Blog 1# – Disability

Disability + Race

Ade describes parallels between the BLM movement and the Paralympic movement. He explains how the Paralympics demonstrates that given opportunities and access to sports, disabled people can thrive. Having a disability is not the issue, it is society which creates the discrimination and lack of access around having a disability.

They discuss how disabled people are often segregated in public spaces and transport. They talk about the parallels with this and racial segregation during the 1950’s in America (Montgomery bus boycott). By setting people aside, we are creating an environment that perpetrates discrimination and otherness.

This made me reflect on the Fire escape policy within the UK, in which wheelchair users are to be taken to a designated place within the fire stair and left. In the case of a fire, the lift systems shut down which means wheelchair users are essentially trapped. By taking people within the fire stair well means they are technically ‘safe’ from fire for 1 hour, this is deemed enough time for the firemen to arrive and retrieve the person. I think this policy is quite shocking, and highlights how those who require additional support to navigate the world are considered after those who move through society freely.

Friends and strangers

Christine talks about her experiences as a deaf artist. Her work explores communication through visual means and the expressions of sign language.

She describes how living in different places has affected her

She describes how her disability has affected her differently in the different places she has lived. In California, she was denied access to art classes and courses due to there being a lack of support to facilitate a deaf person. She describes how living in Berlin has made her life easier, as she has better access to studios, childcare and a community.

Being a mother (woman) and a deaf artist, childcare is essential to allow her to work, in additional to affordable rent for a studio space and access to interpreters.

She raises an interesting point about maintaining her identity and access to her rights as she cannot communicate in our present society and relies upon others to represent her. There is room for misunderstanding and loss of identity from this. How do you keep your individualism when you are being made to speak through others?

Community is important to her, it is a reminder that she is not alone. Her artwork is valued within that community as it highlights their experiences to a wider audience.

Disability + Gender

Chay shares his experiences as Trans/ man/ gay/ white .

He acknowledges that he has privileges in the community because he appears cisgender and has invisible disabilities. This highlights that it is not the facets of our identitity which are the issue but the way in which we are is perceived by others.

He described non-verbal communication in the gay community was a barrier.

He discusses the barriers to LBTQ+ community for disabled people are;

• Physical barriers – access / toilets
• Loud / alcohol / events and venues can be a barrier to those who find those environments stressful / anxieties / autism
• Lack of use of closed captioning / quiet spaces
• Asking people for their access requirements, putting it into the planning and budget

*the captioning of the video is bad quality. Not capturing the speaker’s words clearly. This in itself highlights the lack of innovation around technologies which would help those with disabilities.

He says that empowerment is important part of the process– having shared experiences, visibility and acceptance.

Recurring Themes

• Society creates barriers to people in relation to race, disability and gender
• Barriers create discrimination
• Importance of visibility / community / being seen and heard

Disability Considerations in ISD:

• Physical Making / building – not accessible to all but a course requirement
• Presentation style – Lack of captioning, large audiences and small screens,
• Studio space – large open plan (no quiet spaces or places of refuge), poor sound conditions

Additional Research:

“Christine Sun Kim” by Todd Selby

Summary:

In this film, Christine explores the concept of ownership of senses, highlighting the idea that without access to a particular sense, one may feel a lack of rights and ownership over it. The film reveals that Christine is deaf, which challenges societal norms and highlights the need for accommodation. She reclaims her sense of ownership over sound through her artwork, using visual outputs to represent sounds. The film serves as a reminder of the assumptions we make about others’ experiences and the importance of inclusive design. It prompts reflection on how inclusive design can be incorporated into teaching practices and emphasizes the need to consider the substitution of experiences for those with sensory limitations in spatial design.

Reflection:

In this film Christine raises an interesting idea of the ownership of senses. This is not something I had ever considered, that without access to something it can feel like you have no rights over that sense and no sense of ownership.

The way in which she described having to change her behaviour to accommodate societal norms about what is and is not acceptable sounds to make, was interesting. The idea that she has to adapt her behaviour to something which does not affect her and is also essentially abstract to her understanding seems quite absurd when you see it from her perspective. It was inspiring to see how she had reclaimed this sense of ownership over sound through her artwork incorporating visual outputs as a result of sounds.

This film has no title to suggest the content of the film. The fact that the artist is deaf was not revealed until partway through the film. The beginning sequence is of her getting ready to leave the house, there is no soundtrack but the sounds of her movements and interactions with objects and her surroundings are heightened. I think this is a poignant reminder about the assumptions we make, that everyone is the same as ourselves and that our experiences of senses are not equal to all.

This video made me reflect on how I could approach teaching inclusive design as part of the ISD course. Inclusive design is an important part of spatial design, but often only really discussed in terms of more physical disabilities. Perhaps because spatial design often has the output of physical space, the focus is usually on matters of the use of space and physicality. In industry there are building regulations which have mandated guidance on creating buildings that are accessible, these are mostly concerned with safety and the accessibility of buildings but do not touch on the experience of space. This film made me consider how can you offer a substitution of experience for those who cannot experience a certain sense within a space.

This year with our second years I ran a workshop on inclusive design practices for their Unit 5 project in which they had been asked to design a public bathroom. The intention of this workshop was to get them to think about different perspective and catering to a diverse range of needs for different people. Within this workshop I allocated each group a profile of a person for whom they had to design their space for, they were asked to create a design in plan and section and give examples of the materials, lighting and fixtures.

I think this exercise is useful in getting them to think about how different people have different needs and where to look for guidance on designing accessible spaces. I think this exercise could be pushed more in the direction of considering experience of space and this video would be a useful resource to show students.