The co-partners of #CripTheVote, Andrew Pulrang, Gregg Beratan, and Alice Wong, invite you to a 30-minute Twitter chat about pandemic-related policies. As the United States reaches the 2-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic with increasing infection rates, multiple variants, and overextended healthcare systems, this is a chance to hold space together and mobilize.
How to Participate
Follow @GreggBeratan @AndrewPulrang @DisVisibility. When it’s time for the chat, search #CripTheVote on Twitter for the series of live tweets under the ‘Latest’ tab for the full conversation.
If you don’t use Twitter, you can follow along in real time here: http://twubs.com/CripTheVote
If you might be overwhelmed by the amount of tweets and only want to see the chat’s questions so you can respond to them, check @DisVisibility’s account. The questions will be Tweeted approximately 4-5 minutes apart.
Another way to participate in the chat is to use this app that allows you to pause the chat if the Tweets are coming at you too fast: http://www.tchat.io/
Here is a link for people who are new to Twitter on starting an account and how to use it: https://help.twitter.com/en/new-user-faq
Here’s an article about how to participate in a Twitter chat: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/how-to-participate-in-a-twitter-chat/546805/
Check out this captioned ASL explanation of how to participate in a chat by @behearddc https://www.facebook.com/HEARDDC/videos/1181213075257528/
Links to background information
Disabled Americans Feel Abandoned by CDC. Now, CDC Is Desperate to Make Amends, Rolling Stone, January 11, 2022.
‘Abhorent’: Disability Advocates Slam CDC Director for Comments on ‘Encouraging’ Covid Deaths, Rolling Stone, January 10, 2022.
U.S. hospitalizations surpass last winter’s peak, The New York Times, January 10, 2022.
How to get insurance to pay for at-home COVID tests, according to the White House, NPR, January 10, 2022.
Update …
On Friday, January 14, representatives from 9 disability organizations met with Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control, to discuss how the CDC’s messaging and policy on the pandemic and people with disabilities and chronic illnesses.
Meeting recap from the American Association of People with Disabilities, January 14, 2022.
Welcome to the #CripTheVote chat pandemic policy. Remember to use the #CripTheVote hashtag when you tweet and any others you'd like to add. If you respond to a question such as Q1, your tweet should follow this format: “A1 [your message] #CripTheVote”
Q1: Here we are, at the start of 2022. Before we get started, feel free to introduce yourself. If you are comfortable, please share how you are doing now and what 2020-21 has been like for you. What brings you joy in these times? #CripTheVote #HighRiskCOVID19 #NoBodyIsDisposable
Q2: There’s a lot to discuss about pandemic policies. Let’s start local. What is happening in your city or region that concerns you as a disabled person, especially if you are high-risk and/or immunocompromised? #CripTheVote #HighRiskCOVID19 #NoBodyIsDisposable
Q3: What are some immediate and long-term policy changes you want to see from the Biden administration and/or state govts (ex: messaging, mask mandates, testing, vaccines, quarantine, treatments, paid leave, free tests & masks)? #CripTheVote #HighRiskCOVID19 #NoBodyIsDisposable
Q4: What other specific changes in pandemic policy need to take place to protect people of all ages (ex: education, healthcare, employment, public spaces, transportation)? #CripTheVote #HighRiskCOVID19 #NoBodyIsDisposable
Q5: How do we hold institutions & public servants accountable? What strategies and approaches would be effective in reasserting the disability community’s priorities? Aside from voting, how do you make your views known? #CripTheVote #HighRiskCOVID19 #NoBodyIsDisposable
This concludes our #CripTheVote chat on pandemic policy.Please keep the conversation going. A recap of this chat will be up shortly. For more: http://cripthevote.blogspot.com/ #HighRiskCOVID19 #NoBodyIsDisposable
