Elanah Sherman Presents “Opening Spaces” at the CT Land Conservation Council’s Annual Conference

By Elanah Sherman

On March 23 at the CT Land Conservation Council’s Annual Conference, I offered a presentation I called “Opening Spaces.”

The event would address several different ways of opening up the open space movement to people with disabilities: Opening up geographical sites, communication, and policy to ensure equity. And, I emphasized, it would all come down to two words: Equal opportunity. If, at the end of this 75-minute session, people could ‘think equal opportunity’ and begin to apply this thinking to open space, I would have done my job.

I had some key help. After my 35 minutes of what was essentially accessibility speed dating – a brisk run-through based on a template distilled from the Americans with Disabilities Act, plus some anecdotes – we moved on to the panel. The panelists led a lively and candid discussion, much of which centered on their experiences of, for one person, being deaf, and, for the other, being blind.

 

Left to right: Dr. Anne Logan, Kevin Harkins, Elanah Sherman, and sign language interpreter Joy Valenti facing Dr. Logan. Photo by Amy Paterson.

 

This conversation went far toward rebalancing a bias people often commit by centering mobility disability when considering outdoor access. We talked about assumptions, identity, website accessibility, and more. I had addressed much of this in my talk, but without the nuance and immediacy brought by these individuals, who presented their own lives and insights as foci of illumination.

One point brought up by Anne illustrated a point new to me. I had assumed that trail accessibility is not deeply relevant to people who sign, but don’t have mobility disabilities. But Anne vividly demonstrated what happens when two sign language-communicating people, chatting side by side with their hands and expressions while – central point – looking at one another, encounter an obstruction. Anne fell to the floor. 

That’s what this presentation was all about – a never-ending process of learning from one another and enlarging our understanding toward the goal of collaboratively creating greater accessibility. And that’s what Avalonia’s accessibility initiative is all about, too.

P.S. Oh, and Kevin, thanks for correcting me when I called you an avid bird watcher. You’re an avid bird listener.