Inclusivity - the first step to accessibility

I walked into class late, kind of clueless as to who was going to be sharing that week.

When I settled down I realised that everyone had to give some sort of a greeting in a sign language, and Grace Lee-Khoo from Access Path Productions who came down to talk about Disability Awareness Training through the arts (DATA) asked me for mine. I gave a spontaneous wriggle which led to the class laughing a little. It was kind of an exciting topic for me as well because I lived with my grandfather who had a disability in hearing and speaking since he was young.

Halfway through, I texted on the telegram group chat to tell my friends about how engaging and well-spoken Grace was. Seriously! I was super engaged. She spoke like a performer at sometimes, in a rather animated fashion. Besides that, she asked us a few simple questions, that bore more layers, and were not quite so easy to answer.

Pic 1: A screenshot from my ACM201 group chat (I had walked in late and did not manage to find out her name yet, please excuse me!)

I think one question that was difficult to answer was when she presented certain labels to us and asked us whether we thought it was okay. The fact that the class was rather divided in terms of how we would label to label the disabled proved that generally, these topics were not talked about often.

Grace pulled up a list of organisational terminology which was helpful to shed some light on was deemed appropriate and inappropriate. I'd like to point out one on the inappropriate list - 'special needs'. Don't we hear that a lot these days? Grace shared about the social model of disability, which I found out was something the DATA programme addressed mainly.

The social model of disability is a different way of viewing the world, developed by disabled people. The social model’s message is simple. People are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment or difference. The social model helps us recognise barriers that make life challenging for the disabled. By committing to remove these barriers, we as a caring and compassionate society can create equal opportunity, independence and autonomy for the disabled and marginalized.

Grace also shared a video from Stella Young titled "I'm not your inspiration, Thank you very much''.

The greatest barrier of all would perhaps be our own attitude towards the disabled. They are not superheroes, and we shouldn't be putting them on a pedestal when they are able to do the tasks that non-disabled people do too. When we applaud them on these tasks, we create the perception that they are 'less capable' and go with the assumption that these things they do should not be expected.

These stereotypes exist- or you wouldn't buy $1 tissue from the uncle who is disabled at the roadside. But the issue goes deeper. We have to change our attitudes, our mindsets in order to truly create a society that offers equal opportunity and accessibility for everybody. The thing is- if we operate on a pity system, accessibility will always become a CONCESSION and never a priority.

Here's a quote from Grace i found from an article on Our Better World.

“Some people might see disability theatre and take it as an opportunity for inspiration porn. ‘You poor thing, you’re so brave, you’re superhuman, you’re so inspiring.’ That’s charity, not parity." - Grace Lee- Khoo

How then can we make theatre more accessible?

I think a lot of times the first answer that comes to our mind would be something along the lines of creating more accessible amenities or to make improvements in our infrastructure. I found an article on guardian that shared that the solution would be to employ disabled people in the organisation. I think it's wonderfully brilliant. Accessible amenities should never be seen as 'upgrades' or 'improvements'. The best way to pave the way for accessibility is to create inclusivity. There's no better way than to include the disabled, to create solutions for the disabled.

Theatre is powerful and has a way of changing people’s perceptions. There is a social and civic responsibility here. As a director – and deputy artistic director of Birmingham Repertory theatre – I am passionate about representation, particularly those voices who have been marginalised historically. - Amit Sharma, Deputy Artistic Director of Birmingham Rep

Personally, I think creating accessibility in places such as theatre is important. It is a public space, and it is a place where people go in, sometimes with a reflective mood. The way our perception is built is based upon what we witness in the public space. At the end of the day, it is important to 'normalise' the different groups of people amongst us and to be inclusive in order to break these societal barriers.

P.S. check out this dance theatre work about disability.