Very interesting papers, thanks for sharing. On 8/8/15, Hardik Sinh <hardiksinh1...@gmail.com> wrote: > Such blindfolded simulation has negative effects on perception of the > visually impaired life that actually sensitizing people. Negative heading > to the article by the Indian Express author itself is defeating the purpose > of such workshop. Please read below pasted article on this type of > awareness workshops. > New Research: "Blindness Simulation" Activities May Do More Harm than Good > > > > New research findings from the University of Colorado indicate that > blindness simulations – intended to be bridge-builders resulting in greater > compassion and understanding – can sometimes harm rather than help. > According to the authors, simulation activities, and blindness simulations > in particular, "highlight the initial challenges of becoming disabled" and > thus "decrease the perceived adaptability of being disabled and reduce the > judged capabilities of disabled people." > > > > The lead author is Arielle Silverman, now a postdoctoral fellow at the > University of Washington in Seattle, who is blind and has experienced a > variety of reactions from the public, related to people's familiarity (or > not) with blindness and the capabilities of blind persons. > From Social Psychological and Personality Science > > > > This thought-provoking research, entitled Stumbling in Their Shoes: > Disability Simulations Reduce Judged Capabilities of Disabled People, has > been published online ahead of print in the November 21, 2014 edition of > Social Psychological and Personality Science (SSPS). SPPS publishes short > reports of research studies that contribute to an understanding of critical > issues in social and personality psychology, written to be accessible to a > wide range of audiences. The authors are Arielle M. Silverman, Jason D. > Gwinn, and Leaf Van Boven, from the University of Washington, Seattle and > the University of Colorado, Boulder. > About the Research > > > > Excerpted from How to worsen attitudes toward blindness - let people give > it a try, via Science Codex: > > > > A common claim about getting people to understand one another … is to "walk > a mile in their shoes." But using simulation to walk in the shoes of a > person who is blind – such as wearing a blindfold while performing everyday > tasks – has negative effects on people's perceptions of the visually > impaired, according to a new paper. > > > > "When people think about what it would be like to be blind, they take from > their own brief and relatively superficial experience and imagine it would > be really, really terrible and that they wouldn't be able to function > well," said Arielle Silverman, a postdoctoral researcher at the University > of Washington in Seattle, who is lead author of the paper and blind. > > > In one part of the study, after simulating blindness by having their eyes > covered, participants believed people who are blind are less capable of > work and independent living than did participants who simulated other > impairments like amputation, or had no impairment. > > > In another part of the study, participants who were blindfolded said they > would be less capable if they personally became blind and slower to adjust > to their new world compared with study participants who weren't blindfolded. > > > > There also are variations on blindness simulations – activities that are > implemented with good intentions but that can exploit blindness, said > Silverman. These include trust walks, typically used as a group bonding > exercise, and blind cafés, where diners are blindfolded and dine in the > dark. > > > > Another important consideration when it comes to evaluating the > effectiveness of simulations is the fact that the built world and social > environments are not designed for people with disabilities. > > > > "A lot of the disability that I experience has nothing to do with not being > able to see," said Silverman. "Instead, it's because I can't access > something like a poorly designed website, for example. So if there's a way > for simulations to capture how much difficulty is caused by the social > environment and the built world, this could improve attitudes and help > people understand that those with disabilities are just as competent as > they are." > What are Blindness Simulation Activities? > > > > As a longtime professional in the field of adult low vision and vision > rehabilitation, I have participated in countless "blindness simulation" > activities. > University-Based Training Programs > > > > Some have been education-based and served as highly effective learning > tools for students in my Master's and Certificate Programs in Vision > Rehabilitation Therapy at Salus University. Our students learned to perform > – and teach – a variety of daily living skills, including complex meal > preparation, under the blindfold in structured laboratory settings. > Dining in the Dark > > Daniel Aronoff the Blind Food Critic > > Others have been less well-defined "awareness activities," such as the > ubiquitous Dining in the Dark franchise, which I and my friend Daniel > Aronoff, New York's well-known Blind Food Critic, discussed at length in > Dining in the Dark: Does Its Mission Succeed? Part 1 and Part 2 after > reading an aggressively negative review on the New York Eater blog. > > > > In this case, did the Dining in the Dark blindness immersion experience > succeed in its stated goal of providing "a unique sensorial, social, and > human experience where guests dine in total darkness and are guided and > served by the blind and visually impaired"? I think not; instead, it > created confusion, frustration, and even revulsion, in some cases. > Dialogue in the Dark > > > > I had an excellent experience, on the other hand, at the well-designed and > executed Dialogue in the Dark, described as > > > > ... an awareness-raising social franchising company, offering exhibitions > and business training in total darkness and creating jobs for blind, > disabled, and disadvantaged people worldwide. The Dialogue exhibition uses > blind and visually impaired guides to lead small groups of visitors through > a series of darkened galleries that replicate everyday experiences. Without > familiar sight clues, visitors learn to "see" in a completely new and > different way by using their non-visual senses. It also offers the public > an experience that can change mindsets about disability and diversity. > > > > However, before Daniel and I visited the New York installation, we > discussed our expectations over lunch, with Daniel expressing doubt about > the accuracy of the Dialogue "message" transmitted to the general public: > > > > "I don't understand Dialogue in the Dark. Instead of learning about > blindness, people seem to treat me with either more pity or more admiration > afterwards, neither of which I welcome. A woman from my building approached > me and said, 'I saw the exhibit and it was so scary. You must be so brave > to live like that!' I wasn't interested in attending Dialogue in the Dark > before, but now I believe it might be the best way to assess its level of > reality and accuracy." > > > > To this day, I laugh about my bumbling performance in the Dialogue in the > Dark exhibition, especially in the simulated subway gallery – but that was > the point of the Dialogue experience and the educational discussion that > followed. As a result, I acknowledged my own limitations and didn't > generalize my own discomfort (and ineptness) as being representative of the > experience of living with blindness. Instead, my takeaway was that I relied > almost exclusively on my visual sense and needed to improve my ability to > use input from my other senses to function more efficiently and > independently. > > > > What made the difference here? Thoughtful, knowledgeable guides and an > individualized education component. > > > > More about the Study from Social Psychological and Personality Science > From the article abstract: > > > > Simulating other people's difficulties often improves attitudes toward > those people. In the case of physical disabilities, however, such > experience simulations can backfire. By highlighting the initial challenges > of becoming disabled, experience simulations decrease the perceived > adaptability of being disabled and reduce the judged capabilities of > disabled people. > > > > In two experiments, participants engaged in a challenging blindness > simulation and afterward judged blind people as less capable of work and > independent living than did participants after simulating a different > impairment, no impairment, or after merely watching someone else simulate > blindness. > > > > Blindness simulators forecast that they would be less capable themselves if > blind and that they would adapt to blindness more slowly, highlighting the > self-centered nature of judged capabilities of disabled people. The > findings demonstrate that experience simulation can sometimes harm rather > than help attitudes toward other people's difficulties. > > Source URL: > http://www.visionaware.org/blog/visionaware-blog/new-research-blindness-simulation-activities-may-do-more-harm-than-good-1746/12 > > > > Also read - Using simulation has negative effects on perception of the > visually impaired. > > Source URL: > http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/types/vision/simulations.php > > On Sat, Aug 8, 2015 at 3:44 PM, avinash shahi <shahi88avin...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> >> http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/tiss-students-get-a-feel-of-difficulties-physically-challenged-face-every-day/ >> >> -- >> Avinash Shahi >> Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU >> >> >> >> Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of >> mobile phones / Tabs on: >> >> http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in >> >> >> Search for old postings at: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ >> >> To unsubscribe send a message to >> accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in >> with the subject unsubscribe. >> >> To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, >> please visit the list home page at >> http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in >> >> >> Disclaimer: >> 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of >> the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its >> veracity; >> >> 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails >> sent through this mailing list.. >> > > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. >
-- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
