Project Accessibility Reflection Paper

This research considers the experiences of seven students with physical disabilities navigating physical, education and social barriers in their respective schools located in south and central Ontario. Gathering first-hand experiences was my first step towards designing and establishing a pilot project centered around better integration of students with disabilities into high school. By working with students in grade 10-12, this research invited seven participants to identify the physical, social, and educational barriers they experienced, through two workshop sessions. I introduced disability justice as a useful concept for students to reflect on issues of ableism and used photovoice as a tool for students to share their thoughts and concerns about their school environments. Employing photovoice as a research method offers students a combination of photos and words to express their experiences and identify important issues. In my workshop, I had the participants take photos in and around their schools to document the barriers they encountered daily. There were a variety of barriers highlighted by the students; some were obvious, such as stairs, lack of accessible washrooms, and poor maintenance of the landscape surrounding the school. While less obvious ones were the social and educational barriers such as a lack of access to sports clubs, interaction with peers, and a lack of opportunities to learn about disability in coursework. Throughout the research, students proposed recommendations such as; regular maintenance of elevators and landscape, reduced number of desks in classrooms, and more accessible clubs free of barriers, to name a few. These findings reflect a system in need of change; a system that, with the right amount of care and attention can open itself up to reach a wider body of people and allow them to receive the education they deserve.