It can be exhausting, at best, to move through a world that is not built for you, to encounter a steady stream of reminders that you don’t quite fit into “normal” spaces. If you have a hearing impairment, for example, and regularly walk into meetings held in echoing or crowded rooms, preventing hearing aids from isolating sounds and speech. Or if you have mobility needs and routinely encounter physical team-building games with no modified alternative to allow you to participate. Or if you require enlarged font to read handouts, but only single-sized hard copies are ever distributed during presentations …
I suspect I could not record in a single blog entry all the ways people with disabilities encounter barriers in their every-day lives. I could not capture the frustration and isolation that may result. Could not adequately convey how it feels having to ask — again — for what you need to be included.
Well. Some teachers I know are tackling this issue head-on; at meetings, committees, and during discussions they bring to the forefront issues that may, in usual circumstances, go unnoticed. These educators always advocate for presentation rooms with various accessibility equipment. They discuss the need for sensory-friendly lighting and sound amplification (among many other supports) to always be present, not just when facilitators become aware of participants who require them. And one of the most ingenious ideas they put forth was to have a stored selection of accessibility equipment in shared spaces, including back supports and ergonomic chairs. When teachers attend meetings, they can simply select the equipment they need to be included. All the time. Every time.
Now there’s a little bit of that “new normal” I was talking about in previous blogs …. Teachers creating spaces in which accessibility is not an afterthought, but embedded and normalized. And I’ll wager their classrooms are equally as inclusive.
Creating inclusive spaces from the beginning seems a critical first step in strengthening any organization, any classroom, and accomplishing any task. Diversity of experience yields diversity of perspective, and a rich source of wisdom and knowledge that others may not have. And that is a strength that can benefit us all.
