonic Partnerships?). 110
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 14/07/2025As someone who mostly does not love whatever movie/show etc is capturing public attention at the moment it’s so wild to be so enthusiastic about K-pop Demon Hunters. Every reel is playing the same songs we have on repeat in our house. Can we have more values-aligned mass media please? 022
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 10/07/2025Tales from set - We’ve now had 4 separate blown tire incidents across the past 10 days. I’ve gone years on end with no tubes blown and it’s like as soon as you turn a camera on a chair the tube is like “nice knowing you!” In clearly unrelated news - I’m also getting better at changing them myself. 020
Reposted by Shay Erlich (They/Them)Fallon | [see pinned!] @fallonturing.bsky.social · 07/07/2025At this point I owe a few people money that they've covered for me (for food and meds) that I currently don't have. #HelpSky #HelpFolksLive2025 #MutualAidRequest #MutualAid #TransCrowdfund #DisabilityCrowdfund 158
Reposted by Shay Erlich (They/Them)Disability Justice Network of Ontario @djno.ca · 07/07/2025Today, our focus is on Regulated Professions--if you're a disabled teacher, nurse, doctor, or other worker regulated by a College or other body, drop us a line and share your story. More to come, friends! Visit djno.ca/disabled-wor... for details. 2/2 001
Reposted by Shay Erlich (They/Them)Disability Justice Network of Ontario @djno.ca · 07/07/2025Friends, we need to defend disabled workers *now*. We have a comprehensive campaign and tools coming to focus on the fight for Justice for Disabled Workers. We're always looking to partner with non-unionized and unionized workers to demand disability justice in the workplace! 1/2 123
Reposted by Shay Erlich (They/Them)💖💄 Aoife ♿💖 @aoiferocksitout.bsky.social · 07/07/2025Urgent! Please help our friend @maedayj.bsky.social stay housed! It was so hard for Mae to access safe housing, please help keep her in her apartment! She's so close to the goal, we can do this! Mae does so much for others, please be here for her now! If you can't help, please share! 💖 11722
Reposted by Shay Erlich (They/Them)Paulina (they/them) @wheelimm.bsky.social · 25/06/2025Lukewarm is generous. Run it for even a quick shower and it exceeds body temp. Thankfully we had a pitcher of water in the fridge for me to cool off with, but this is a brutal combination to be dealing with, particularly with no 24/7 cooling centers. 021
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 25/06/2025Also… I fixed the shower. They left it like this. 030
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 25/06/2025Another day living under the auspices of Dream - The shower that maintenance broke a week ago (ostensibly to solve a water temperature problem) is now functional again. We still have the temp problem, but now we can take a lukewarm shower in the absence of working AC. All Landlords are evil. 131
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 23/06/2025Today it is the hottest day of the year. The building’s AC went down last night. We sure could have used that safe temperatures plan huh? If only we’d actually listen to disabled people. Maybe things didn’t have to be miserable and scrambled. Instead we all melt and pray to avoid heat emergencies 010
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 23/06/2025It really sucks being the canary in the coal mine. Our unit gets a greenhouse effect meaning we need a different AC schedule than expected to keep our unit habitable and safe. So, I’ve been asking management for a safe temperatures plan for months while they figure out long term solutions. 110
Reposted by Shay Erlich (They/Them)Fallon | [see pinned!] @fallonturing.bsky.social · 18/06/2025It's apparently Autistic Pride Day. Give an autistic person in poverty some money for meds? 12325
Shay Erlich (They/Them) @shay-erlich.bsky.social · 15/06/2025When nearly every pattern has multiple ways to be worn or adapted and clear instructions for adjusting to your exact size it’s honestly been such a pleasure working with them and expanding what I know and understand about how clothing goes together. 000