Ableism and Creativity #01

Part I: Awakening

Credit: Photo by Piotrus via Wikimedia Commons, GNU Free Documentation License V 1.2

In my opinion, this photo perfectly symbolizes how large parts of society understand and reflect the concept of disability. I understand that this symbol is intended to represent all kinds of disabilities. However, it’s unintentionally ironic that the pictogram shows a person in a wheelchair while the space it is supposed to be providing is a chair accessible only to people not using a wheelchair.

Being ableist

On the first day of my studies in Aesthetic Theory, I met a person who would forever change my perception of the world and how we, as humans, shape it. The person was sitting at a table centered in a room that was way too big for us 20 first-semester students. Feeling like a child on their first day of school, I didn’t want to sit alone and decided to join this one of my fellow students. As I made my way through the forest of chairs and tables, I slowly realized that something about the person I was approaching was different. They were wearing glasses with orange lenses, and on their table, I spotted something that looked like a low-tech laptop. Next to them on the ground was a folded stick with a roundish peak. These pieces of information led me to assume that this person must be blind or visually impaired.