I didn’t say that everyone thrives when given accommodations. I did provide some examples where that was the case, but perhaps that is misleading about my actual worldview. I think everyone who fails to meet an expectation has a reason. A limitation. A barrier. For some people, the barrier is that the expectations are fundamentally not a good or reasonable fit for them. There are some people who will never, ever, ever be super duper productive, unfailingly focused, high-energy, and achievement-based in their motivations.

My argument is that those people matter and have value just as much as anyone else.

You’re not a lazy fuck. You’ve been made to feel like it, sure. But if it took a ton of effort to get through this long essay, that’s understandable! That isn’t laziness! I can’t sit through long essays half the time; I’m so tired and stressed and frazzled most days. The world is distracting and loud and bright. If something is complex I can’t always process it. And I’m a pretty lucky person, in terms of having a good ability to focus and high mental energy most days, and that still happens to me. If you have trouble focusing on stuff like this, there are boatloads of reasons probably.

It’s funny and sad to me how many people have commented on this essay saying that no, they are the exception to my writing, they truly are lazy. I want to send you as much compassion as I can, and emphasize that your worth is not defined by your productivity. Your life has value no matter what. You don’t have to do more. And people who have told you that you are not enough are deeply mislead, and have the wrong values.

It may be the case that with the right kind of treatment and resources, you would do more than you currently do. Or it might not be. It might be that the right accommodation for you is for people to stop demanding that you do more than is healthy for you. And that your worth not be defined by your output. No one’s should be.