So the whole “disabled people can email Nintendo and unlock secret settings for Pokemon Go” thing has been shown to be a hoax. But abled people will still believe it because they desperately want to. 

This hoax was really appealing to abled people because when the disabled and chronically ill speak up and say, “This thing that is super popular and is the only thing everyone wants to talk about is completely inaccessible to me,” it makes them feel bad. Maybe they feel pity for the disabled people. Maybe they feel anger at the game company that they are supporting by playing it. Mostly they feel guilty for enjoying a thing that other people are shut out of. Knowledge of privilege is uncomfortable.

So someone makes up a really nice story about how the company isn’t evil after all and disabled people can play if they want to. They just have to do a thing.

Disabled people try to do the thing and it doesn’t work. Regardless, “everyone knows” that disabled people just have to do the thing and it’ll all be better.

So it’s no longer Nintendo (or Niantic) who is at fault for failing to make their game disabled accessible. Now it’s the disabled person’s fault for not doing the thing they need to do. Now instead of pity, you can be angry at them for not doing the thing. Or if they say they tried the thing, you can question whether they did it right. Or whether they’re faking their illness.

Neat, isn’t it? One small lie shifts the blame to the victims. And because now it’s the disabled person’s own fault that they can’t play, you don’t have to feel bad that they’re left out. 

Fuck whoever made up that lie.