Accessible congress

Because of this document with word, picture, and video and because of all powerpoints we made available, the people who could not attend our congress were still able to enjoy and learn from our inclusive congress.

Director of DSiN Dr. Alice Schippers gives further explanation about ‘The Art of Belonging’ in this video.

In our congress are people with a disability involved with preparations, organising, coordinating, carrying out, working out, evaluating… In this video Alex Naber is talking. He also talks about how the congress gives a feeling to people that they belong and that this is the most important to him. Some tips from our experience with organising accessible events:

• Organise your congress at a place that is already accessible because this is the fundament on which you build everything;
• If you think about physical accessibility, also think of the stage, the reception, the lunch (not just on standing tables);
• Think of the safety of all attendees at your event: Marianne Dijkshoorn and Syan Schaap wrote about this on this blog;
• Inform and discuss well with the managers of the congress location what the meaning of your congress is;
• Make sure that you collaborate with people with a disability in every stage of the process of congress organisation (preparation, coordination, on the stage, in the audience, during the evaluation,…);
• Stress the use of clear language with speakers;
• Together think about how experiental knowledge of persons with a disability  can reach the audience;
• Assume diversity of the public: we all have differernt styles of learning (we learn via listening and watching, but also through moving, experiencing, doing, tasting, smelling, collaborating, …);
• A congress is an explosion of sound, movement, content, meetings…: thus, ensure there are quiet spaces, rooms where people can retreat, where people can rest for a while;
• Organise a support-bar© in narrow collaboration with people with a disability: more text and image about this in a next theme.
• Last, bu not least: “Having money to attend a conference is just as important as having access to the information that goes alongside it. Although many academics can receive financial support from their university to participate in conferences in their own country and abroad, many people with a mental disability that are involved with inclusive research not directly associated with a university and they have no access to automatic financial support for conferences. In addition are many people with a mental disability in poorly paid, part-time jobs if they even have a job (Emerson et al. 2011; KNPD 2011) and it is unlikely that they will be able to pay for all the earnings themselves.” From: Anne-Marie Callus (2017) Making disability conferences more actively inclusive, Disability & Society, 32:10, 1661-1665, p. 1664.
  On our congress we strive to provide an answer by giving people with a disability a chance to help as volunteers on our congress (and in this way attend for free) and by offerning them a reduced rate.

We created a congress book with blank space for your own thoughts, words, and drawings. The congress attendees could choose if they wanted a physical copy of the congress book and/or a digital version. For people with a visual disability it appeared handy to not only offer a PDF version, but also a DOC version.

During our congress there were workshops that were accessible to a wide audience, also to people that didn’t speak or understand English. We indicated these workshops in the congress book with an explanatory icon and with the NL symbol. With the NL symbol was also a Dutch translation of the abstract. The cultural programme was also described in two languages in the congress book. These texts were also displayed in the space during the presentation or exhibition.

The more academic workshops and readings were not indicated with an icon or translation in the book.

If people needed help with going through the congress book -for example when making decisions- they could go to the support bar to ask for assistance.

Durability is of great value to us. We wanted to create a congress book that becomes a reference book with personal notes afterwards. People were to decide for themselves what they put in their congress bag and whether they deemed a paper congress book helpful. More about this in ‘Theme 4: Pimp Your Bag’.

Having the right to belong, that isn’t enough. We need spaces where we can feel good and recovered. We need spaces where we can flourish and contribute. During our congress we have attempted to create this space. In hotel CASA DSiN found a welcoming space. With creative and inspiring workshops, we want to give access to knowledge to everyone through word, image, voice, music, dance, film, and meetings. How important this is, is beautifully addressed by Prof. Tobias Büchner in this video.  There weren’t just creative workshops, there was also a cultural programme designed by DSiN. This programme was accessible to everyone and contained multiple exhibitions/presentations:

• United by music, All star band sang the Blues for us!

  Sometimes, the music was calm but sometimes the music was intense and present. For some people, it was therefore important to be notified, to be able to take enough distance, and to not have to be engulfed. For people with auditory disabilities you should have a sign language interpreter translate the lyrics simulaneously, or project the lyrics, or let the rhythm dance live. This have to be preparated thoroughly and the songs need to be known with the interpreters beforehand. With the All star band this last point is not evident because they like to decide their songs to play on the spot, depending on the atmosphere and reactions from the audience. What works for one, might not work for the other. Discussing this thoroughly beforehand is worth its weight in gold. The musicians weren’t just present on stage but they were also able to attend the full program of the congress. United by Music is a live band that in the moment – dependant on the atmosphere and mood- decides which songs they play. Suppose that the band does decide beforehand what to play, you can let ‘sign dancers’ translate on stage, with both hand gestures and rhythmic dance. At Sencity 2018 – organised by Possibilize – we saw fantastic sign dancers working. We’ll let you enjoy it in this video for a moment. 
  www.unitedbymusic.nl

• Michel. Actor loses the words. Film

  Michel van Dousselaere (Gent, 1948) is an actor. In 2014 a rare type of aphasia was discovered in him, a brain condition that affects the speech centre. In the documentary Michel you can see how he manages the loss of his words and of his craft that he has practiced for so long. On our congress a 30 minute preview (english subtitled) was shown in attendance of the actor and the filmmakers. Here you can find more information about the film. This calm and intimate moment on our congress was very appreciated by our attendees. The audience left the room emotionally. With image, sound, and subtitles, the film was accessible for many.

• Robin Hood, Brother Tuck, back to the forest? Theater, live performance in the Drawing lab

  Jan Troost & his companions want to be at home amidst society. They work for good education, a good home, work, healthcare, privacy,… in society, for people with a disability, for everyone. On our congress Robin Hood and Brother Tuck welcome the people and show the way to the support bar: the bar where everyone can hang, have a talk, or ask for help. Robin Hood and Brother Tuck offered the guests a spot in the Drawing Lab as well, where you can draw and talk in peace about: what makes it that you feel at home here or somewhere else? What is ‘belonging’ to you? You can read more about the experiences of Jan Troost on his blog.
  www.terugnaardebossen.nl

• The Drawing Lab that we established on our congress is inspired from the drawing lab as a research method, designed by Sofie Sergeant.  It gives the possibility to people to express themselves differently than through words. This way we receive experience stories that we otherwise wouldn’t or more difficulty could discover. In this stop motion clip you can get an idea as to how the Drawing Lab is organised and why.

• I am, so i belong

  Margriet van Kampenhout delivered during the congress dinner her live performance about the art of ‘belonging’ by people who dare to be themselves. In this video Margriet talks about her addition to our congress and about the contents of her story she told us. The story of Margriet was recited in English. This story is filmed by Jan Troost and watchable here. By clicking on the bar below the video, you can see english subtitles. Here you can watch the video with dutch subtitles. For people who couldn’t speak english very well there was a paper version of the text in dutch. There was a paper version of the text in english as well for people with an auditive disability.
  www.argentaconsult.nl

• The traveler and the reproduction

  Belgian artist Saar De Buysere researched new techniques and works with non-evident materials. As a city planner or architect she brings different elements together. This way something of an ideal surrounding, a place where you can feel at home originates, that gives off relaxation. The exhibition with the works of Saar De Buysere was to be admired during our congress at the hotel CASA. Even after the congress the hotel put the works up for exhibition during the months of January and Febuary 2018.

  For DSiN De Buysere designed the trees that give structure and image to the study- and lesson materials on the website of DSiN. Every month the Kennisplein Gehandicaptensector puts the spotlight on one of our trees, so that the wide audience can enjoy them as well. Here you can find the overview of the series on the Kennisplein.

  Based on the trees of Saar De Buysere René Krewinkel (www.krewinkelkrijst.nl) made the DSiN-cartoon series ‘Mixed Forest’. The trees and the cartoons were exhibitioned during the congress. With images we want to clarify the themes connected to the area Disability Studies via image to a wide audience. The images and cartoons appeal many and are low threshold and funny.
  www.saardebuysere.blogspot.com

To understand why we arranged our congress in an inclusive way it is important to know the perspective of Disability Studies well. Might you want to know more about this, take a look at our study materials on our DSiN website at the theme ‘About Disability Studies’.

The interdisciplinary area Disability Studies studies disability as a complex societal phenomenon. Disability Studies assumes that concepts used – like ‘constraint’, ‘handicap’, ‘disability’- are social constructs whose meanings are subject to changes in time, place, and context. In this research and education field we look at how disability becomes meaningful and is represented in society and how changes can (or may) be brought about in it. How society views disability has far-reaching repercussions for the life of people and society. Disability Studies acknowledges handicaps as a normal part of human life in all its diversity.

Disability Studies focusses on the emancipation of people with disabilities. People with different limitations are naturally involved in all possible roles. Disability studies aims to contribute to the conditions for an inclusive society and its associated policy. This concerns all areas of life, such as leisure, housing, education, work and health.

"It is especially fascinating to see that disability studies cannot simply be included in schemes. Apparently, especially border crossings and connections between the different parts of the schemes are interesting to gain insights into the finer points of the field. This proves once again its 'postmodern status'." (Van Hove, 2009, p.173)

Two clips where we ask guests on our congress about the Disability Studies perspective:

• In this clip you can listen to the inspiring words of Dr. Damian Milton about diversity in the group of autistic people. May you find it difficult to listen, here you can find the interview written out.
• Jac de Bruijn, member of the Board of Directors at Prisma, tells in this video about our conference and the important focus on inclusive research, and the importance of this.

We would also like to introduce you to the principles of Universal Design. These principles come from the world of architecture. The aim is to design buildings and public spaces in such a way that they are accessible to as diverse an audience as possible.

Applied to learning - Universal Design for Learning - means: making learning more accessible and challenging so that we offer learning opportunities to a very diverse group. UDL in a nutshell:

1. Offer information in different ways. Have your audience read, listen, watch a movie and work with a mind map, for example.
2. Have your audience process what they have learned in different ways. Have them process the information into a poster, a YouTube video, a Facebook page or a classic schedule.
3. Involve the public as much as possible at the workshop. Play on interests. Work with examples from their world.

On the DSiN website you will find all kinds of information in word, image and sound on the theme Universal Design for Learning. We have asked our speakers to apply these principles as much as possible in their lectures and workshops.

If we focus on the evaluations and reactions we received as a result of our congress, then one facet pops up: the inviting welcoming atmosphere. And we are happy with that. We quote a few comments below. From these reactions it appears that this is not only 'fun', but also necessary to make real encounter and insinuating learning possible.

"I thought you were enormously worthy of consideration.
Such a nice atmosphere at the conference.
In itself the proof of how nice life can be - if it becomes normal to deviate."

"The people are amazing and so welcoming!"

"That we were free to choose whatever we liked. And that we can have a break when its necessary."

"Great atmosphere - diversity of participants - accessibility."

"The atmosphere is great! The program, very diverse, a nice blend of practice research etc.... That it is not very large in number of participants gives a "homey" and warm approachable opportunities."

"Accessibility, variety in programs, organization, inspiration."

"The welcome was fabulous, the friendliness and helpfulness of everyone working for this conference was just wonderful!"

"Ambience, community feeling, friendliness. Accessibility in general."

"Expressing the art of belonging!!"