Crip Time

Crip Time is a concept that describes how people with disabilities, chronic illnesses or neurodivergent people experience time and the rhythms of life differently from non-disabled people. In contrast to so-called ‘normative time’ – that is, fixed time structures such as school hours, working hours or socially expected life milestones – Crip Time is based on the actual needs and lived realities of people with disabilities. Normative expectations – such as when someone should learn to read or complete their education – can have an exclusionary effect.

Crip Time highlights that many disabled people need more time due to everyday barriers – whether for travelling, organising their day, recovering, or simply to gain access to certain places or services. Life milestones, too, are often reached at a different pace or at different times. Crip Time calls for a more flexible and inclusive way of thinking about time.