In Our Wildest In Our Wildest Imaginations:Imaginations:

From Tragedy to From Tragedy to OpportunityOpportunity

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Photo of disadvantaged children and fashion models

Presented by

Stephen Gilson and Liz DePoy

www.astos.org

at Shippensburg University on November 17, 2009

Our agenda for todayOur agenda for today

Gaze backwards at the history of disability as the basis for where we are today

Current thinking about disability

Our vision and how to get there

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Clip art cartoon of an agenda

Remaining Snippets of Remaining Snippets of History History

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Picture of scissors

Bodily Boundaries of Humanity in Bodily Boundaries of Humanity in Early CivilizationsEarly Civilizations

Who is worthy of being considered human? Ancient Greece often discarded extremely

anomalous neonates In early western civilizations limits of humanity

were in part based on body compositions. “Deformed” infants were not considered to be

human. Less extreme bodies were considered to be

human variations.

Middle AgesMiddle Ages

Individuals who were anomalous in appearance or activity were purportedly placed on earth to engender charity and tolerance in the masses.

Context: Poor living conditions created conditions which were considered to be typical and in which sick and crippled bodies were not atypical.

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Blind Leading the Blind, 1568Blind Leading the Blind, 1568

BreughelBreughel

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Painting by Breughel: Blind Leading the Blind, 1568

EnlightenmentEnlightenment

Belief in demonology was slowly being replaced by science.

The belief that illness and differences in human activity occurred from that which could be observed in the physical world is reflected in the art of the renaissance period.

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Annibale Carracci, Annibale Carracci, HunchbackHunchback, 16th-17th centuries., 16th-17th centuries.The careful attention of the artist details the anatomical The careful attention of the artist details the anatomical

shape of this individual with an atypical physical shape of this individual with an atypical physical appearance.appearance.

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Sketch by Annibale Carracci: Hunchback, 16th-17th centuries.

Why people did and did not behave in normal ways became a major subject of many academic disciplines with diverse explanations competing for hegemony.

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The foundation of contemporary The foundation of contemporary conceptualizationsconceptualizations

French statistician Quetelet formulated the concept of "the normal man,” who was both physically and morally normal.

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Bell curve

Where are we now?Where are we now?

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Two overarching intellectual Two overarching intellectual trendstrends

Disability as deficit Medical-diagnostic Disability as internal to the body Emerged from ascendance of science and technology

Disability as constructed Grew out of a counter-response to deviation and

objectification Attempted to uncouple bodies from oppression and

discrimination Looked to the social, political, economic, physical etc.

environment, not the body, as the locus of disability Emerged from post-modern thinking about diversity

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Medical DiagnosticMedical Diagnostic

Locates disability within humans and defines it as an anomalous medical condition of long-term or permanent duration.

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Current medical responses—decrease Current medical responses—decrease disability through individual disability through individual

accommodation accommodation

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ExamplesExamples

Giving extra time on a test to individuals with diagnosed medical conditions

Professional intervention

Building ramps for wheelchair users

Constructed Constructed Explanations Explanations

Disability is a condition that results from limitations imposed on individuals (with or even without diagnosed medical conditions) from external factors. Social Political Cultural Architectural Economic

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SocialSocial

Negative Attitudes

Negative Stereotype

Stigma

Devaluation

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PoliticalPolitical

Social oppression

Minority group model- discrimination towards difference

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ArchitecturalArchitectural

Barriers in the built environment

Architectural standard for “standard” body size, shape, function

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Picture of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man drawing

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EconomicEconomic

Cannot contribute through remunerative work

Constructed Response Constructed Response

Change the social, political, economic, architectural cultural environments and leave the body alone

Example: ADA

Contemporary Contemporary Disciplinary ExplanationsDisciplinary Explanations

Disability as social science ethical and political questions raised (e.g. Baby

Jane Doe, human rights, physician assisted suicide, etc)

Disability as humanities disability as representational system more than a

medical problem, fabricated narrative of the body (Garland- Thomson, 2004), media studies, design

Disability as science health, genetics, surveillance, engineering,

computer science, etc.

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Contemporary Contemporary DisciplinaryDisciplinaryResponses Responses

Thinking, studying, and innovation

Zooming In on Zooming In on DisjunctureDisjuncture

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Three images: telescope, universe, and Earth

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Disability as Disability as DisjunctureDisjuncture

Explains disability as an interactive “ill-fit” between bodies (defined broadly) and environments (defined broadly)

Brings us to query the universe of environmental design and symbol in delineating the category of disability and affixing the value of those who fit within it.

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What is a body?What is a body?The body, its appearance and its experience

The sensory body

The cognitive body

The social-emotional body

The spiritual body

The economic body

The productive body

The body of ideas and meanings

The body in multiple garb and spaces

What is the What is the “Environment?”“Environment?”

The entire set of conditions under which one operates including but not limited to: Physical Sensory Virtual Constructed (political, economic, social, etc.) Spiritual Expressive Intellectual

Full juncture Moderate or compliance juncture

Disjuncture

body

environment

environment

environment

body

body

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Graphic depiction of disjuncture and juncture

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DisjunctureDisjunctureFull Juncture Compliance

(Moderate) Juncture

Disjuncture

Environmental, space, and product design outcomes which take into account the full diversity of human bodies, ideas, experiences, preferences, contexts, aesthetics, and hold full participation as a value foundation (e.g., ambient environments, relevant technology, commercially available solutions).

Environmental, space, and product outcome which responds to compliance with minimal legal physical access standards (e.g., mobility accommodations, Braille signage).

Environmental, space, and product design outcome which does not account for access for diverse human bodies, preferences or experiences.

Our initial thinking about disjuncture emerged from a conversation in a disability studies class in which we asked students to reflect on the current rationale for typical and accommodative standards for built and virtual environments. The students indicated that they just took these environmental features for granted and had not thought about why doorways, chair heights, computer access and so forth could not be reconceptualized differently.

We then consulted the literature and found the following:•Built and virtual environmental and product design standards for industrial and post industrial contexts are constructed around Enlightenment ideals of the human body, its balance, proportion, emphasis, rhythm, and unity (Margolin, 2002)

Fields and disciplines Fields and disciplines informing and teaching informing and teaching

disjuncturedisjuncture

Political theory Economics Geography Engineering Medicine Sociology Business Education Law

Art Technology Literature Disability studies Folklore Communications Philosophy Professions Computer science

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From Tragedy to From Tragedy to OpportunityOpportunity

Healing Disjuncture Healing Disjuncture (Creating Full Juncture)(Creating Full Juncture)

Change bodies, environments or both

Eliminate binary categories of disabled/not disabled

Eliminate segregation

Provide multiple options in diverse venues (commercial, professional)

Attend to aesthetics, context, complexity

Map problems to reveal complexity and potential directions for healing disjuncture

TragedyTragedy

OpportunityOpportunity

Text from Colours (1)Text from Colours (1)

Like our products the personality of Colours is that of leadership and understanding, "no pun intended." We hope to provide an outlet to voice suggestions, ultimately allowing you to change the way people see the disabled and yourself. It is our goal to increase each persons experiences through mobility, education and most importantly, the general societies awareness toward people.

Yes, we believe we produce some of the best wheelchairs in the world. But, that is not what we are bragging about. What we are really proud of are the people who are using our chairs. They are in our eyes individuals who have a spirit unmatched by our competition. So, our thanks are to you the customer for joining our mini community and doing what you do best live your life to the fullest!

Opportunity: Performing Opportunity: Performing artists - ndaf.orgartists - ndaf.org

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Disability as NeedDisability as Need

Disability as PowerDisability as Power

Disability as Recipient of Disability as Recipient of Technology HelpTechnology Help

Assistive technology is technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. (The National Center on Accessible Information Technology in Education) What is a Cognitive Prosthesis?

  A cognitive prosthetic is assistive technology that helps a person with cognitive deficits function more independently in certain tasks. Unlike other commercial products with similar goals, it is not one piece of software or device, but an entire system that helps the individual in ways that are specific to that person's needs.

Disability as Tech Disability as Tech Marketing Power Marketing Power

(WOW)(WOW)Global ICT Demographics: What´s at Stake

850 million personal computers

1+ billion Internet users (includes shared and mobile access)

1.3 billion telephone land lines

1.5 billion TV sets

2.4 billion radios

2.7 billion cell phones, 1.8 billion text messaging users

Needy Cool!

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Two shower seats

Putting this thinking to Putting this thinking to workwork

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Two body builders of different heights and builds

Our viewpointOur viewpoint

Responses to disability must “take an intellectual and professional village”. Multiple perspectives must be married to

design and marketing thinking and action to advance significant and lasting social change for people with disabilities and communities across the globe.

Short Term thinkingShort Term thinking

For the short-run, without the service and a purposive, thoughtful market orientation becoming friends with one another, services will continue to de-value disability category members.

Long-term thinkingLong-term thinking

A generic environment that responds to the full diversity of humans, and thus designer disability services and products, that brand and segregate humans into binary categories as they exist today will not be necessary

Short-Term ThinkingShort-Term Thinking

For the short-run, without the service and a purposive, thoughtful market orientation becoming friends with one another, services will continue to “de-value” disability category members.

Long-Term ThinkingLong-Term Thinking

A generic environment that responds to the full diversity of humans, and thus designer disability services and products, that brand and segregate humans into binary categories as they exist today will not be necessary

So Now what?So Now what?

Using contemporary practices that are aligned with larger powerful global trends typically not thought of as disability and human rights scholarship provides the opportunity for significant change.

Let’s watch, listen , think and hear the opportunities

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jgfp0hVwPI

Thank You!!!

Questions and comments?

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