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MA/PhD Theses Abstracts of Current Students & Alumni |
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Brian Allman. 1998. Using Anthropological Perspectives to Make the University of South Florida More Accessible for People with Disabilities.
Abstract: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) mandated that public entities such as the University of South Florida (USF) make their programs and services accessible to people with disabilities. This law was passed at the insistence of an active Disability Rights Movement that framed disability as a civil rights issue. While a medical model of impairment continues to affect the lives of people with disabilities, and the model of stigma continues to dominate social views of disability, a new idea of "disability culture" has arisen which locates the problem of disability in the social and physical environment rather than the person with a disability. Anthropologists have contributed to these new disability perspectives through a concern for perceiving the world from an informant’s point of view. The ADA mandated the development of two plans to ensure program accessibility: a transition plan to address architectural barriers and a self-evaluation to address policies and procedures. USF established an ADA Coordinator position in the Office of Equal Opportunity Affairs to develop and execute these two plans. This thesis treats these plans and other disability-related projects as applied anthropology. This thesis documents a number of accomplishments, such as progress on the formal ADA transition and self-evaluation plans, design of improved paths of travel and parking for buildings, purchase of new visual magnifying and audio amplification equipment, and a survey of automatic door preferences. The actions have made USF’s programs and services more accessible to people with disabilities. However, beyond these individual actions lies the question of participation. One of the hallmarks of the application of anthropology lies in the practitioner’s concern for culturally appropriate solutions to problems. In the administration of the disability-related programs at USF, bureaucratic processes continue to treat disability as an individual problem. As long as individual complaints remain the primary motivating force for action on disability issues, then the larger cultural implications of disability will be missed. Further, bureaucratic processes tend to leave people with disabilities out of decision making that impacts accessibility. Increased consultation through informal contacts is a possible solution to these exclusionary tendencies. The Americans with Disabilities Act asks that USF recognize the rights and needs of people with disabilities. Accessibility may be viewed as a process that involves participation of people with disabilities in the design of programs and services.
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