There’s a pervasive myth that accommodations are about giving people an unfair advantage. That if someone gets extra time, flexible deadlines, assistive technology, or modified expectations, it somehow means they’re “getting out of” something or are the recipient of a luxury or special privilege. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Accommodations aren’t about luxuries. They’re about access.
They don’t eliminate challenges. They level the playing field so people can show up at all.

What Accommodations Really Do

Whether we’re talking about neurodivergence, chronic illness, learning disabilities, or mental health conditions, accommodations exist to decrease barriers, not to remove responsibilities. They recognize that not everyone navigates the world in the same way.

Examples might include:

• Working in shorter blocks with more breaks
• Using written checklists or receiving email instructions instead of verbal instructions
• Flexible deadlines during flare-ups or episodes
• Using noise-cancelling headphones or stim tools
• Receiving notes taken by a volunteer note-taker in post-secondary settings 

 These supports don’t make things easy. They make things possible.

The Hidden Bias Behind “Fairness”

Often, the people questioning accommodations are comparing others to a “standard” that was never neutral or equal to begin with. That standard is usually:

• Neurotypical
• Non-disabled
• Healthy 
• Financially stable

That’s not a standard. That’s a privileged baseline.

True fairness isn’t about treating everyone the same. It’s about recognizing that the same conditions don’t lead to the same outcomes for everyone. Accommodations help narrow that gap. They’re an act of equity, not entitlement.

Internalized Ableism: “If I Can’t Do It the ‘Normal’ Way, I’m Failing”

Many people who may qualify for accommodations struggle to accept them, not because they don’t need support, but because they’ve been conditioned to believe needing support is weakness. This is internalized ableism. The voice that says:

• “I should be able to handle this.”
• “Other people don’t need this.”
• “If I can’t keep up without support, I don’t really belong here.”

The truth is, without accommodations, many people are already working significantly harder than their able-bodied or neurotypical peers just to meet the same expectations. What looks like “getting the job done” may actually be someone operating at 200%, 300%, even 500% of their available capacity, masking symptoms, pushing through pain, or navigating sensory overwhelm just to survive the day.

When we normalize support, we acknowledge that not everyone starts from the same place. Accommodations don’t give people an unfair advantage. They reduce the often invisible labour it takes to function in systems that don’t consider everyone’s needs. 

Gentle Reflections on Accommodations

• Accommodations ask us to reflect not only on policy or practice, but on how we hold space for difference — in ourselves and others. As you sit with these ideas, you might consider:
• Whose needs are automatically built into the systems I live and work in? Whose aren’t?
• What assumptions do I make about what “productivity,” “effort,” or “success” look like?
• When I think about what’s “fair,” whose experiences am I centring? Who might be left out of that vision?
• Have I ever felt guilty or hesitant to ask for support, even when I needed it? What might have contributed to that feeling?
• What would it mean to imagine care and access not as exceptions, but as foundations for how we build community?

These are not questions with simple answers. They are invitations to soften, to unlearn, and to hold space for the truth that equity begins when we allow people to show up fully, without needing to fit a mould that was never made for them.

It’s Not Cheating. It’s Survival.

Accommodations aren’t luxury items. For many, they’re the difference between burning out and staying afloat. Between being able to work, study, or participate, or not at all.

If we want to build a world that is mentally and physically healthier and more accessible, we need to stop treating access needs as “special treatment.” We need to stop pathologizing people for needing support to exist in systems that weren’t designed for them or their unique needs.

At VOX Mental Health, we recognize that equity isn’t about doing more — it’s about removing barriers. Accommodations are not an exception to the rule. They’re a sign that the rules were never made with everyone in mind.