accessibility, privilege, survey, dialogue and other misc. thoughts
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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