Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!sun-barr!olivea!oliveb!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!89.0!David.Andrews
From: David.Andrews@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (David Andrews)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Barrier Town in Fort worth
Message-ID: <14682@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 3 Oct 90 14:37:13 GMT
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Index Number: 10849

[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

HK> October 1 through 3 the Federal Building in Downtown Fort Worth  
 HK> will be sponsoring Ba 
 HK> rrier Town.  Barrier Town is a place where able bodied people  
 HK> can pretend for a few m 
 HK> inutes that they are disabled.  There will be a Post Office  
 HK> where the person will hav 
 HK> e to obtain and fill out some forms as well as get a stamp and  
 HK> mail a letter. The pe 
 HK> rson operating the Post Office can't speak or hear.  IN the  
 HK> Boutique, clothes will be 
 HK>  difficult to reach and prices difficult to read.  Our  
 HK>  Restaurant will have tables ve 
 HK> ry close together, illegible menu's and of course rude servers.  
 HK>  The Grocery Store sh 
 HK> ould be loads of fun when chocolate milk and white milk look  
 HK> the same, Boxes are out  
 HK> of reach or just to heavy to lift and labels hard to decipher.   
 HK> We will have some nar 
 HK> row doors, a ramp and a model car to use for getting in and out  
 HK> of a wheel chair.  

This is a somewhat unusual approach to disability simulation and
certainly is not as bad as many I have seen.  However, I believe
that there are some inherent risks for blind people in these type
things.  This is especially true in those simulations where the
person is blind folded.  This is because the person is effectively
blind, but does not have any of the skills or training needed to
deal with day to day situations.  Without cane or dog travel,
braille, a tape recorder, closed-circuit TV, talking computer,
etc., he/she is only going to become frustrated at what is
happening.  His/her fear of blindness will be increased because
he/she will not be able to see how we do what we do.  So, instead
of educationg people, we may only be increasing their fears.  When
a sighted person shuts his eyes, he can't imagine how he would do
most things.  Most simulations do nothing towards changing those
attitudes and in fact may increase fears.

Your Barrier Town seems to take a somewhat different approach.  It
may or may not increase fears, depending on how things are
specifically handled.  On the other hand, you may also be
trivializing our situation.  Who knows???

I hope that participants have the opportunity to see compatent
disabled people dealing with a variety of day to day situations, so
that they can see that it can be done by the average person.

Not everyone will agree with my views.  Some will say that I am
making a mountain out of a mole hill.  So be it!

David Andrews

... Your Sound Alternative

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