Our Shared Shelf discussion

I would like to start a discussion about accessibility. That is a huge subject and covers so many things. I'm going to start by introducing an idea some of you may or may not have already heard.

In disability justice, there is a distinction between the medical model of disability and the social model of disability. For these purposes, picture a woman in a wheelchair at the bottom of a flight of stairs. The medical model of disability looks at this situation and decides the best way to approach it is to address whatever ailments or conditions that are impacting the woman's ability to walk up the stairs independently.

The social model of disability looks at this same situation, however in this case the focus is shifted to the environment. For example, could there be a ramp here or an elevator? If there was a ramp or elevator, this woman could get where she was going and her use of her wheelchair would not have been a disability in her route. This model is much more inclusive. It doesn't imply that all bodies must conform to a certain type to participate in society. It shifts from an exclusive society to an inclusive one. This is where accessibility comes into the conversation.

There are so many incredible modifications that can be made to make life accessible for those with disabilities these days. I have found that those with disabilities do not lack for creativity in this area, but often lack in support from those around them (from family to general community) to put these solutions into action.

So my question is this, have you seen examples where positive changes made it more accessible for someone? What about examples where you think improvements could be made? If you suggest an improvement, is there anything you think you could do personally about that? Let us know if you do! These examples could be from your own life, the lives around you, or even examples from Disability Visibility you thought were really neat.

Thank you for bringing this discussion! :)

I admit I've never heard about the social model and medical model. I mean, now you are saying it, it makes sense :)

Just want to give a personal example.

When I was preparing my BTS (a Technician degree similar to bachelor degree), I had a classmate who had asperger syndrome. For those who are not familiar with that syndrome, it's a form of autism. Sometimes he had a hard time to focus on the classes and he tended to overstress in some situation. I want to point out that I have no idea if overstressing is common in asperger syndrome.
Anyway, during his two years to prepare the degree, a person assisted him. When I'm saying assisting, it's not negative. She was helping him to focus when he was being distracted. Sometimes she was calling him out because... let's say our friend was a bit stubborn ;) For instance, she took notes during classes so that when he was missing something because he was inatentive during a minute or two he could get the missing notes. She also helped him during labwork.
I did not mention she had almost no chemistry backgound.

To be honest, I don't remember when she started to work with him. Probably during the 1st year, it's a bit vague in my mind. I just remember that since he was part of our friend group she became a friend. After 2 years of BTS, he graduated like everyone. After 2 years of BTS she borrowed my class notes because she was preparing a degree.

Not quite sure whether this example is about accessibility or not. Probably yes since it's education accessibility. I think having this amazing assistant was really positive for him. She was a relay between him and the teachers who could rely on her. And our friend could have an higher education he wanted.

Florian, this is accessibility! Lots of people in school systems have some kind of coach/aid that can help with a variety of tasks depending on the needs the person needs help meeting. People with autism are an example of one group that might request such an accommodation. People with a variety of development or intellectual disabilities could request this too. People with physical disabilities might request a similar aid to assist with barriers within the school, as might a blind person. Deaf people might request a sign language interpreter. Good one Florian!

There are so many things that can be shared about accessibility both positive innovations and areas that can be improved. I think rather than share everything, I will share a few of each that I think may not be obvious to someone who does not share my disability.

Things I'd like to see improve:
Accessible housing- I have never lived in accessible housing. This has ranged from being unable to access half of my house at all to being unable to enter/exit my house without being carried over the stairs. It is incredibly difficult to find adequate housing, especially in a house with more than one disability. I have even been homeless.

Parking- This is a constant issue since I have to have room next to my parking spot to get my wheelchair out of the car.

Police- I have seen police abuse accessible parking spaces. I have also been told by police that they could not transport me out of an unsafe situation due to my wheelchair.

Positive accessibility:
It took me a while to figure out how to drive on my own. Well, really I could always drive, I just couldn't get from the driver's seat to the trunk where my wheelchair is. I finally figured it out through a series of walking aids and home depot finds and made my own almost-Rube Goldberg machine. This is an example of personal innovation, the kind that (although this is a small example) is referenced in "To Survive Climate Catastrophe, Look to Queer and Disabled Folks" by Patty Berne in Disability Visibility.

There are so many great things that are made these days for autism sensory regulation. My son wears a compression shirt every day that applies pressure to his entire body. He wears noise-cancelling headphones often. Target even sells weighted blankets now, which has significantly lowered the price. They have also attempted to address accessibility in an entire collection of home and clothing adaptations.

It is so easy to get closed captioning on most movies and TV these days now that there are streaming platforms. I need these on to understand a movie due to hearing loss, so I am very grateful that it is so ubiquitous now.

I think my favorite thing of all is to see my son thinking in the social model of disability naturally. I see him speak up when he sees spaces inaccessible to my wheelchair. I see him recognize and try to speak up for his own accommodations. It is so much more than that though. He has asked me how would someone who is deaf be able to be a part of this? Or someone who is blind? Even though he has never had to consider the world with either of these perspectives personally. In fact, this is usually very difficult to do with autism. When he builds with blocks or makes stories, there are always lots of ramps and all kinds of people.

Hello! I am new to the group and have loved this month’s book so far. I am currently a student with my own disabilities and mental health issues, but the example I am sharing is of a fellow student. This student is a freshman and has been struggling with their grades. The workload is just too much, especially since they have chronic migraines and autism. My favorite teacher, who has often advocated for me, gave my peer the option to take a step back from the workload in our class to focus on core classes. Not only was this a huge relief for the student, but after they talked about their struggles in biology, almost half the class, including a few seniors, offered to take time out of their day to tutor them. It was just so inspiring to see a community work together like that.

I think something the non-disabled community needs to work on, especially those in education, is understanding that sometimes we don’t know what we need. It can be really frustrating when someone asks how they can help and I don’t have an answer. Patience is key!

I could talk forever about accessibility issues! I'm deafblind - severely hearing and visually impaired - so I personally have so many experiences of positive and negative accessibility. For example, I use a lot of assistive technology. I use induction hearing systems with my hearing aids, for anything from use with my laptop, phone, TV and hearing in noisy situations. I use various electronic magnifiers (changing font size, brightness and colour combinations) to read printed text and also use magnification software on my laptop. Whilst all this technology is fantastic, there are some issues - they are very expensive and also a lot of hearing technology (and services) aren't always designed to be accessible for someone with a dual sensory loss like me. It's the same for visual assistive technology and services. Getting information in accessible alternative formats can still be an issue, despite an increase in accessible formats - for example print, electronic, audio. I listening to audiobooks, but some narrator voices are clearer for me than others. I read printed books with an electronic magnifier, but it takes me visually longer - so time can also be an access issue.

Molly wrote: "I could talk forever about accessibility issues! I'm deafblind - severely hearing and visually impaired - so I personally have so many experiences of positive and negative accessibility. For exampl..."

Molly, thank you for sharing. I am curious whether there have been any ways that using these technologies have become easier or harder during covid-19's social distancing periods?

Taylor wrote: "Hello! I am new to the group and have loved this month’s book so far. I am currently a student with my own disabilities and mental health issues, but the example I am sharing is of a fellow student..."

Taylor, knowing what you need can be very hard. I find that, personally, there are no quick fixes anyone can offer. I just need people to tell me that they see that what I am going through really sucks. Even if I have my hands full and don't respond, I get the message and know someone cared that day.

Under "Additional Resources" I have put links to many of the different innovations that authors have discussed in the book. There is a link to the sound of the universe created by a blind astronomer, a video of physically integrated choreography including wheelchairs, a model's blog who customizes her prosthesis into works of art, a Smithsonian virtual museum of disability history and more.

We are currently completely renovating our home and have decided that it would be sensible that we make our home accessible.

We are widening all spaces for wheelchair access,
installing supports in walls for future grab rails,
making room for future hoists,
installing a wheelchair accessible wetroom,
making provision in case a stair lift is needed in the future,
designing the kitchen for wheelchair access,
all handles and switches throughout capable to be used by someone with motor difficulties and in a wheelchair,
colour contrast of rooms and design of rooms to aid someone with visual impairment to move easier through the house,
no thresholds on any doors,
furniture to be able to be moved by someone with minimal strength capabilities,
all storage to be accessible by wheelchair users,
easy access and egress to the house by wheelchair.

If I have missed anything that would make a home accessible, please let me know as I would love to make sure I cover all bases.

A person can become disabled at any moment in their lives, and we thought that the most sensible route is to build our home as if we already needed these things. Building this way means we can age in place without fear that our home will slowly become inaccessable to us. Lastly my brother uses a wheelchair due to paraplegia and he may want to live with us in the future so I want him to feel welcome and live with independence and dignity.

Kitty, I don't see lower countertops on your list with space for a wheelchair to slide under. Actually, I think staggered countertop sizes are a great idea. They would look nice and be functional for lots of people and for lots of purposes.

I want to mention that there are a lot of accessibility innovations that were first created for people with disabilities, then used by everyone else too just because they rock.

Curb cuts (the dip in the sidewalk at the corner at the crosswalk) was originally made for wheelchairs. Then it turned out it was awesome for strollers and carts and easy access to the crosswalk.

Keyboards were originally invented to help the deaf to type as quickly as they fingerspell to give more options for communication. That early version evolved many times into what we have now for everyone.

Talk-to-text was originally used for the blind to type. Now you can use it to send a text while you drive hands free. Or write a novel out loud.

Audiobooks used to be very limited in selection mostly available
as a resource to the blind. Now you can get practically anything as an audiobook.

Telehealth, which I'm sure lots of people have used during Covid social distancing, has been used previously for certain circumstances for patients that cannot make it to their doctor in person due to physical disability or distance (for example, the Children's Hospital near me serves patients in the 5 surrounding states and will sometimes see those patients that are unable to travel that far in that condition via telehealth). They were able to expand this service to everyone.

Closed captioning was originally created for deaf people, but you can now turn it on pretty much any streaming service.

Large grip items, like kitchen utensils, were originally developed for arthritis or other disabilities that might affect the grip of your hand, like MS or CP. This design has been incorporated into a large number of items for ease of use and people in general tend to prefer this design.

The Segway was originally created as a new type of mobility device (like a wheelchair). Then it was shifted into a general purpose, which is used especially by police and businessmen, but also some people with disabilities still.