The Art of Disclosure: Using Video as a Tool for Disability Disclosure

Submitted by Michael Cruse on Mon, 11/29/2021 - 19:46
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Welcome to our conversation thread on using video in support of disability disclosure.  I’ll be joined on Wednesday (12/8) by documentary filmmaker and disability advocate, Carmen Vincent, for a two day discussion on the use of video disclosure by individuals with disabilities.   We’ll be talking about the use of video as a tool to prepare for disclosing a disability, as well as the practice of pre-recorded disability disclosures.  You’re invited to share your experiences and questions around the topic.

The Job Accommodations Network (JAN), and others, have used video as a way to model disclosure roleplays.  While videos have been used to demonstrate disclosure best practices for some time, the the increased ownership of smartphones, tablets, and other personal devices today means that there are more opportunities for almost anyone to use video to share their personal story.  While there are different ideas about the best ways to disclose a disability, most would agree that they all share this idea of communicating these personal stories about ourselves with those we choose.  So how can video be used to help disclose a disability? What are the advantages and challenges to video disclosure that we should consider? That’s the point of this conversation.  We hope that you’ll bring your thoughts and experiences to help think about possible answers to this question.

To get us started, we want to ask a few general questions.  If you’ve ever disclosed a disability, how did you prepare yourself, and others, for that conversation?  How did it go?  What, if anything, might have made it easier for you?

 

Comments

Hi all,

I'm so grateful to have been asked to moderate this discussion on video disclosure for disabilities. As a disabled person, I deeply appreciate the idea of having a platform to share my truth with others.

To me, video can be both an empowering and intimidating medium. While it allows us to tell our truths in our own time and space, it also forces us to be seen and heard. Throughout my years as a documentary filmmaker, I've worked with people who find the camera to be an easy confidant to be vulnerable with and people who see the lens as a black hole of judgment that expects nothing but perfection.

Generations are becoming more and more comfortable being in front of a camera. Think of Zoom culture. I would argue almost all of us have had to be in front of a camera in the past year or so. Whether that was a comfortable experience or not, we did it.

So, it's hard for me to say definitively whether or not video would be a helpful avenue for disability disclosure. I think it might depend on the person, their level of comfort with the medium, and their need or want for disclosing their disabilities in a more personal way. There's so much to unpack here, and I'd love to hear your perspectives.

What do you think? Here are some more questions to prompt you:

 

  1. Have you ever created a video of yourself to practice disclosing a disability to someone?  If so, what did that look like for you?  Did you work with someone to role play the conversation?  Was it helpful to be able to playback this video and see yourself disclosing? If so, what did you learn from that experience?

 

  1. Have you ever created a video of yourself disclosing a disability and sent it to someone in place of an in-person disclosure?  If so, what did that look like for you?  How was it received by the person you sent it to?

 

  1. What thoughts do you have for any limits video disclosure may present for persons with disabilities?  Can those limits be challenged, or are they simply part of the reality of working with video?

 

  1. What could help make video disclosure a more commonplace practice within the community?  Is this something that you think would help more people feel empowered to make the personal decision to disclose a disability?