{"id":26,"date":"2019-02-04T16:19:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T16:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/flexforwardresource\/?p=26"},"modified":"2019-05-24T15:49:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T15:49:00","slug":"open-accessibility-an-illustrated-story-of-disability-advocacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/macblog.mcmaster.ca\/flexforwardresource\/2019\/02\/04\/open-accessibility-an-illustrated-story-of-disability-advocacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Accessibility: An Illustrated Story of Disability Advocacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


@ McMaster<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Creating an accessible university is a project of transformation. It requires that we assess and redesign campus environments and practices to eliminate the visible and invisible barriers that impact the teaching and learning experiences of students and faculty alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Creating this history involved a broad examination of accessibility policy, academic articles, historical texts, and oral history from various organizations engaging in disability work. I searched the Silhouette newspaper archive for relevant articles dating back to the 1980s, and also interviewed disability advocates, including 7 current and former students, and 4 faculty and staff. I received immense guidance and support from Alise de Bie who has been deeply involved in advocacy work on campus since 2012. This piece is a synthesis of this multimodal research process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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McMaster University was originally opened in Toronto in 1890, and relocated to Hamilton in 1930 on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee nations peoples, and within the lands protected by the \u201cDish With One Spoon\u201d wampum. Traditionally seen as a space of exclusivity, access to a university education is increasingly seen as being a public good. A culture of inclusion (rather than exclusion and segregation)  was historically spurred on by grassroots movements for deinstitutionalization before the adoption of an international human rights framework. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons in 1975, the international community began adopting a rights-based rather than charitable or medical approach to disability for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While international disability awareness campaigns ramped up in the 1980s, some early work to facilitate accessibility at McMaster was championed by library services prior to guiding legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The work of a small cohort of campus disability advocates and staff brought significant change to Mac.
These changes were bolstered by the 1982 adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which affirmed Canada\u2019s commitment to human rights. [Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Section 15: Every individual has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination based on race, ethnic or national origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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decades: 1980s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Accessibility awareness and priorities have shifted over time. The 1980s were a transitional moment, marking the first time that human rights complaints could be filed. Students with disabilities who attended McMaster were often isolated from one another. Accessibility in this era was defined by curb cuts and freight elevators. Other. Accommodations at this time were mostly informal and DIY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timeline events: (1983) MSU Human Rights Code passes; Disability Awareness Days; (1985) Financial Assistance Act; (1985) Canada Student Loans Act; (1985) Canada Human Rights Act<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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decades: 1990s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With international awareness and individual and collective advocacy efforts growing, the 1990s brought on an era of global partnership and cooperation. With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, the U.S. became a partner in materials exchange, sharing 8-track tapes and braille textbooks. Universal Design Standards started being put into practice, and retrofit projects emerged to make the physical campus more accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Decades: 2000s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The 2000s marked the introduction of the first major provincial legislation for disability with ODA and then AODA. This period required the university to audit the campus environment, accounting for changes that needed to be made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timeline events:(2001) Ontarians with Disabilities Act; (2001) McMaster Committee for Disability Access created (now MAC); (2006) UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; (2007) Barrier Removal Action Plan created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

decades: 2010s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The most recent shift towards accessibility has been the push for peer support networks, with Hamilton Mad Students Collective, Maccess and the creation of the new Employment Accessibility Network for staff. These spaces have fostered discussion on self-advocacy, mental health, and practices for advancing a more inclusive university. Some dream of a campus where self-identification is unnecessary and accessibility and accommodation are part of the design of programs themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see accessibility being incorporated into campus renovations and projects constantly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breaking Down Barriers: Visible + Invisible<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Breaking down barriers to accessible education is a layered and multifaceted process. For years many students could only access certain buildings through back entryways and freight elevators. Built in 1990, the DeGroote School of Business offered the first accessible washroom on campus. Adding physical retrofits like ramps, elevators, and accessible washrooms has been relatively straightforward to do, but some internal retrofits are more challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many, the barriers they face are less visible, and so adapting the classroom environment becomes essential. This means breaking down traditional understandings of how people learn and embracing a praxis that understands Neurodiversity.
Examples of adaptations include: Closed captioning on all videos; Less formal accommodation process built into syllabus; Record + Podcast all lectures; Diversity of options for demonstrating learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Models of Teaching Practice: Social Work & Rick Day<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Some professors have been implementing teaching methods that are accessible by design. Dr. Richard Day in the Psychology Department has been recording his lectures for students since 2007. Offering these audio files to all students allows them to be reviewed by anyone who could not attend class\u2014regardless of the reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Social Work has also been instrumental in adopting inclusive curriculum, aiming to combat ableist narratives in the classroom. They hosted an Accessibility Makeover Project in the department with the passage of AODA to determine ways to make the curriculum more accessible. The student Disability Action Group (DAG) also hosted a panel called \u201cComing Out of the Disclosure Closet\u201d to share the problems with disclosure from a student perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction to Student Narratives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cIn telling the story of disability at Mac, the policy paper trail leaves out the stories of the many activists who pushed for change. In 2018, we interviewed alumni and current students who shared the work they\u2019ve done to demand and create a barrier-free campus. Of the 7 current and former students we spoke with, 5 described experiencing madness\/ mental health struggles and 5 as experiencing physical disabilities, including chronic pain and illness. Two identified as Mad and one reclaimed being \u201ccrippled\u201d as a politicized identity. Two identified as people of colour, two as LGBTQ* and one as gender non-binary. These students were involved with PACBIC, Maccess, SAS, DAG, HMSC*, the Accessibility Forum Planning Committee, and the MSU Abilities Pillar. Here we share some of their stories.
*All acronyms listed at the end<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Student Narrative: Mad Student Society<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Claiming space on campus has been a major step towards a culture of access
MSS Text: New Crazy\/Mad Peer Support Group! Do you identify as a psychiatric survivor? Come to our next meeting!
\u201cI remember seeing a posting for the Mad Student Society and thought I\u2019d join. Mostly I just wanted to find friends. [Hey, is this seat taken? All yours!]
The Mad Student Society (now Hamilton Mad Students Collective) created an opportunity for us to meet one another. And over time, peer support morphed into activism.
As I got to know the others in the group, it became clear that we all felt pretty isolated on campus before joining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mad Student Society gave us a platform for mutual support while we also worked to break down stigma around our experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[Image: Have you heard the stats? 70% of neurodiversity emerges during childhood or adolescence; 4% of people hear voices and sounds that others cannot; 1 in 5 Canadians belong to the Mad community]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Student Narrative: Maccess Inaccessibility Week<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re taught that disability is within us, that it\u2019s housed within our bodies. But in my eyes, disability is created by the barriers built into the environment.\u201d
In 2016, the new MSU service, Maccess, hosted (In)Accessibility Week to spur dialogue on campus accessibility needs.
Student volunteers identified malfunctioning access buttons and inaccessible buildings by marking them with caution tape.
\u201cWe don\u2019t need to label people\u2014what we need is to remove the structures that create stigma and barriers\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Student Narrative: Hyper-Embodied <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cActivism for me doesn\u2019t have to be about direct action. It can also mean speaking your truth. Every day I breathe advocacy. I get baffled when people say: How did you get involved? Because that\u2019s my whole life. My life is Hyper-Embodied, because I always have to be hyper-aware of my body in all ways. Even as a person with disabilities nobody can take away my ability to speak. We might have ramps, but ultimately, we need to change our human connection to the idea of difference\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n


Closing Section: Recommendations <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Looking forward, there are many innovative projects that could be introduced to expand the inclusivity and accessibility of education at McMaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWhat I\u2019d like to see is more students with intellectual and developmental disabilities welcomed into the university. We need to recognize that people bring different types of knowledge and ways of knowing to the table that can enrich everyone\u2019s experience. There have been successful programs for folks with developmental disabilities in the UK, Australia, and the University of Alberta that have welcomed students of different ability levels. Re-introducing these programs and programmatic changes to the university that encourage broader access would really be valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cStudents with disabilities are all over campus. Why aren\u2019t we more visible in the university\u2019s branding and marketing materials?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIf we created more tunnels to connect more campus buildings underground, students wouldn\u2019t have to navigate poor weather and inaccessible entryways to get to class. This would be a benefit for all students. At Carleton University in Ottawa, some students don\u2019t have to go out all winter thanks to their tunnel system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe need to question what \u2018help\u2019 looks like. We could hire more student workers to provide peer support, and make resources like the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) more available to all students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe must ensure that students and staff with disabilities are intimately involved with related decision making, whether that\u2019s program reviews, infrastructure development, union organizing, or university policy. The university should be hiring more faculty and senior leadership with disabilities too. We have an accessibility plan that emphasizes compliance with AODA standards, which can be seen as minimum compliance. What we really need is an accessibility strategy that pulls together all of the accessibility work that is currently happening on-campus under one umbrella and then goes beyond what we currently have to fulfill our larger ethical and political responsibility to ensure access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is currently no archive of this history on campus, but this project is a step towards establishing links between some of the threads of policy and activism that have brought accessibility to McMaster. The following is a list of our resources and further readings on disability and access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited (tentative)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n