Film by Christine Sun Kim
The video shows a powerful reflection on how sounds can be perceived differently, and interestingly brings the point of ownership of sound and noise. Most of times we don’t stop to ask ourselves what is normal and how those rules are made. Who defines the correct and comfortable amount of noise from a city, a school? Who defines what is acceptable in terms of music or sound disturbance?
Another point that I took from the video and the artists’ work is the idea of sound being felt instead of heard is something that stuck to me.
‘Deaf Accessibility for Spoonies: Lessons from Touring Eve and Mary are Having a Coffee’ by Khairani Barokka
The author described the pain and suffering they went through while touring a show aiming at bringing visibility to their struggles. Even in spaces that are open to include the conversation and institutions that want to champion those voices are still failing the people who need support and adjustments. It includes some powerful statements and reflections on what they call “the empathy gap” and the lack of visibility of certain struggles.
#DisabilityTooWhite interview with Vilissa Thompson
Vilissa Thompson discusses how even within the circles that discuss disability and minorities, there is a lack of representation of people of colour. Minorities communities are either missing the inclusion of disability issues or racial concerns. The author raises the point of lack of representation and the struggle they face in seeing themselves and therefore connecting with their different identities.
My context and reflections:
I haven’t experienced yet a challenge with disability in my workshop, neither was required to make changes or amendments. However, I do now reflect on what we consider normal and that is not very inclusive. We already see as having to adjust to someone’s disabilities as something OUT of the normal, an extra. With this we are already creating a divide, making the student feel that they are being treated different and a nuisance, perhaps? I can speak for their feelings because I haven’t been in that position myself, but I can only imagine that the fuss might not be helpful.
Being treated differently makes you feel you are not normal, but what is normal after all? How we plan our spaces and assume abilities might be making students feel disengaged and othered. Should it be up to them to request modifications and educate us on that?
“notion of disabled as the opposite of ‘enabled’ rather than ‘unable’” Barokka K., 2017
Awareness is important but what is the next step? Do we see and build our society as a collective of all its participants or as only a portion of “able” people plus the others? It is something very uncomfortable to write and even think, but I do see our society nowadays as excluding by default but decorated with some powerful quotes about inclusivity of people we keep hidden away due to lack of opportunities, voice, and appropriate spaces. Arts, architecture, and entertainment is made aiming only the “default” participants that are not a reflection of the real pool of people and experiences around.
Khairani Barokka (Okka) (2017) Deaf-accessibility for spoonies: lessons from touring Eve and Mary Are Having Coffee while chronically ill, Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22:3, 387-392, DOI: 10.1080/13569783.2017.1324778
https://vimeo.com/31083172
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/confronting-the-whitewash_b_10574994?guccounter=1
- Comments can be found on: https://tillypgcert.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2023/05/10/disability/
- Comments can be found on: https://elenipapazoglou.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2023/04/17/disability/
- Comments can be found on: https://relearning.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2023/05/17/the-different-ways-of-being-in-the-world/
3 replies on “Disability – Resources and reflections”
Hi Paula, you shared powerful observations in your passage.
Your reflection on what we consider normal in the workshop space, and the potential lack of inclusivity in our approach is thought-provoking. You rightly point out that when we see making adjustments for someone with disabilities as something outside of the normal, we inadvertently create a divide and could make students feel different or like a nuisance. Even a student with a temporary disability, like being on crutches, can show up how this biased thinking.
This realization emphasizes the importance of examining our assumptions about what is “normal” and questioning whether our planning and assumptions about abilities might be alienating or disengaging students.
Your question about whether it should be up to students to request modifications and educate us on that is significant. It highlights the responsibility we have as educators and as a society to create inclusive spaces and provide equal opportunities without placing the burden solely on the individuals. It calls for a proactive approach where we actively seek to understand and accommodate diverse needs without waiting for specific requests.
The quote you shared, “notion of disabled as the opposite of ‘enabled’ rather than ‘unable'” by Barokka, adds depth to your observations. It challenges the binary thinking that often surrounds disability and emphasizes the need to redefine our understanding of disability and abilities. This shift in perspective can help us move away from exclusionary practices and towards the contributions and experiences of all individuals.
You raise a crucial question about the next step beyond awareness. While awareness is important, it is essential to translate that awareness into tangible actions and structural changes. It requires us to see and build our society as a collective of all its participants, rather than perpetuating a division between the “able” and the “others.”
Your observation about arts, architecture, and entertainment catering primarily to the “default” participants who do not represent the true diversity of people and experiences is a poignant critique. It underscores the need for a fundamental shift in how we approach creative endeavours, ensuring that they are inclusive and reflective of the richness and diversity of human experiences.
I really enjoyed reading your crucial points about the need to challenge norms, recognize the inherent exclusion in our society, and actively work towards inclusivity. Your thoughtfulness in addressing these issues is commendable, and I look forward to further conversations and actions towards creating a more inclusive and equitable society.
Hi Paula,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with such openness.
The quote by Barokka is striking and speaks of manifold situations.
There is a clear disparity between those that are enabled and the ones that are not. In some contexts, it requires much brevity and confidence from students to articulate what they need. That also means that students are also expected to know what they need which is a huge task in itself. This makes me think of all the students that do not have a diagnosis. How do we work or adapt learning / teaching methods when we do not have the facts?
I have been thinking about:
— Making students aware of student support
— Bringing the Barokka quote into a session and remove the stigma around diverging needs.
–Offering information in a range of formats (video, audio, voice, written) so students can have different entry points
–Varying the structure of the sessions (small groups, big groups, huge groups, one-to-one, peer to peer, silent, noisy, outdoors, indoors, active, reflective). Different students will thrive in different environments
–Students to have check-ins with different tutors just in case they don’t feel comfortable speaking to one
–Making presented material available before and / as well as after the session with links so students can refer to it, or digest it in their own time.
–Designing presentation slides with Off-white solid backgrounds are better for people with perceptual differences, like dyslexia // Selecting templates and themes with large sans serif fonts with a contrasting colour to the background // differentiating text in more than one way, such as using both colour and text to mark up different elements.
–using different words to describe the same thing, or explaining terminology without dumbing it down
–Offering different options of outcomes or processes (option a, option b) for example you can make an animation, or a sculpture to facilitate different abilities.
–Short focus / mediation / mindfulness exercise before the beginning of a session?
–I have been wondering how it would feel to ask everyone what they think they might need. This could be anonymous (written on pieces of paper and put in a hat / or online). Students and staff members / you can also take part so that you are sharing the responsibility.
I am sure that there are better ideas and way more bullet proof techniques–these are just some ideas that came to mind. There might be some further raining offered through staff development on canvas.
I enjoyed reading your blog post, Paula. You write so well and ‘hit the nail on the head’ with just a few sentences.
Your provocation: ‘Who defines the correct and comfortable amount of noise for a city’ is interesting because my immediate response is to say that no one or no particular group does, it’s just the way it is. But of course if I go further with my thoughts, forms of exclusion have long been shaped to the benefit of the more dominant group, it’s just that during current times, the invisible hands that shape unequal access are baked into every fabric of our society that depending on your identity, it can go mostly unnoticed.
As a designer, I find it interesting that designing for the ‘standard’ often repeats and reinforces the ‘standard’. It’s ‘the same old’, ‘how we have always done it.’ Whereas if we interrogate during our design processes which voices are included and which are missing, and ask ‘how can we design beyond on own experiences and open the space for collaboration with others that have experiences we do not have’, we would create some new ways of doing. And, isn’t it exciting when design leads to innovation? I use design broadly here to also include when thinking about how we collaborate with our students. When you ask ‘Should it be up to them to request modifications and educate us on that?’, I think as educators, there needs to be ongoing reflection with our students on the learning spaces and materials we are creating to ensure that they are meeting their needs.
Your use of ‘normal’ and mine of ‘standard’ is also worth thinking about because I wondered whether they exist when describing people. We design for the ‘normal’ when people have a multitude of identities. For me, thinking about inclusion using an ‘intersectionality framework’ is really useful because a solution to resolve one particular type of exclusion might not go far enough, or worse still, reinforce other types.
In response to your question, ‘awareness’ is a great start because then we might need less unconscious bias training in workplaces and institutions. Then our next steps should be working in our spheres of influence to open them up to those excluded, collaborating as equals.