From Disability to Diversity

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DISABILITY JUSTICE / SYSTEMIC THINKING / COMPLEXITY SYSTEMS

Accessibility Deficiency Issue, photographed by Yu Chen, 2022

In my hometown, Hefei, China. I merely saw people with visual impairment or wheelchair users on the streets. And it’s not because there is no facilities for them to walk out. As you can see from the photos, there are facilities built and it’s asked by the law to ensure we have the facilities for everyone to have access. The lack of accessibility is because those roads are occupied by bicycles or not well maintained. So the accessibility deficiency issue here is not caused by single department like design, but is a systemic problem which includes the poor management and the lack of empathy in the society. 

Thoughts Transition Opportunity, written by Yu Chen, 2022

The key to build an empathetic society is all about our consciousness of what disability is. Firstly, disability is not disease, but is a status that everyone could be in. For example, when we carry heavy stuffs, our arms would be disabled at that time. When we are aging, we are highly possible to be disabled. So the empathetic system is not for certain groups, but for all of us.

Besides, disabled is not unable, but differently abled. If we use systemic thinking here and look at the neurons systems. The people with visual impairment could have better hearings. Because their hearing neuron learns to build connections with other neurons in replace of the impaired visual neurons. So people who are differently abled benefits the diversity of human system.

Reference: Heyer, Katharina C. Rights enabled: The disability revolution, from the US, to Germany and Japan, to the United Nations. University of Michigan Press, 2015.

The Understanding of Feedback loop, drawn by Yu Chen, 2022

The positive feedback loops in the trees and neuron systems are empathetic connections. For example, the input and output loop in neurons help us control our bodies. And in the trees system, the Douglas fir transports nutritions to Paper birch during the summer while the paper birch feed Douglas fir back during the autumn.

Therefore, I want to explore how we build empathetic connections so we could have a positive feedback loop in differently abled communities and how the transition could be achieved and reflected by built environment. And finally, this optimization of feedback loop could build a more adaptive, resilient and resistant system in human society.
 

1 thought on “From Disability to Diversity”

  1. Clemence says:

    It’s a considerable project. I hope all of disabled people can be concerned and their lives will be more and more convenient in the future.

    Reply

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