Christine Sun Kim, Captioning the City, Manchester Deaf Centre, Manchester International Festival, 2021, Photo Credit Lee Baxter
We are blinded as a society to the experiences of others, and it can be hard to understand how individuals who face barriers we don’t, experience the world. I am 7th months pregnant; these past months I have had a teeny tiny glimpse of what individuals with disabilities go through. I admit to feeling ashamed of how much I didn’t notice and how much I still don’t. In a city like London for example, so few train and tube stations are accessible. People are forced to plan carefully where they live and face another barrier which is costs, as most of the stations are in areas where housing is expensive, or they must have access to a vehicle, or spend most of their day on a bus to go places. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
How have we built a world that barricades people? as Para Olympian Ade Adepitan (2020) says “I become disabled because society hasn’t allowed me to shine”. So, what can we do as individuals to dismantle such barriers? Perhaps reflecting on how our own social differences, identities and their interactions affect our perspectives. Understand that such differences create power hierarchies and that to avoid the reproduction of such hierarchies we must pay attention to the social differences we and others face, (Burman, 2004).
Visibility is another huge issue. Recently I went to see a play with a cast composed entirely of people with down syndrome. The play, which was defiant, imaginative and quite funny, challenged me to dissolve a veil of ignorance and reflect on my perception of down syndrome. Seeing people with disabilities play visible roles in society forces the rest of us to look at them, recognize and value them as people with the same dreams and preoccupations as us.
We have an open-door policy in our technical space which allows the students to come see us based on their needs. They often have very specific requirements and working with them one to one allows me to understand them better. I get frustrated at the lack of support students have, and the lack of knowledge in general surrounding issues of disability. Both Academics and technicians should have more training and support in this area.
There is also the question of how audiences experience the creativity our students put into the world. I’ve tried making practical changes to our theatre, like introducing hearing loops, subtitles, and having relaxed performances. The ideas are well received; but nothing is ever implemented. Which is why encouraging and inspiring students to incorporate inclusive designs might be a way of engaging the college with practices that welcome people of all abilities. This is something I’m looking into in my intervention.
Being part of an institution with a big voice in the creative world, we need to amplify the voices of people who are obscured in society. Art is a powerful vehicle, it can make us see the lives of others. I love the words by Artist Sun Kim (2023) “If you don’t see us, we have no place to be”. We must take off our horse blinders and allow ourselves to be distracted by other people. Inquire, what do I, you, they, need to shine, perhaps in answering that, we can better help and advocate for each other.
References
Burman, Erica. 2004. “From Difference to Intersectionality: Challenges and Resources.” European Journal of Psychotherapy, Counseling and Health 6(4):293-308. —. 2005 “Engendering Culture in Psychology.” Theory and Psychology 15(4):527-48.
www.youtube.com. (2020). Ade Adepitan gives amazing explanation of systemic racism. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU [Accessed 25 April 2025].
www.youtube.com. (2023). Christine Sun Kim in ‘Friends & Strangers’ – Season 11 | Art21. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NpRaEDlLsI. [Accessed 25 April 2025].
5 responses to “Blog 1 Disability”
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Hi Paula, you have a clear, honest writing style which I really enjoy. In this post, you mention feeling ashamed of how much you do and don’t notice about other people’s perspectives. I used the word shame in my own post. I am interested in the role shame plays in social justice action within institutions. I am reminded of the description of the ‘bystander’ in the article by Wong, B., et al (2021), which is a term they use to describe the negative paralysis that can come into play when people feel that they don’t know enough to act without causing more harm. But perhaps shame can also be motivating us to ask, as you write ‘what do I, you, they, need to shine’.
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Thank you so much for your kind words, it really means a lot. I find it reassuring that you also mentioned shame in your post, it’s such a difficult emotion to sit with, but I think it can open up really important reflections if we let it. That idea of the ‘bystander’ you brought up from Wong et al. really stuck with me too. I’ve definitely felt that paralysis before, the fear of getting it wrong or unintentionally making things worse. It’s such a common feeling, especially in institutional spaces where there’s so much at stake in how we show up.
But I agree with you maybe shame, if we approach it with care, can push us to look deeper, to ask better questions and pay closer attention. I love how you picked up on that line, “what do I, you, they, need to shine” it’s a way of shifting the focus, I think, from guilt or fear towards something more generous and collective. I’m still figuring this out, but I wonder if part of the work is learning to move through discomfort without shutting down and allowing that discomfort to guide us towards more thoughtful, compassionate action.
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Whole heartedly agree. with you on how inaccessible our cities are, especially the public transport systems. We have a few wheelchair users at LCC and our lifts are very often out of action, let alone counting for the constant break downs of the lifts in elephant and castle station. I believe aswell the only platform that can actually be accessed step free is the northern line southbound platform which forces people to make weird journeys to ensure they arrive at the correct one. While studying at LCC I knew someone in the year above with cerebral palsy, he had received funding for taxis between his home and the uni, although I’m not sure if this was a government scheme or UAL paying but it’s nice to know that in a small way these funds do exist. Interesting aswell that you bring up gender in relation to disability too – there are many ways that intersectionality comes into play and this is definitely one.
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Thanks so much for your comment it really resonates. The situation with the lifts at LCC and Elephant & Castle is honestly shocking when you stop and think about how many people are excluded or made to work so much harder just to get through the day. It’s frustrating that step-free access is still treated like an optional extra instead of a basic right. I’ve also heard of students being offered taxi funding, though like you, I’m not sure where that support comes from it’s good to know it’s there, but it also raises the question of why students need to rely on patchy workarounds instead of having reliable, accessible infrastructure in the first place.
And yes, I’m really glad you brought up gender in relation to disability. There are so many layers to how barriers show up, and I think intersectionality is often talked about in theory but not really accounted for in practice. The way people are impacted by access issues isn’t one-size-fits-all it’s shaped by all these overlapping parts of who they are. It makes me think about how often access is designed around a single idea of need, rather than a spectrum of experiences. Definitely something we need to keep pushing conversations forward on.
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Thanks so much Paula for these reflections. I think you’re absolutely right that some of the barriers faced by disabled people (e.g. inaccessible public transport) are a barrier for lots of others too – pregnant people, older people, people with heavy luggage… It raises questions about why change doesn’t happen, if so many can benefit.
You mention the importance of training – I agree! – and I’m curious what kind of training you think would be most beneficial? There is some existing training (search ‘disability’ on ess.arts.ac.uk or look up Introduction to Disability Inclusion at UAL on learningspace.arts.ac.uk) but I’m not sure if they’re well known – or if they don’t meet your needs as technicians and academics?
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