Spencer West on the Truth About Being Seen

Spencer West returns to ListenABLE for an honest and powerful conversation about disability, accessibility and what it really means to be seen.Four years after his first appearance on the podcast, Spencer joins Angus O’Loughlin in person to talk about Melbourne’s accessibility, able-bodied assumptions, language around disability, social media advocacy and the moments from his life that people often romanticise from the outside.Spencer opens up about growing up without legs, rejecting prosthetics, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, feeling excluded from inaccessible queer spaces and learning that he does not always have to share his story just because someone asks.Guest Links: Spencer Westhttps://linktr.ee/spencer2thewesthttps://www.spencer2thewest.com/https://www.instagram.com/spencer2thewest/https://www.tiktok.com/@spencer2thewesthttps://www.youtube.com/user/Spencer2TheWest00:00 Spencer West returns to ListenABLE02:04 Melbourne accessibility and public transport03:28 When accessibility is gatekept04:42 Should people get praise for accessible spaces?05:52 Spencer explains his disability07:43 The assumption about disability people need to drop09:04 Disability language and using the word disabled11:32 Learning to advocate for his own body13:49 The truth about climbing Kilimanjaro16:21 Social media, responsibility and disability advocacy17:17 Feeling more visible than misunderstood17:47 Using humour to educate