Written by Claire, one of Designability’s Lived Experience Advisors
Have you ever raided the toolbox from the garden shed so you could use the pliers to turn the key in your front door?
What about taking a rubber glove into the shower so that you can grip the power dial and turn it off properly when you’re done?
I have. In fact, I do both of those things most days.
Give me a lever long enough and I shall move the world…
As someone who became disabled in their forties, I’d had decades of ‘privileged’ living – from lifting the kettle to make a cup of tea after a long day at work, to being able to turn the key and unlock my own front door.
But, when things suddenly changed and my body wasn’t doing what it used to take for granted any more, I suddenly realised how challenging the simplest of tasks could be. And, most importantly, I was appalled to realise that the main barriers weren’t actually of my own body’s making but instead were based around either designs that were aimed only at non-disabled people, or activities that weren’t created to be inclusive from the off-set.
As Albert Einstein apparently once said: “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” So, if that’s the case, the disabled people I know are definitely at the top of the intelligence tree…
But, scientist-laden endorsements aside, being creative in finding ways to just live a ‘normal’ life and do things others take for granted can also be tiring and undignified. It’s truly unfair.
Improvising and adapting in a world that’s not designed fairly
People have thought nothing of saying: “Oh, don’t worry our new building doesn’t have a lift. If you say you struggle with stairs just wait at the bottom and when Andrew arrives he will just carry you up.”, without a thought about how they’d feel if they got to work and had to be carried to their office by a virtual stranger…
Since being involved with The Unfair Index project, I’ve realised that there are so many adaptations or hacks I use at home that I don’t even think about. They’ve become second nature. In fact, when sitting to write this piece I actually had to ask my partner what he could think of that I do to adapt or address things that are inherently unfair. Improvising (or being creative by using that Einstein-endorsed level of intelligence), has become the rule rather than the exception.
I do, however, really appreciate simple accessible designs that do more than just enable me to get a task done, but actually make me feel like a human being with inherent dignity and worth too.
On the face of it, it might be just a kettle that rotates on a cradle meaning you only have to tilt it to pour water, but to me it’s much more than that. For years I’ve had to ask my partner to make me a cuppa or fill a hot water bottle when I want to get cosy, but now I’m empowered to get up and do that for myself. It sounds a small thing, but the independence it gives makes me feel like a person again.
The Unfair Index is an opportunity to share our experiences and encourage change
The Unfair Index will hopefully highlight a whole range of things faced by disabled people every single day that many non-disabled people would find unacceptable and unmanageable if it was their norm.
I’m privileged to be part of the project and excited about the impact I hope it will ultimately have – open conversations, greater acceptance that we are all (whether disabled or not) individuals with our own needs and wishes, and hopefully many more elegant design-led solutions.
Perhaps the day will come when everyone can make their own hot drink when they fancy settling down in front of the TV, the pliers can stay in their toolbox, and the rubber gloves can be kept just for washing up.
As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, so hopefully tangible changes will come as a result of The Unfair Index, thanks to many minds sharing their experiences and their everyday imaginative creativity…
Let’s hope that the tide of unfairness can turn and bring about that change – and soon.
About the author:
Claire is an experienced senior marketing and communications specialist who became disabled in her 40s. Through her career, working primarily in the media and charity sectors, she has raised awareness of a wide variety of issues for people in different communities and has been applying those skills in support of Designability’s work.