Three Lenses on Geographies of Identity
Dan Burtenshaw
Brittany Buynak
Brittany Vangundy
Empiricist Approach
The empiricist approach is
based on factual realities; therefore, the acquisition of knowledge is a
necessary process of verification. Empiricism rejects generalizations and
focuses specifically on who is where in relation to place.
In class, we discussed what
it means to be “in place” or “out of place” in various situations. Through our
readings and discussions, it is evident that the vast majority of the time,
people with disabilities are left feeling incredibly out of place throughout
their everyday lives. Facing obstacles such as limited accessibility, and the
need for extra support or care, it may be difficult for a person with a
disability to feel a sense of belonging or being “in place”.
During the summer months, it
is common for my friends and I to attend various concerts and music festivals.
I decided to do a bit of research through the empiricist lens, and discover if
people with disabilities have access to the same places as people without
disabilities at these particular events.
A popular location for live
music is a venue called Red Rocks, located in Colorado. This amphitheatre is
The website explicitly
states that people with disabilities are limited to purchasing seats in rows 1
and 70, due to the accessibility of these seats. This puts a physical
restriction on people with disabilities and limits their accessibility to other
areas of the venue.
Above is the seating chart
for Red Rocks. The blue squares indicate the areas that are handicap
accessible. The empiricist approach would observe that a person who is in a
wheelchair or needs extra assistance is limited to sitting right in front of
the stage or in the very back row, with no option for sitting anywhere in the
middle.
In a recent article titled
“Behind the Music: So you like going to gigs. Ever tried doing it in a
wheelchair?” author
Secure camping, staff helping with luggage and tents,
viewing platforms meaning I can feel safe and still get a good view” are all
things that Tony Lawson enjoys about the changes made to the festival. The empiricist lens would note that
increased accessibility for the disabled results in more options of “space” for
people with disabilities.
Critical Theory Approach
A “Critical Theory Lens” in
social geography is a way of looking at various groups of people not only to
understand and explain their social behaviors but also to change society as a
whole for that identity group. For example, our group researched the identity
group made up of university students with physical disabilities on college
campuses. Our hands-on research is only based on data collection from Ohio
University’s campus but we have also included research of similar topics across
other campuses nationwide. In our research we were seeking to understand how
people with disabilities have be integrated and also excluded from everyday
amenities and also research new ways of understanding the group better so that
we can better accommodate their wants and needs. Society should be seeking not
only to accommodate for people with disabilities but make them feel that places
and spaces are actually designed with them in mind and not as an after-thought.
According to the Hansen and Philo article from class, The Normality of Doing Things Differently: Bodies, Spaces, and
Disability Geography, this is often a feeling among people with physical
disabilities; that although spaces may in fact have accommodations so that they
are handicap accessible, it is done as an adaptation to the original design,
therefore leaving them feeling uncomfortable and abnormal using the space. What
is important is to look through a critical lens to understand the geography of
disabled students so that way we can better incorporate them into our community
and create spaces suited specifically for them without feeling atypical or like
a burden. Since looking through a critical lens seeks to apply knowledge from
the social sciences and humanities to create greater societal change, we
researched the ways in which Ohio University is putting forth efforts to
provide assistance and accommodate to the physically disabled. Also, we took
some surveys from able bodied students to see how aware they were of everyday
circumstances of their handicapped peers. The results of the survey questions
are shown below:
We asked 10 different people
the same set of questions. Summary of findings:
1. Were you aware that there is an office of disability
services on campus?
Y:
10
N:
0
2. How often do you help out a handicapped individual on
campus? (Opening a door, Pushing buttons, etc.)
0-2 times a week
All 10 participants
3. How often do you see a person on campus with a severe physical handicap?
2-3 times a day
– All 10 participants
4. From an able-bodied perspective, do you feel this campus is easy to
navigate for the disabled?
Y: 4
N: 6
5. On a 1-10 scale (10 being
very important) how important do you feel it is for society to be more aware of
disabled people and normalizing their environments and everyday lives?
4 Participants responded
higher than 7
4 Participants responded 6
2 Participants responded 5
or lower
These survey questions were meant to evaluate
the current awareness of disabled peoples by those who are not disabled in
order to question the idea that disabled people feel out of place in most
spaces because they have to “adapt.” Do handicapped individuals feel out of
place because others are frequently noticing them or helping with them because
of their disabilities? Or is it many times just their own insecurities with how
they came to be disabled that cause them to feel like they are not “normal?”
This is one new way that we chose to look at some of the information we were
given in the class readings. Hence, this is why we conducted the survey on
able-bodied students rather than ones that are actually experiencing
disabilities. This is a good topic of discussion and one that we talked about
in depth.
Also as a part of understanding the critical
lens, we found some other sources highlighting the geographic nature of
handicapped individuals on Ohio University.
Map of ADA Accommodations:
Dorms that are specially designed for
students with disabilities:
Housing Options :
Accommodations Within Facilities (From Website)
Residence Halls and Apartments
Most disabilities can
be reasonably accommodated with modest and / or temporary modification of
existing residential facilities. The department will continue to make such
modifications and install special equipment to reasonably accommodate the needs
of particular students.
Modifications in
residence halls will provide disabled residents with barrier-free access to the
essential program elements provided to all residents of the building. This
includes a bedroom, bathroom facility and such common areas as lounges,
recreation rooms, computer labs etc.
Dining Halls, Recreation and Special Program Areas
As access to these
community facilities is considered essential to full participation in the
residential program, and as they are, on occasion, rented-out to be used as
public accommodations, the department will expedite modifications to ensure
universal access to all community program areas on all three greens.
Modifications will be
designed to provide barrier free access to all dining areas, laundries, snack
bars, recreation areas, computer labs, study areas and meeting rooms that
provide service to residents in general.
Alterations and Routine Maintenance
All alterations,
anywhere in the Housing and Dining Services system, are designed to be in
compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines
(ADAAG).
In addition, the
Building Maintenance Department shall review its maintenance procedures and
purchasing practices to ensure that all replacement parts and fixtures
purchased or installed in Housing and Dining Services facilities are in
compliance with ADAAG.
As residence halls
and apartments are substantially renovated, Ohio University will comply with
the ADA accessibility requirements for new construction, where such
modifications are technically feasible and do not result in an undue financial
or administrative burden.
It is the
University's intent to incrementally develop a range of residential options for
the disabled. No less than the ADA-required number of disabled bedrooms /
bathrooms will be developed in each residence hall as it is renovated.
The University will
develop a detailed plan for the renovation of each residence hall, including
provisions for all work necessary to comply with ADA accessibility
requirements.
Substantial
renovations will be undertaken as funding and program constraints permit.
Ohio University has
developed a number of residential options to accommodate the most profound
mobility impairments. The needs of most other disabled residents can be
accommodated in standard student housing with specific modifications made for
the individual's needs.
Disabled residents
are requested to register with the university's Office for Institutional
Equity, which is charged with coordinating the needs of disabled students
between all university departments. The Office for Institutional Equity will
certify to the Housing Office that a particular student is eligible for special
services.
Housing options
include:
- Fully accessible student rooms with accessible common bathroom shared with other residents of the floor
- Fully accessible student suites with fully equipped private bathrooms
- Medical rooms with private bathrooms but not necessarily wheelchair-accessible
- Rooms equipped with special devices for the hearing impaired and air conditioned rooms
Finally, we looked at what other
research on the subject has been done on other campuses nationwide and found
many interesting results. There is even a website completely dedicated to
highlighting which universities go above and beyond for their disabled members.
Unfortunately, Ohio University is not included in that list. However, The Ohio
State University is.
The identity group of disabled university
students is one that most definitely could use more exploration on the part of
social geographers and everyday folk as well. This group of people must be
fully understood emotionally and physically, in terms of their limits in our
everyday surroundings so that we can not only understand their everyday
struggles but also critique how we deal with them and make changes. Many students with severe physical handicaps are given
assistance in almost every aspect of life, as provided by law, while in and
throughout primary school. What most people don’t realize is that if a child
wants to continue on to post-secondary education, there are very limited
options for those with severe physical disabilities. Our
individual physical embodiment is important and when you’re someone who is
typically limited and excluded in daily circumstances, it creates an identity
that is unique and crucial to understand.
Interesting video on disabled college students:
Constructivist
Theory Approach
When looking at
disabilities through a constructivist approach, focus is placed on how certain
groups of people are labeled by others. In order to gain insight into this
topic, I examined my good friend and roommate Matt Pirrello. Matt was in a
parachuting accident with the Air Force in the summer of 2010 and lost his
right leg. 
When I told him about
this assignment he said the topic of disabilities was very appropriate, and
that how “disabled” someone is, is all relative when compared to different
activities or when viewed through different lenses. “Sure I am more limited in terms of what I can do when
compared to before the accident, but I am also still very capable of many other
things, some more now than ever”. This quote is proven by the fact that Matt
recently passed his Air Force physical fitness test, and with better results
that quite a few of his “non-disabled” peers.
Being around Matt for
a few years now after the accident, I have noticed social constructions being
created, by both myself as well as strangers. From personal experience I have
noticed myself being more protective of Matt when going out. I know that he’s fully capable of
handling himself, but some unconscious part of me feels I need to help him
because of his disability. I have also observed others being more cautious when
around him, both when out in town or during physical activities.
I feel that many
people with disabilities automatically get thrown into socially constructed
categories such as needy, fragile, different, etc. based on their physical
appearance. Many of these assumptions however, can often be proven untrue if
time is taken to get to know the individual for who they really are instead of
for how they appear. Matt is
aspiring to continue in the Air Force and become a pilot, which would make him
the first ever enlisted AF pilot with a below-the-knee amputation.
This
information was gathered through both personal observations as well as an
interview with the subject, Matt. My observations have shown that although
socially constructed categories do appear among people with disabilities, they
shouldn’t be generally accepted as fact. Many of these categories are created
solely on physical appearance and assumptions rather than knowledge or
experience.
Through these three lenses, we can observe the ways in which disables people have access or lack of access to things that an able-bodied person may take for granted. The empiricist approach allows us to look at the physical locations and restrictions of people with disabilities. At live music events, the locales of these people are often limited in availability and access. People with disabilities may feel out of place if there is not the proper accessibility for them. In addition, the critical theory approach encourages us to look deeper into the meanings of identity in relation to a specific identity. Through observation of the handicap accessibility of college campuses, we can observe the ways in which people with disabilities are able to feel in place or out of place in a college setting. The constructivist approach focuses on the ways in which certain groups are labeled by others. For some people, the term "disabled" is all relative, and they see themselves as capable of doing anything an able-bodied person can. The labels we place on people are not always accurate, and in the case of Matt, sometimes the complete opposite. While Matt may appear to be "disabled" he experiences few setbacks based on his condition. The main obstacle he faces are the reactions and social constructions around a person who has lost a limb. In Matt's case, the only thing he has working against him is the constructivist approach itself.
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