Cohousing-L Mailing List: accessibility, privilege, survey, dialogue and other misc. thoughts

[laura (lrifkin12]

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.

Laura
On May 9, 2008, at 4:26 PM, John Faust wrote:

> I don't think anyone would suggest the able-bodied are inherently
> privileged. Privilege, as you point out, relates to how social  
> systems do or
> do not advantage certain classes (e.g., special laws for the  
> nobility). If
> there is accessibility built into the community, then there are no
> privileged classes in that regard. If the community has limited
> accessibility, then the able-bodied are privileged by that deficiency
> through no fault of their own.
>
> I think the rather strong reactions expressed in this thread are to  
> the
> comment: *So to worry about being exclusionary is not worth the  
> energy*.
> That was probably (incorrectly) interpreted as: *So to worry about
> accommodating the disabled is not worth the energy*. Quite a few  
> people
> clearly do think it is worth a lot of energy to accommodate the  
> disabled
> among us.
>
> I think cost is a legitimate concern as Matt argues. In those cases,  
> maybe
> interdependence is the only option. If it turns out to be  
> financially or
> architecturally infeasible to incorporate accessibility, so be it.  
> But, it
> probably is worth a lot of energy to find out.
>
> John Faust
>
> On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 1:33 PM, Brian Bartholomew <bb [at] stat.ufl.edu>  
> wrote:
>
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privilege
> >
> >       A privilege -- etymologically "private law" or law relating to
> >       a specific individual -- is a special entitlement or immunity
> >       granted by a government or other authority to a restricted
> >       group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. A privilege
> >       can be revoked in some cases. In modern democracies, a
> >       privilege is conditional and granted only after birth. By
> >       contrast, a right is an inherent, irrevocable entitlement held
> >       by all citizens or all human beings from birth. [...]
> >
> >       In a broader sense, 'privilege' can refer to special powers or
> >       'de facto' immunities held as a consequence of political power
> >       or wealth. Privilege of this sort may be transmitted by birth
> >       into a privileged class or achieved through individual
> >       actions. Compare elite.
> >
> >       One of the objectives of the French Revolution was the
> >       abolition of privilege. This meant the removal of separate
> >       laws for different social classes (nobility, clergy and
> >       ordinary people), instead subjecting everyone to the same
> >       common law. Privileges were abolished by the National
> >       Constituent Assembly on August 4, 1789.
> >
> >
> > As I read this definition, the Americans with Disabilities Act is a
> > privilege, and the full use of all four limbs is not a privilege.
> >
> > Could it be that "privilege" is not an accurate term to describe  
> > being
> > able-bodied?  And since being able-bodied is not a privilege, the
> > social justice rage is misapplied?
> >
> >                                                       Brian
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> > http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/