Diane thanks for this expansion of our collective space. I might add to the good things you said that, in my experience, Open Space for people with all sorts of disabilities (and we all have some sort of disability) seems to be a particularly rich environment, and any concern about their capacity to operate in Open Space should simply be disregarded. Of course some special provisions need to be made, but they are usually of a simple sort and no big deal. And the rewards for including the often excluded folks more than justify the effort. Several stories come to mind.
Several years ago a large program for the Developmentally Challenged held an Open Space on the future of their organization. To save some money, the event took place in one of the programs facilities and surprise! the clients came!! Seeing chairs set in a circle, the patients took a seat, and pitched right in, posting issues (with some help) and attending sessions. Everything like usual except that some time after the Open Space, when the organization was doing its end of the year numbers, the administration was pleasantly surprised to find that they were delivering something like twice the services for the same dollars. Reason? It turned out that approximately half of what they had previously offered, the clients neither wanted not needed. But nobody had ever asked them. Another surprise: about a year later when the clients were tested for their ability to cope in the world, it turned out that the level of coping skills had increased dramatically to the point that the administrator of the program told me that Open Space turned out to be the most powerful single treatment program they had ever experienced. Another tale When doing a training program it happened that one of our members was restricted to a wheel chair. He was concerned that walking the circle could be a problem from the chair. So the group quickly formed a large circle and we did the test. When he had completed the circuit, the group sat in stunned silence. It turns out that when you bound the circle from a wheel chair, you are at eye level with all participants. The intimacy and the impact blew us all away. Harrison Harrison Owen 7808 River Falls Drive Potomac, Maryland 20845 Phone 301-365-2093 Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com <http://www.openspaceworld.com/> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu] On Behalf Of Diane Gibeault Sent: Friday, April 22, 2005 7:55 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Deafened People thriving in OS Possibilities with Open Space are almost limitless. Here is how I adapted the process to meet the challenges at hand for this Open Space meeting for deafened people - people who once heard and spoke but have now lost their hearing completely or in good part and have not necessarily learned sign language or lip reading. The invitation from a volunteer organization went to the community at large. Over twenty people met for half a day. The theme was focussed on service and access needs of deafened people. Communication was assisted by interpreters, sound enhancing ear plugs and simultaneous captioning services enabling participants to read spoken words on a large screen. We were able to preserve the formation of the full circle of chairs by having some of the hearing participants (partner accompanying a deafened participant, sponsor of the organization, sign language interpreter and facilitator) sit at one end of the circle, their backs to the screen which other participants needed to see. As the facilitator, I could not walk in the circle while speaking because it would have interfered with the view of the screen but I did walk around the circle once without speaking. I had told the group I would do so and that at the same time, they were invited to let their eyes go around the circle, acknowledging the richness of the people present. I made eye contact with everyone, we all smiled and nodded to welcome each other and they did the same with other participants. The circle was bound. Harisson Owens less is more never was so true. To explain the process, I had to speak slowly, using few words, choosing key important ones so that the captioning note takers and interpreters would represent the ideas as clearly and as completely as possible. Otherwise, they will cut on what was said or put it in words that may not reflect as well what you wanted to say. Beth Martin a OS trainee who assisted in the Open Space was asked by the sponsor to take the role of reading the screen and signalling to me when I had to slow down. If a message had been really distorted, she would have caught it and let me know. Participants wrote their topics and only when all had finished did they take turns to announce them from their seat. This way, everyone could look at the screen or interpreter. Otherwise, they would have missed the topic announcements because they would be looking at their sheet while writing their own topic. Participants with topics then picked up a Post-it with time and place and put up their topics on the wall. After this first round, some came up with more ideas for topics and we proceeded in the same way again. Once all the topics were on the wall, further instructions were given and off they went to sign up. If they needed to negotiate combinations or time changes, they could communicate with each other by writing on the paper pad they were given or calling upon an interpreter. Each meeting site had a large screen computer and a note taker and participants sat around to read on the screen what was being said. Interpreters went where they were needed. There was a talking piece at every meeting site to help see who was speaking. A real break was scheduled between the two discussion rounds to give everyone a rest from reading. Discussion reports were completed after the event, given it was only a half day meeting. For reporting to the entire group at the end of the event, two flip charts were placed near the circle in the plenary room and initiators had been invited to write two or three lines that captured the key idea or action coming out of their discussion. This encouraged them to organize their thoughts and it condensed the reporting period. Initiators read their two line reports that were captured by the interpreters and the larger screen. Participants exchanged comments, reactions and more stories. For the closing, the talking piece worked like it always does and words came from the heart to bring meaningful closure to this event. They were energised by this kind of exchange that brought them out of their isolation. They would have wanted to keep on. They talked about having another meeting. This kind of experience was a first of its kind for these participants and for this community of people with hearing challenges. A few months later, they formed a self-help group that is now meeting regularly. The quickness of participants to take charge of the process, the level of participation, the energy and the enthusiasm about the results and about this way of meeting were the same as for all the other open space groups I have facilitated. Open Space does work with any group as long as there is passion for the reason that brings people together. Diane Gibeault Diane Gibeault CPF / FPA Diane Gibeault & Assoc. <http://www.dianegibeault.com/> www.dianegibeault.com <http://www.dianegibeault.comgibeault@rogers%20.com/> diane.gibeault@rogers .com Ottawa Canada (613) 744-2638 Facilitation and Training in Support of Transformation Facilitation et formation en appui à la transformation * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist