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Katie Pennick
@KatiePennick
Disability justice researcher/campaigner | PhD candidate @Active_ATA | 💭 crip theory, walking, accessible urbanism, transport. She/her.
London
katiepennick.com
Joined February 2009
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    May 3, 2021
    Fun fact about me: I use a ‘teenagers’ wheelchair. It’s tiny. 23inches wide. If I’m struggling to get through these “gaps”, they are completely impassable for most wheelchair users and visually impaired people with dogs. Pavements must be kept clear enough for pedestrians.
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Jun 22, 2021
    please indulge me in this little how it started vs. how it's going 😌
    Katie, a wheelchair user with long blonde hair in a pink wheelchair, is wearing a face mask and frowning as she is at the end of a pavement which has no dropped kerb. Next to her is a bollard and bags of rubbish, and there are traffic cones to the other side. A scene of total inaccessibility.
    Exactly the same location as the previous photo, except this time Katie is smiling (no face mask!) and her arms are outstretched. In front of her, there is a new tarmac ramp dropping the kerb, complete with high contrast yellow paint. The bollards, bins, and traffic cones remain.
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Jan 22, 2020
    I’m watching my train leave in 5 mins and I’m not on it because I apparently didn’t arrive early enough for staff to get the ramp. I’m late because the bus I was on let everyone (20+ people -full bus) off before deploying the ramp for me. Everyone on that bus made their train.
    Katie, a young woman with mid length dark blonde hair, is looking tired and fed-up, and has her chin resting on her hand.
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Feb 29, 2024
    POV: you’re a wheelchair user and the staff haven’t turned up with a ramp, so you’re trapped on an empty train. The emergency alarm is out of my reach so I have to rely on my shouting skills. How would you feel if there was a risk of this happening every time you use the train?
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Jul 19, 2023
    barbie’s wheelchair vs my actual wheelchair: a critical comparison aka the best twitter thread i will ever post strap in #Barbie
    a barbie doll with light skin and blonde hair sitting in her barbie wheelchair which is a pink manual wheelchair.
    katie, a white woman with blondish hair, sitting in her pink manual wheelchair in the exact same pose as the barbie in the previous photo.
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Feb 12, 2022
    I hate writing tweets like this. I just experienced a bus driver shouting in my face. He got so angry he got out of his booth and stood up to scream at me. He was refusing to let me board because I use a wheelchair (there was a buggy on board, but plenty of space for us both).
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Jul 21, 2023
    they managed to copy my entire thread into an article and STILL called me “differently abled” are u kidding
    news18.com
    Differently-Abled Woman Has A Wheelchair Similar To Barbie's, See Pics
    The Barbie movie, featuring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as her boyfriend Ken, has already been touted as one of the season's biggest blockbusters.
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Jul 3, 2019
    When I was little I *hated* going to physiotherapy. My wonderful physio came up with an idea to make it more enjoyable - she would do a full assessment of my teddybear, and send my teddy’s hospital notes in the post with my own 😭 The attention to detail in these is brilliant...
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Apr 12, 2021
    I popped down to Soho today. An already notoriously difficult area (for its lack of dropped kerbs) has been made trickier with outdoor seating blocking pavements. I support the hospitality sector and understand the need for outdoor seats, but please leave room for wheelies!
    Katie, in a pink wheelchair and wearing a face mask, it at the edge of a pavement. There is no dropped kerb. Around her is lots of street clutter - bollards, signs, a-boards, bins.
    A pavement which is fully obstructed by a combination of a-boards and chairs.
    Outdoor chairs and tables on a street in soho. the pavements are blocked by a-boards and more seating.
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Sep 3, 2023
    £18 billion spent on building the brand new Elizabeth Line, and because the ticket office was closed today I couldn’t get on a train. Absolutely mind-boggling that this new line requires a manual boarding ramp and there are seemingly times where there are no staff?
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Jul 19, 2023
    Replying to @KatiePennick
    on a srs note: i’m so happy that wheelchair barbie exists, and i can’t tell you how thrilled childhood-katie would have been to play with someone that looks like me 🥹
    an old photograph of katie as a young girl, playing with her barbies. katie is wide eyed and adorable, and her barbies have no wheelchairs
    a young (7 ish) katie sits in her tiny wheelchair smiling
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Aug 1, 2021
    THREAD: I’m a wheelchair user, and I can’t travel by train on Sundays (it seems). Context: I’m trying to get to London from a small oxfordshire station. I’ve booked assistance using @PassAssistance, but it is ‘unconfirmed’. I’ve arrived at the station, and there are no staff…
    Katie, a white woman with long light-brown hair, is sat in her pink manual wheelchair on a platform at an outdoor train station. The platform is empty with no one else about. The railway track goes off behind her into the distance.
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Feb 11, 2020
    This was my university experience in a nutshell. (Image description: a university lecture theatre filled with students. A woman in a wheelchair sits alone, at the top of a flight of stairs, separated from the other students, without a desk. There is no access to the seating.)
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    Sarah-Marie Da Silva
    @SarahMarieDS
    Feb 10, 2020
    @DBetterAcademia @UniOfHull
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    Katie Pennick
    @KatiePennick
    Feb 20, 2020
    After being interviewed about inaccessible transport, I tried to get a train home and this is what I encounter: @chilternrailway tried to refuse me access, told me they couldn’t allow me on the train due to health and safety, that there was no ramp, no space. This was all false.
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