I chose a small diaper that is made for micro preemies, infants born at under 2 lbs/less than 26 weeks. These preemies can go on to have long term health issues like cerebral palsy, vision/hearing loss, cognitive delays and others. I chose this because that diaper belonged to my daughter who was a micropreemie. It was the first time that disability had really impacted my life in a personal way. I was bombarded with messages from doctors almost immediately after her birth of all the complications she will have and to prepare for the worst case scenarios. They were approaching my daughter as a set of conditions to treat (medical model) and not as a person.

Visually it can give the viewer a quick snapshot of the size difference between a normal sized baby and a extremely premature baby.

My history with the medical community is one of thankfulness, as the treatments they gave to my daughter helped her become stronger and ultimately not suffer any long lasting health issues but also I have had too many encounters with doctors with horrible bed-side manners who only would tell me my daughter will have that issue or this issue, without educating me any further than that. On the flip side, she has been treated by therapists along the way (ot, pt etc.) that treated her as a whole person, and not just a set of ailments. 
~Giovanna Colosi

This is a table in my office where I meet students. It has a bunch of stuff on it including a bunch of fidget toys. I choose this because I use them when I meet with students and they use them too. So times I feel like there is a bit of a stigma when it comes to doing something with your hands while you meet with someone. There isn't any stigma in my office.

2.What message about disability is being portrayed by the visual?

That's a good questions and I'm not sure how deep you should read into this photograph. I think it shows a space where people should be comfortable expressing/being themselves free of judgement.

Like I mentioned earlier, I do feel that sometimes there is a stigma around using fidgets or drawing while having a conversation. I've often used them myself and I've appreciated in my past when I was in therapy or even meeting with a class advisor if they had objects for me to mess around with. Now a days I usually use my watch

-Emily Muffett

My visual is a photograph displaying a bunch of old cane tips from the 1990s. The materials assigned to synthesize were an eye-opener.  It helped me to understand the criticality and urgency in creating diverse social spaces that reflect our values as a society. I chose this visual because both my maternal grandparents used canes as a form of mobility device. 
 
·        What message about disability is being portrayed by the visual?

 As stated earlier, there is a need to acknowledge the diversity in our societies and create structural spaces that define the notion of diversity, inclusion and, equity in every form. In June 2020, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that about two-thirds of U.S public schools present some form of physical barriers which prohibit their pupils with disability access to facilities. This visual gives me an in-depth understanding of our shortcoming as a society and the need to reconsider our stance on equity.

 

 

We are all surrounded by images or individuals that reminds us of certain events, that creates some form of anxiety. And indeed, there are many myths or untold stories about persons with disabilities which unless we inquire from individuals or persons experiencing such or any kind of disability, we will be very much subdued by illusions, then and only can we draw a clear picture. To illustrate a point, I share an apartment with a friend who is visually impaired and today I asked him to explain to me how he lost his sight.  He narrated that as a young boy then when he was playing football with his friends back home in Africa, the ball fell in a ditch and in the quest to retrieve it from there, his eyes were struck by thorns and that is how he became visually impaired. 

 -Jordan Nyirenda

I chose my glasses for this activity for many reasons. The first thing that came to mind was that my glasses help me see; I’ve had poor eyesight since I was in first grade, and actually petitioned to get contacts at a younger age so that I could play sports and not have to wear my glasses while I play. The glasses enable me to see the environment around me clearly, so that I can go about my day efficiently. In the same way that the glasses help me see, there are other objects and devices that help make the environment more accessible to people with certain disabilities, such as wheel chairs, augmentative and alternative communication devices (AAC), hearing aids, etc. 

 

I feel that the glasses are able to portray a few different metaphors for disability. In thinking about how the glasses can represent accessibility, there are a few important points to discuss. First, I would like to draw attention to how difficult it is for people with certain disabilities to acquire the things they need to access the environment in an equal way to that of their able-bodied peers. One example that comes to mind immediately is how expensive insulin continues to be for people that have diabetes, or how expensive wheel chairs, AAC devices, cochlear implants/hearing aids, etc. can and continue to be. Not all families have the financial means to pay for such devices without the help of insurance, which does not always cover all of those needs. This is an area in which change should be sought after. It is one thing to say that the environment needs to be made accessible from the perspective of the individual, but it is another thing for our society and culture to change its perspective so that they actually help make those accommodations. Second, in saying that the environment needs to be made more accessible, that change should concurrently occur from society itself. Some examples of this include all buildings having ramps for accessibility, all classrooms having t-coil loops for amplification; the list goes on. Change has to occur on all fronts, beginning with education, and following up with action.

The example of the glasses is dependent on my own history as they are something that I have direct, personal experience with. It is important to note that glasses are widely available and relatively affordable, because deficits in eyesight are rather commonplace. This, for the most part, is not the case with devices that help make the environment more accessible for people with disabilities. Additionally, I am grateful that my family can afford my glasses, and I recognize that there are families who are unable to afford such items, especially those that come at a greater cost (insulin, wheelchairs, etc.) The glasses, in this example, are representative of not only the ways in which the environment can be made more accessible to people with certain disabilities, but also the ways in which there still needs to be change in this area of our society and the way it addresses disability holistically. 

I think this represents how disabled people and the disability experience are misunderstood. I never have thought about myself as being stuck in my wheelchair. I have heard some other wheelchair users say it's a object of freedom, but though I understand that perspective, I don't view it that way and think about my chair as an extension of me. I am confined by a society that isn't accessible and inclusive and robs me of an identity over and over. In a weird way, I don't think about my being in a wheelchair but instead about how my disability connects me to others and a broader community. My identity is a disabled person, but part of my identity is a person in a wheelchair. 

Joey Pagano

The item I chose to represent my visual is a bottle opener in the shape of a shark. First I want to talk about the bottle opener; this is a representation of how one simple tool can open up many sized bottles or shapes. Even though it has one particular shape there are many facets in which it can be used and assist people. Secondly, I chose this particular tool resembling a shark because it reminds me of a unique experience I've had being in a gifted summer camp with my cousin who is impacted by cerebral palsy. They made a special exception for me to be there with all of the other kids who had different disabilities and abilities. While we were there we would often go swimming and a counselor would help my cousin swim and we would race. I lost the race every single time and the counselor would call my cousin a shark. I did not realize it at the time but that was big for my cousin to see himself winning those races against me. 

The first message is that there are so many unique individuals who are impacted by disabilities and sometimes people believe that there is one answer or "solution" to helping them. When you should be looking at the person and who they are; having an awareness of what impacts them but not judging them for that. Another message is that you can achieve or put anything you set your mind on as my cousin would beat me in a swimming race when majority of his body was unable to move.

Everyone would just see a bottle opener and assume it is particularly concerned with alcohol or opening the actual bottle. I see the shark and my experience with my cousin is the first thing that comes to mind when he would be swimming so fast. No one would think deeper about how this tool can inspire a different experience or be utilized to describe creating different opportunities for success.