Assignment 3

I have chosen to write about how it is possible to use design in order to minimize stigmatization and broaden the “normality” area for people with visible impairments. A visible impairment can for example be some physical signs from a person, such as weak limbs or arms. Additionally are assistive technologies such as a wheel chair or a cane a visible impairment. The problem with visible impairments is that it always tends to be stigmatizing in some way. For instance, it is easier for people to see a visible impairment and assume that he or she needs help or is just not like other “normal” people. In this essay I want to discuss about this problem and how one could work in order at least mitigate the problem through design.

Before discussing about how design can be used in order to help solve these problems it is important to understand the meaning of stigmatization and normality, this in order to understand the underlying cause of the problem. Stigmatization can be seen as a process where people are perceived to be different in any way, this by having for example special needs or using special tools. By requiring special solutions or having different needs it can build up a feeling for an individual of being different. The feeling is internal and it differs from person to person. The stigmatization problem is therefore both a societal problem and something that is created by the individual.

Normality is tricky to describe since it’s a word that can only be defined in relative terms. What does it mean to be normal and who decide what is normal or not? The difficulty lies in that something has to be normal in comparison to something else. To simplify the meaning of normality, I see it as the part of a population that lies in a socially accepted range of something. How can we then expand this socially accepted range for normality through design? I would argue that it is through design possible to change both the acceptance and understanding of different impairments in our society. The subsequent text will discuss different possible ways design can aid in the process of broadening the “normality” range and minimize stigmatization.

One way of reducing stigmatization through design is to aim for good and appealing design for assistive technologies. By changing the assistive tools to be more attractive it is more likely that people using them will feel better about themselves. Furthermore it’s possible that the change make “normal” people think more positively about the assistive tools. Since what is good looking is subjective it can also be a problem, but it can be solved by maybe let people customize their own tools? However, assistive technologies have many strict rules regarding safety, but it does not mean that it couldn’t have a personal touch such as a certain color for example? I think this could be something that strengthens the self-image for a person with a visible impairment, further can it make assistive tools more attractive and socially accepted.

Adding new personal touches to assistive technologies is one way of dealing with the stigmatization and normality problem, but there are much more that can be done. In our society today there exist many physical excluding barriers, such as heavy doors, doorsteps and street slopes. People with visible impairments might often be assumed to need help when encountering such barriers, maybe they sometimes need help but that is not often the case. If we design public spaces to be more accessible to everyone it can also aid in the process of reducing stigmatization. Example of different ways thoughtful design can help in public spaces could be to make more accessible entrances and exits in buildings, also facilitate transportation and include more people in the social service related activities. The goal should be to design a society that makes everyone feel like a member of the community and is able to do everyday tasks.

Maybe we don’t always need to invent new special or adapted solutions for certain impairments? I argue that many think that it is through adding new special or adapted solutions a problem will be solved. However, could it not be that the normal tools that are already in place works, but just need some modification? I think by adapting this kind of mindset it might help reducing stigmatization in a way, which is because it can reduce the amount of special designed solutions that are often the root cause of stigmatization.

I think that a large part of the stigmatization problem is not due to bad design, but rather it is about the overall attitude toward impairments. I argue that we as a society need to change the attitude and educate more people in the matter. However, I also think that a thoughtful design in assistive technologies can aid in the process of achieving a change in the attitude towards impairments, which is one way of achieving reduced stigmatization and broadening the normality area.

Assignment 2: Blind

When I watched the movie I noticed some errors. The errors are according to me misleading in the way that they exaggerate some abilities blind people have. Firstly, one error that I found is related to the protagonist’s ability to detect personal traits by just listening. These traits were personal attributes such as a person’s length, age and physique. For me it is hard to understand and accept how it is possible to do such a judgment by just listening. By just listening it can of course help do a more qualified guess on a persons age and length but there is no certainty. Furthermore, the protagonists says that she recognize the physique of a person by listening on to the reverberation. That is for me unimaginably. There are many factors that can affect the reverberation, for example the location or the acoustics within the room. I think this is an error in the movie, however, I also think it has been used wisely in order to strengthen the protagonist’s role.

Another error that I found was in the beginning of the movie when the protagonist visited her old orphanage. At the orphanage the protagonist suddenly don’t need any tools and knows everything by “heart”. I understand that she grew up there and knew all about the place, but wouldn’t it be wisely for her to use her tools to not trip over something unexpected, or maybe something has changed radically within the orphanage? It feels like this scene is just setting the emotional atmosphere within the movie and is not mirroring real life.

Even tough there are some errors within the movie I think it’s interesting to see the protagonists awareness and how she reflects upon the environment. Further, it is interesting to see how the protagonist copes with not being able to see. Her tactility and hearing senses were strengthen and helped her to perceive the world from a different perspective. Furthermore, I found it interesting to see how much blind people actually can do, but also how much depend they are on assistive tools and well-designed solutions.

Assignment 1: “I can do everything, so why do you need to pity me?”

How do people treat and perceive individuals with disabilities today? The answer on this question can vary a lot depending on whom you are asking. Undeniably, all people do have a varying knowledge and experience with the matter that affects the answer. The problematic thing with this question is that people might not understand the situation and perspective of a disabled person. Therefore it can be easy for people to embellishing how reality looks today and say that there is no problem. However, the movie, “Disability, the Truth”, is showing that it’s not rare that people with disabilities or some sort of impairment get treated and perceived differently. This paper is inspired by a quote from a girl in the movie named Tess Connell. The quote is the headline of this paper and reads as follows:

                   “I can do everything, so why do you need to pity me?”

In other words, Connell says that she want’s to be treated just like everyone else and not pitied for her disability. This paper will treat this problem and try to understand why this is happening. Furthermore, the paper will try to inspire and present suggestions on what can be done in order to mitigate the problem, both on a societal and individual level.

Why is it a problem to pity people that are disabled? There are several of factors that make this a problem. For instance, by treating people differently because of their physical appearance can make them feel degraded. According to me, this act of pity can also affect a person’s self-image negatively over time and thus make them feel stigmatized. The problem is that people with disabilities don’t want to be seen as a problem or someone that have it worse than others just because of their disability.

By understanding why there is a problem with pity disabled people it helps in the process of understanding why this is happening. Why is this happening then? Should not everyone just understand and respect each other? I think this is easier said than done. As mentioned in the introduction of this paper I argued that much of this depends on the knowledge one have in the matter. In other words, this problem according to me is based much on ignorance and lack of understanding for persons with disabilities. Further, many people also underestimate the abilities of people with disabilities and impairments, which contribute highly to this problem. One might ask if it’s not a natural instinct that makes people feel bad for someone? It could be a contributing factor, however, I would still say it boils down into ignorance and lack of knowledge as in many other problems. I think the key is to spread the knowledge and word about this matter in a constructive and civilized way in order to mitigate this problem. The main objective is to make people think differently about disabled people and this is not something that can be done over a night by one person. Hopefully, this paper will aid in the process of waking up and seeing the problem for what it really is. What else can be done? How can for example society and individuals contribute to mitigate this problem?

Many things can be done both by individuals and society as a whole. For example, new technologies open up the possibility to share information with basically anyone regardless of location. The movie this paper is based on is a great example of a way to educate and mediate this message to a larger mass of people. However, I would argue that it’s necessary to also reflect upon this issue with other people to make the message really stick. That is because most of us all have some personal experience we can relate to concerning this, which hopefully will make the message more relatable and sticky. Furthermore, we also need carrying organization and role models in our society that shows the way and lead by example. As individuals it is important to remember that we can all contribute to mitigate this problem by inspire greatness and respect each other.