A Queen’s 4 Paw’s Lecture with Alan Jeans
Written by Haley Forgacs
On February 4th, Queen’s 4 Paws had the pleasure of hosting a virtual lecture presented by Queen’s Student Accessibility Services manager Alan Jeans. Alan grew up with deaf family members and became an ASL user at an early age. Though he originally worked in theatre, he found himself engaging with the deaf community and persons with various disabilities, and eventually moved on to pursue a career working specifically with persons with disabilities. Alan started his lecture by posing a scenario. He asked his audience to imagine themselves at an event where they’ve found themselves standing alone. An unfamiliar person approaches us and says “hey, you look really familiar, do you go to Queen’s?” From there, we carry out a conversation. Alan then asked us to reimagine that scenario, however, the person approaching us has a disability (in a wheelchair, stutter, intellectual disability, etc.). What would be the first thing that pops into our heads? Based on that, how do we feel? How do we act? Alan explained that in each of these situations, people think a bit differently, feel a bit differently, and based on those feelings, act differently according to the situation. This is the concept of bias. While bias, for the most part, helps make our everyday life easier by quickening our decision making, it becomes an issue when it goes unchecked. Alan went on to explain the idea of internalized barriers. He said that “we are the people we are because of the way other people treat us”. Essentially, we are mirrors of how people engage with us every day. Alan pointed out that if every day, a person in a wheelchair witnesses the uncertainty on people’s faces who don’t know how to respond when they approach them, they will begin to internalize that barrier. The narrative becomes “I know I make people feel awkward when I approach them”, which significantly changes the way they interact with the people around them. Ableism means looking at an individual with a disability and judging them based on their capabilities. Internalized ableism is the internal belief that because of one’s disability, they are unable to do certain things within society. Alan then made an important distinction between the Social versus Medical Model of Disability. The Medical Model is the idea of disability as being about the individual. The Social Model is the idea of disability as being an impairment. It moves the idea of disability from being about a person’s body to being about the lack of accessibility. An individual can become disabled when they do not have the right accessibility services that allow the individual to properly participate in the world around them. The Social Model of Disability looks at ways to reduce barriers by way of built environments, services, technology, and education. Ultimately, universal accessibility is important for a number of reasons. For individuals with disabilities, it can inspire a sense of personhood, confidence, and self-determination. On a larger scale, it helps eliminate the stigma around disabilities. If everybody uses the same tool, the stigma around doing something different from those around you is eliminated. There are also unknown benefits for all members of society. Alan used the example of curb cuts. A number of people benefit from curb cuts including people pushing strollers, people walking dogs, people in wheelchairs, people with low vision, and so on. The last point that Alan touched upon is the direction and purpose of Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS). QSAS supports students with accommodations that level the playing field. Accommodations are not given to guarantee success and are not meant to put an individual ahead of anybody. Rather, accommodations provided by QSAS put individuals at the same start line as everyone else. The purpose of QSAS is to provide students with the accommodations necessary, but allow their self-determination to take over, ultimately demonstrating for themselves what they are capable of doing. Queen’s 4 Paws would like to extend a huge thank you to Alan for taking the time to talk about his experiences, and educate us on the stigma of disability, internalized ableism, and accommodations. We would also like to thank those who came out to support the event and were willing to listen to and take part in this important conversation. Stay tuned for more educational lectures by speakers with personal experiences with disability and/or service dogs!
