Chess Lesson in the Park

[Photo description: In a grassy park on a sunny day, shaded by trees, a man in an orange shirt is teaching a chess lesson to a small group of children--other adults and children are standing nearby.]

All the best things happen at the accessible playground, right? Saturday at Aidan's Place in Westwood, young volunteers from Chess Tutors (a division of People Making Progress) were there to teach a free basic lesson to anyone who would listen, of any age or ability. (My son is the fluffy-haired kid on the hip of one of the tutors, Neisha, at left. I think she's Neisha Ellington, who is also a local unsigned hip-hop artist. She danced him through the songs.)

They taught some of the history of chess and rap-like chants, some of them in Spanish, to remember how to set up the board, what each piece can do, all that. It's hard to see, but they brought a large-scale chess set for demonstrating--each piece is about the same height as a seated child, but light enough for a child to lift or push into place; and a hanging banner showing the chessboard, with clear pockets for moving the pieces (on cards) around. They did a nice job with making chess interesting, using various media and models, to meet a very diverse group of kids wherever they were.

The Art of Real Life [Carol Marfisi]

I was among thousands of museum goers who attended the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It is an understatement to say that the works were compelling and heart wrenching. Having a bit of anthropological DNA in my blood, I always tend to not only appreciate the main exhibit but the experiential exhibition of the observers. It is quite intriguing to watch how people respond to not only the main feature in a physical space but also how they interact with one another, but mostly strangers as we journey through different historical and cultural planes.

There were obviously many reactions to Frida Kahlo’s life and works. My co-observers focused on different levels and features of the artist and her works. Some were solely concentrated on the aesthetic and technical aspects of her paintings. Others were immensely intrigued by her culture and social dynamics which influenced her creativity. Oddly enough, I didn’t overhear anyone comment on her disability. Her life and brilliance of her works may very well have overshadowed that particular element of her character and life.

I would say that the experience was memorable for me, but rather typical as far as museum expeditions go. It was not until I exited the museum that the real unveiling of life began. Wanting to go into the city, I began to board a tourist bus. With relative naivety, I said to the driver, “Will you please deploy the wheelchair lift?” I should have known when he looked a bit confused and annoyed that drama was right behind. It took 45 minutes for this untrained driver to learn from a tourist from California how to operate the wheelchair accessible equipment. The driver, besides being frustrated and embarrassed, was being harassed by a string of drivers who were behind the tourist bus. They honked and yelled as if that would expedite the process. Many people including the museum staff were visibly upset at this interruption in their schedule. They were people with places to go and people to see and this one stranger in their midst was holding up progress.

Part of me felt bad for the inconvenience but a larger part of me wondered how much the tourists who saw the exhibit were sensitized by their understanding of Kahlo’s life. Did they have a glimpse into the disability experience and how that may have impacted Kahlo’s emotional creativity?

[Image description: the painting "Broken Column" by Frida Kahlo, 1944]

Road Trip: DisTHIS, New York!

[Image description: Sitting casually in director's chairs in front of the screen in the Firehouse's third floor screening room, are Mat Fraser and Lawrence Carter Long. Sitting between them in her own wheelchair is Liz Carr.]

Melania Moscoso and Mike Dorn traveled up to New York last Wednesday to check out the disTHIS! 2nd Anniversary Criptastic Celebration. The evening included a little bit for everyone, including some salacious film shorts (featuring special guests Mat Frazer and Liz Carr from the BBC Ouch! Podcast) and the East Coast debut of Bård Breien's "The Art of Negative Thinking." The Norwegian director's feature film debut is the story of Geirr, his girlfriend Ingvild, and their encounter with the "municipal positivity group" [must be a Norwegian thing!] Geirr has remained reclusive and bitter since his accident, turning to his heavy metal music for relief, and Ingvild is willing to try anything to break him out of his despond. But as it turns out, the positivity group and their leader have their own issues to work through. And Geirr is just the one to help them learn the negative arts.

Lawrence Carter Long organizes the events for the Disabilities Network of NYC and takes particular care - reviewing new film for works of interest. The audience has come to expect works that work creatively against the standard conventions of disability in film. Even works deriving inspiration from the "freak show" canon are considered, as long as they work to reinvent this time-tested genre. International films that lend insight into contrasting cultural frameworks (such as the Spanish films that Melania has been reviewing) are also very popular. We can't wait to see what Lawrence selects for this coming Halloween!

[Image description: Melania and another audience member listening in on the post-screening discussion.]

It was an easy and fun trip. Several busses a day run between between Philadelphia and New York. Over the years I've taken one of the various "Chinatown buses" several times, picking it up at the Greyhound bus terminal near the Convention Center in Philadelphia, and catching the return bus from the north side of the Manhattan Bridge abutment. But today Melania and I checked out a new alternative, the cheaper and more relaxing and accessible Bolt Bus, that leaves from 30th Street between Walnut and Market in West Philadelphia, and delivers the traveler at 6th Street between Canal and Grand in Soho. Arriving early (due to the Bolt Bus's limited schedule) we had a chance to check out some of the local sights, including the beautiful and fully accessible Mulberry Street Branch Library (another view) at 10 Jersey Street [Between Lafayette & Mulberry Streets].

Visit their website to learn more about the disTHIS! Film Series and plan your next trip to New York. Sign up on Yahoo for regular email updates, or "friend" them in MySpace. There are some exciting events being planned in conjunction with the upcoming meeting of the Society for Disability Studies, June 18 - 21 at Baruch College, the City University of New York, so stay tuned!

This is for Kay at Gimp Parade

[Photo description: Signage outside a men's room shows two beige plaques--one, a symbol dressed in Western gear labeled "Men," and the other below is the usual access symbol; both are posted on a stone surface]

Disabled guy doesn't get a hat, neckerchief, chaps or boots, either.... spotted at Knott's Berry Farm last fall.

(There's an equivalent sign on the ladies' room, photo posted here.)

Glenn Votes (or, access to the polls, 1940-style)

[Image description--a black-and-white news photo shows a man carrying another man across wooden planks leaving a building, with signs indicating that it's a polling location.]

This image is from Changing Times: Los Angeles in Photographs, 1920-1990, an online exhibit of Los Angeles Times photos, hosted by UCLA Libraries. I've drawn from this archive before, but this photo in contrast (or comparison) to so many photos from the polls this last week caught my attention anew. Glenn Switzer, the man being carried above, was a veteran disabled in World War I. To vote in Duarte, California, in 1940, he had to be carried by another man, Walter Howard. The ground looks muddy; those wooden planks are a makeshift sidewalk for pedestrian voters, but they're insufficient for Switzer's independent access, and they probably kept a lot of other folks from even trying to vote that November.

Amy Votes

[Image description: woman with grey hair, long skirt, and walker, smiling over her shoulder, on a ramp near a sign that says "Vote Here"]

From the New York Times Polling Place Photo Project--this is Amy Pitt, voting (with a broken ankle) today in Rochester NY. Amy Pitt is (or was, in 2004) active with Metro Justice of Rochester, "an independent, grassroots, progressive membership organization, seeking a peaceful and just society....[working] for human rights, total equality, and economic and environmental justice by raising community awareness and engaging in non-violent direct action."

More accessibility-related images in the project (so far, I'll keep adding links as I find more): "Stairway to Democracy" by Brian Scott (San Francisco CA); "Handicap Access" by Kirk Bravender (Chicago IL); "QH Sign" by Anonymous (Jacksonville FL); "Privacy" by Daniel Goscha (Urbana IL); "Vote Here!" by Anonymous (Minneapolis MN); "Other Arrangements" by Eric Talerico (Sierra Vista AZ); "Primary Distortion" by Marcus C. Emerson (San Diego CA); "A Chance for All" by Anonymous (Knoxville TN); "South Philadelphia" by Anonymous (2006 Midterms, Philadelphia PA); "Birmingham, Alabama" by Louise McPhillips; "Easy Access" by Nancy Wynn (Glastonbury CT); "Access to the Hawaiian Democratic Caucus" by Bruce Behnke (Pearl City HI).

[last updated 20 February 2008]

Super Tuesday

[Image description: Polling place sign, with arrow, outdoors on a brick walkway.]

In twenty states, tomorrow is a presidential primary (and it's also Mardi Gras--so vote first, then party). How accessible is your polling place? The New York Times Polling Place Photo Project isn't primarily intended to document accessibility, but by collecting images of polling places this election year, they may inadvertently create such documentation. So take a picture tomorrow, or whenever you vote; and if you can, show any access features or barriers for disabled voters.

UPDATE 2/5: My polling place is a senior center, so the wheelchair access is fine.

The "Enabling Spaces" Curriculum, and "Access to Admissions"

Last summer I [Mike Dorn] had the pleasure of working with a group of Philadelphia high school students calling themselves Project Beta. They were participating in an afterschool enrichment program calls bITS, funded by the National Science Foundation and hosted by Temple University's Information Technology and Society Research Group. While exploring high end Web 2.0 applications, students were challenged to derive insights from the fields of science, technology and mathematics to solve problems that were familiar to them in their everyday lives. Carol Marfisi and I provided the topical introduction to the themes that students would be exploring during the week-long model, "Towards Enabling Spaces?" Project Beta's explorations of the Temple University campus from the perspective of a person using a wheelchair produced the hilarious film entitled "Access of Admissions," since posted to YouTube and Temple University's site on CampusVid.

I am so impressed by the work of Geography and Urban Studies graduate student Langston Clement and the entire Project Beta team.



I hope you enjoy it, and are inspired to undertake similar explorations of your university campus! Feel free to contact us through the email link to the left, and we will put you in touch with the right people. Of course, you won't be able to duplicate that irresistable Philly soul sound!

Austin's Lady Bird Lake

Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007) took on "highway beautification" as a project while she was First Lady in the Sixties. Pretty safe choice for a fifty-something Southern lady, in a socially tumultuous decade. Except... her beautification agenda eventually paid off for a civil rights movement anyway. By working for more park land and recreational spaces close to urban areas, Johnson paved the way (almost literally) for wheelchair-accessible recreation areas, too.

Town Lake in Austin, Texas, was one example of this phenomenon. Formerly a "garbage-strewn eyesore," in the words of one former mayor, the Lake (really a reservoir) has since become a "jewel" in the state capital. Hundreds of trees were planted, trails were laid out, and it's now a favorite spot for many Austin residents. After leaving the White House, the Johnsons were Austin residents themselves; and after her stroke in 2001, Lady Bird used a wheelchair. Her daughter Luci said that they loved to go around the lake trail in her last years. "We discovered it was wheelchair accessible--although not quite enough," said Luci.

Now that the lake has been renamed Lady Bird Lake, Luci hopes that the city will honor the spirit of its namesake, improving and increasing the accessible trail's reach. (As Katja recently observed, some people really do want recreational wheelchair access that goes more than a few hundred feet.) If you're in Austin sometime, go see if they've met that goal.

Prefer to stay on the West Coast? The Lady Bird Johnson Grove in Redwood National Park also boasts a one-mile wheelchair-accessible trail.

Scusi, dov'e l'ascensore, per piacere?

I've been traveling, without internet access--I'll resume blogging here shortly, especially since I've been tagged, and there's a new suspense-filled Disability Blog Carnival edition up at Retired Waif, but for now, an image from the Circumvesuviana train, taken between Naples and Sorrento last week....[Image description: close-up photo of a sign affixed to the wall above two train seats and a red railing, which reads "Riservato ai mutilati ed invalidi di guerra e del lavoro" in black capital letters. Rough translation: "Reserved for those mutilated or disabled in war or at work." Above the sign, there is a window, with some reflections noticeable, including my yellow blouse.]

"Listening through the Body" in Los Angeles, 9 June

This doesn't exactly sound like my kind of music, but I figure an innovatively-accessible live performance might be worth a plug anyway. Matsui has also done concerts supporting bone marrow donation and breast cancer awareness programs, especially those working among women of color. Edited down from a local press release, with links and image added:

Celebrated Pianist Keiko Matsui Performs with Asia America Symphony Orchestra
Saturday, June 9, 2007 - 8 p.m., Los Angeles, CA

Concert Marks U.S. Debut of Listening Technology for Deaf, Hard of Hearing

Renowned jazz pianist and composer Keiko Matsui (pictured at right), recognized as a Japanese national treasure, will perform with the Asia America Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, June 9 at 8 p.m. under the baton of Music Director and Conductor David Benoit. The concert will take place at the George and Sakaye Aratani Japan America Theatre at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, 244 S. San Pedro St. in the Little Tokyo area near downtown Los Angeles.

With generous funding from Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., the concert will feature the U.S. debut of Pioneer’s listening technology for the deaf and listening impaired. Pioneer has invited students from local universities and college campuses that are well-known for their deaf studies programs, as well as members of local advocacy groups, such as the OC Deaf Equal Access Foundation (OC DEAF) and the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness (GLAD), to attend the concert free of charge to experience the music of Matsui and the Asia America Symphony Orchestra using this innovative technology.

Known as “Listening Through the Body” in Japan, Pioneer’s technology has been tested successfully and is used at leading Tokyo concert halls. It features a vibrating seat and speakers at ear level that allow users to feel the rhythms and vibrations of the musical performance. The system can be used with or without a hearing aid.

Japanese concertgoers who have used the Pioneer technology—including those who lost their hearing in adulthood—say it allows them to enjoy music. Employees at Pioneer’s headquarters in Tokyo, where concerts for the deaf and hard of hearing are held monthly, report that users of the listening system are often overcome with emotion when experiencing musical performances for the first time. For this reason, Pioneer’s dedicated and passionate sound engineers have developed and refined the listening system as a labor of love.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to the arts, and to innovations in audio technology, we are honored to partner with the Asia America Symphony Orchestra to sponsor this concert featuring Keiko Matsui,” said Tom Haga, President of Pioneer North America, Inc. and Board Member of the Asia America Symphony Association. “As we celebrate the performance of one of Japan’s best-known musical artists, we are honored that our listening technology will allow local students who are deaf and hearing impaired to enjoy her performance.”

Born in Tokyo and known for her smooth jazz compositions and piano artistry, Keiko Matsui has released more than twenty CDs with her newest, entitled Moyo (Heart and Soul), released in April 2007 by Shout Factory.

The June 9 concert will also feature works by Ravel, Copland and others. Tickets ($25-$75) are available at the symphony's website or by calling 310-377-8977. Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. is headquartered in Long Beach, CA.

Spring Break Field Report: The Torrance Treehouse

Torrance, California, comes in for no end of mockery. It's called "Borrance" by some, and music fans may remember director Spike Jonze's ironic "This is for Torrance!" shout-out from the podium at the MTV Music Awards a few years back. Torrance is where Quentin Tarantino grew up. A lot of high-school scenes in movies and television are filmed in Torrance, for some reason.

So, it's hardly a destination on par with Disneyland for the first day of Spring Break. But it's closer (it's the next city over), it's cheaper, and it's got "the first universally-accessible treehouse in a public space in California"--which is what we went to check out today. The treehouse was funded by the Annenberg Foundation, designed and constructed by the national non-profit Forever Young Treehouses in collaboration with the local non-profit Pediatric Therapy Network. It's in Charles H. Wilson Park, which also features a skatepark, tennis courts, batting cages, basketball courts, a baseball diamond, a hockey rink, a duckpond, picnic areas with grills, and a playground near a large open field with a hill. (The playground is not even a little bit accessible--it's built in sand, for one thing.) On Tuesdays and Saturdays, you'd also find a bustling farmers' market in the parking lot nearby. (Stop at the pupusa stand for lunch. I always do.)

The treehouse was made with environmental sensitivity in mind, according to the Annenberg website:

The treehouse decking is made of stamped, sustainably-harvested South American Ipe wood, and the oak posts were recovered and repurposed from fire-damaged forests in southern Oregon and trees damaged by grazing horses. The wooden branches in the arbor are recycled; they would normally have been chipped or thrown away in the logging process. The helical pier foundations are among the most environmentally sound methods for placing posts near living trees. The design and placement of the treehouse will enable the adjacent trees to grow unimpeded.

There are many photos of the 2500-square-foot treehouse online here (including the photo above).

The on-the-scene report: it's still in great condition after a year's use. Accessibility isn't just accomplished with the no-steps, no-ladders entry--there are also wide smooth walkways throughout, and sturdy railings. It's "just" a treehouse--no built-in toys or anything--but it's big, and most of the kids who play there seem to get a kick out of chasing each other around the structure. The wider "rooms" would be fun places for a group of children to sit together for a circle time. I liked that there were parts that were very shady, and parts that were sunny--nice variety there. It's not especially close to any parking, though the parking area for the park itself is large and otherwise accessible.

So, if you're feeling the need for a treehouse and you happen to be within a few miles of LAX, it seems Torrance is the place. (And I'm stunned to learn that Nay Aug Park, in the city of my birth, Scranton PA, is the process of getting an accessible treehouse from the same designers--hmm!)

Humanitarian?

We (my family and I) went up to Hollywood to walk/roll with the Not Dead Yet forces at the 2005 Oscars. I really didn't anticipate an encore this year.

But Eastwood is getting the MPAA's first Jack Valenti Humanitarian Award at this year's festivities? Um....hmmm. In 2005, Ragged Edge assembled a page full of links about why he's no humanitarian on disability issues. Or, for the long version, get a copy of Mary Johnson's Make Them Go Away: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Reeve, and the Case against Disability Rights (Advocado Press, cover shown at left).

So,"decency and goodness of spirit," huh? Even aside from Million Dollar Baby and his ADA violations, this is still Dirty Harry, isn't it?

RIP: James Warren Sanford (1938-2007)

Today, the excellent California Disability Community Action Network e-newsletter (sent out by its tireless director Marty Omoto) forwarded the Sacramento Bee's recent obituary of James Warren Sanford (free registration required), a disability rights advocate here in California who was best known for his work on public transit accessibility and safety. In 1988 he filed a federal lawsuit that resulted in a settlement under which the regional transit system agreed to train drivers in safe operation of the wheelchair lifts and other devices, and more respectful treatment of senior and disabled passengers.

Sanford was also a ballroom dance enthusiast, husband, father to 12, grandfather to 42 (and great-grandfather to 43!), erstwhile owner of a gold mine in the Sierra Nevada mountains, an adoptee who grew up to become an adoptive parent, a member of the Gray Panthers Sacramento, and co-founder (with his wife) of Participants in Progress, a disability advocacy organization. His name is found throughout commission reports and meeting minutes: the advisory committee of the In-Home Support Services Public Authority of Sacramento County, Sacramento County Adult and Aging Commission, the Sacramento Transportaton and Air Quality Collaborative, etc. etc. etc. When you hear about local government doing something foolish, maybe you think, "somebody should be keeping on eye on those people." Jim Sanford was an eye and a voice in many a tedious meeting. (Well, I assume they were tedious; I'm fairly meeting-averse myself, which makes me all the more grateful for the Jim Sanfords of the world.)

CDCAN is a valuable resource for a lot of reasons, but I always appreciate these notices of people who aren't widely famous--they're just hardworking people who leave a legacy of real change for the better in their communities. Sanford was one of those.

[Image of Sanford from the Sacramento Bee obituary; at that site, it's credited as a 1988 image of Sanford riding the bus, taken by Hector Amezcua]

The Demonization of Elevators and their Users

We've tumbled down this staircase before, haven't we?

From today's Guardian, an article called "Can Architecture Make You Fat?":

The architect Will Alsop takes a stronger line: "If you really wanted to do something about it," he says, "you could take all the elevators out of all the buildings in London. Then people would be fit."

No, crowds would just look more fit because nobody with a disability that prevents stairclimbing (and that doesn't just mean wheelchair users) would be visible in public spaces anymore--not to mention some pregnant women, anyone pushing a stroller, etc. etc. Only the tidy fit people with no icky wheels, canes, crutches...hm. Just like the bad old days (which aren't even over yet, of course, by a long shot). Do "green" architects and their admirers really want to go back to that being the goal, rather a clear violation of civil rights laws? Is the social exclusion and stigmatization of a large segment of society such an easy option? Apparently for some, it is. Be afraid. And be visible, while you still can be.

Parking on the Surface of the Moon

At what point does the surface of a parking lot become so rough that a parking space is only "accessible" in a theoretical sense? Took this photo yesterday in a parking lot in my neighborhood--it's one of two side-by-side designated spaces in such rugged pavement. Making it more worrisome, these spaces are in a lot that serves both an elementary school and a senior center. (Oh, and it's about two blocks from a recent big-budget accessible home-building event shown on national television.) I assume this is out of compliance with the applicable codes, but it's also just obviously dangerous. And I also assume it's not the worst example of its kind.