accessibility, privilege, survey, dialogue and other misc. thoughts | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Fred H Olson (fholsoncohousing.org) | |
Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 04:53:33 -0700 (PDT) |
John Faust <wjfaust [at] gmail.com> is the author of the message below. It was posted by Fred, the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org> after deleting some quoted material. -------------------- FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS -------------------- That's probably an excellent idea. In fact, surveying should probably be a routine part of this list. Getting some structured information would help in any number of areas. Cohousing.org could use a commercial survey site<http://www.surveymonkey.com/>or try to install an open source survey tool on its website. I would really like to hear answers to the questions posed below. You can even do a free survey (<100 responses) at the commercial site identified above. John Faust On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 7:02 PM, laura <lrifkin12 [at] mac.com> wrote: > > It's personally hard for me to understand a big discussion about > accessibility that is slanted by people who are able-bodied and don't > necessarily understand the needs and questions being expressed by > disabled members of the list. Interdependence is great, but should > not be a throwback to a time when disabled people were denied access > routinely or every right and option to be independent if they so > choose. Interdependence is a different concept, one that I believe in > wholeheartedly, not to be confused with things being inaccessible and > therefore people having to do things for someone. Independence is a > right of the disabled community and interdependence follows. Of > course disabled people also offer great services to able-bodied > people but perhaps they don't always get put in the equation. > Unfortunately much of this conversation is being made by a > "privileged" group who is not looking at it through the lens of > privilege. Therefore instead of saying, perhaps I have some ablist > assumptions, or class-based assumptions, or gender based assumptions > based on my privilege, and perhaps I might want to examine that, it is > as if we all share in the same exact reality. Would the list equally > tolerate a discussion of racism that was racist in nature? I hope not. > > Hopefully folks on this list can support folks who are disabled in > speaking truthfully and expressing things clearly. Perhaps this is an > opportunity to really listen to the experiences of those in co-housing > who have disabilities and truly build community. I say that because I > continue to receive emails from people in co-housing who have > disabilities but will not communicate on the list and who feel very > shut out. I think the able-bodied community might benefit from asking > questions of the disabled people on the list. A great survey could be > taken here and a lot more listening can occur. > > I think it is relevant to pose a survey to the co-housing community > for people with disabilities to answer-- > > 1. What is your experience as a person who has a disability with co- > housing? > 2. What positive experiences have you had around access? > 3. What are some of the negative experiences you have had around > access? > 4. What would your ideal be for living in a co-housing community? > 5. How do you balance the cost vs. exclusion issues? > 6. What would you like able-bodied members of the co-housing > community to know? > 7. What statements do you never want to hear again? > 8. What statements do you consider offensive or upsetting? > 9. What are the reasons you have stayed in or dropped out of the > community and how do you cope with the disability challenges of living > in community? > 10. What positive suggestions do you have for change in your > community or for other communities starting out? > > If you could find a way to compile a survey anonymously, you would > have some rich data, and a greater understanding of the human side of > the access issue. > > anyway these are off the top of my head, but I think they form a basis > for an invitation to dialogue and express a genuine interest of the > needs of members of the community with disabilities. This also would > be a useful exercise to do with any group around any aspect of > diversity- race, class, gender, sexual preference, etc. > In that way dialogue can ensue without so much offense being taken by > members of a group that may be oppressed in relation to other > members of the group. > > I think a non-defensive understanding of privilege in the diversity > sense is an excellent way to engage in the dialogue. Rather than > telling disabled people what should work for them, I think it would be > good to see what the actual experiences of your disabled participants > are. They are holding a wealth of knowledge about this issue. > > I find it sad that so many of them won't even participate openly in > the list because of bad experiences. Food for thought.
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