INTENTIONS
1. Cripple is a publishing initiative that supports disabled artists and designers. As noted in our welcome section, we understand publishing as an expansive practice.
2. For Cripple, disabled is an umbrella term. Neurodivergence is not adjacent to disability—it is included within it.
3. Cripple is described as purposely non-linear because disability (including neurodivergence) is fluctuating, expanding, receding, generative, and always requiring flexibility and intention.
4. Cripple uses “we,” even though the majority of the administrative work, organizing, and design is currently led by Emily. We say “we” because this initiative is collaborative—by both necessity and principle. Cripple regularly hires disabled community members to support projects and help bring the work of their comrades to fruition.
5. Disabled survival requires community, interdependence, and support. Our collective survival depends on these qualities. Cripple would not exist without the care, labor, and solidarity of our disabled community.
6. Cripple approaches disability through an intersectional lens, informed by Kimberlé Crenshaw’s articulation of intersectionality as a framework for understanding how race, gender, environment, class, and other structures of power converge. While we center disabled content, we understand that race, gender, class, environment, and other structural forces are inseparable from disability and foundational to our dialogue.
7. Cripple believes access begins with language. We intentinally prioritize communication that is closer to plain language and farther from art speak. While nothing can be 100% accessible at all times—given the reality of conflicting access needs—it is critical that we do not reproduce the linguistic violence that dominates many art and design spaces.
This commitment includes embracing so-called “errors” in language, art, and design. We prioritize access over “correctness,” recognizing that deviation from normative standards is not failure, but possibility.
The concept of the error is central to the history of Disability Aesthetics, as theorized by Tobin Siebers in Disability Aesthetics (2010), which reframes disability not as deficit, but as a generative force.
Image description, alt text embedded: A diagram of a spectrum of language, showing the location of where cripple positions itself between plain language and art speak. It is a simple diagram with the previous sentence as a title. Black strokes and arrows show plain language on the left and art speak on the right. If the space was divided up into fifths between the two, cripple would be positioned about one fifth away from plain language. A thick, electric green stroke, surrounds the diagram.
8. Cripple is committed to embedding access wherever possible; to do otherwise risks upholding ableism and causing harm. We consult with and remain accountable to our diverse community and their individual access needs. We understand access as an ongoing, evolving process—one that requires continual reflection, adjustment, and care.
9. Cripple takes its name from a word long used to denigrate and further marginalize disabled communities. We employ it as reclaimed language, understanding that reclamation is complex and not universally embraced. The term does not belong to any one individual or organization—including us—and we respect that not all members of our community choose to use it.
10. Cripple subscribes to the 10 principles of Disability Justice as founded by the collective Sins Invalid. Sins Invalid is a disability justice-based performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color, and LGBTQ/gender-variant artists as communities who have been historically marginalized.
11. Cripple believes in ongoing revision and accountability to our broader community. These intentions are living and will continue to evolve over time. Though they are numbered, this structure reflects a list—not a hierarchy or prioritization.
We encourage you to reach out through the Contact form if you have additional suggestions, concerns, or questions.
Here are all of cripples current and ongoing projects:
• On Instagram, we share intersectional news related to disability and neurodivergence. Posts are made regularly, with stories updated almost daily. We also maintain an Instagram Highlight that links to a dedicated channel featuring jobs, grants, residencies, and additional resources. Anyone, both non-disabled and disabled, is welcome to subscribe.
• We host regular book giveaways featuring critical texts related to contemporary disabled (including neurodivergent) culture. These are not limited to publications we produce ourselves. Giveaways are currently featured on Instagram.
• We continue to publish our own texts and other works by disabled artists and designers. These materials are available in the Things Shop section. Although designated as a shop, many items are—or will be—offered free of charge, reflecting our commitment to access. If you’re looking for the 504 Font, it is located in the Things Shop.
• We curate a list of free resources pertaining to debility, disability (including neurodivergence), disability history, disability rights, Disability Justice, community support, accessibility, and other pertinent tools. This list is continuously updated and is available under Resources.
• We host an ongoing lecture series and conversations, featuring disabled artists, designers, access workers, and beyond. These interactions are recorded and made publicly available on our YouTube channel, with links also provided in our Digital Library.
• We produce an ongoing video series, Cripple Shorts, showcasing the studios—and non-studios—of disabled artists and designers, recognizing that many in our community work from bed or outside traditional studio spaces due to access and economic realities. The series will be available on our YouTube channel, with videos also hyperlinked in our Digital Library. Launching Spring 2026.
• Through our recently purchased 3D printer, we design and produce custom projects for community workshops and broader access-driven experimentation. We are simultaneously expanding the 3D Printing Disabled Accessibility Archive, offering downloadable files for public use.
• We apply for grants to fund these projects and compensate disabled artists, designers, and collaborators for the incredible work that they do.