In the project, I felt very good. First of all, because I met people from various fields who are very committed to our cause and the idea of making a change, the idea of changing mentalities, primarily. I found that this is where many things start. It seemed very nice to me, and something that can enrich you, the fact that people who can change mentalities were brought together, alongside stakeholders in our field. I liked the accommodation, the location, the meals. I really liked Sibiu, the fact that I got out of Bucharest, the fact that I could step into a different environment and get to know it. And the fact that I had the privilege and the opportunity to work in a diverse team.
Why do I say I liked the diverse team? Because, as a person with special needs, or as a different person, I have my own biases that relate a lot to my needs. I always check if things are accessible to visually impaired people, I always check if things are friendly only to us, I relate everything to my own box, so to speak. Now I had the opportunity to think out of the box, especially when I was in a group with Ilinca and the kids. I really had this revelation that I hadn’t thought much about children and how they interact with diversity and the environment around them. And here I had the opportunity to stop and not just think about my needs or how I relate to certain things and situations. For me, this was a great privilege and a great advantage. It seemed to me that there were also many novices in the field, which is very nice. There was that adolescent enthusiasm, I really felt it in certain people, and that gave me hope for a future that is even more full of allies that we seek, allies of diversity. However, it also gave me some concern because, as our colleague Gabi Nicolescu said, it’s good in a way to be through a lot.I don’t quite agree with the attitude of war, even though yes, we have problems, yes, we are frustrated, but there needs to be universal acceptance and a broad vision of diversity that should already have been integrated into what we live and feel. The bellicose attitude won’t bring peace too soon. It takes more time for that.
As a suggestion for the diversity guide we were talking about, it would be exactly to touch on empathy, to explore as many disadvantaged, different, vulnerable, diverse categories as possible. Explore as many needs as possible. We did have this diversity: children, women, people with disabilities. We haven’t had cultural, racial, religious diversity in the group yet, and maybe we will in the future because I now understand that we are increasingly confronted with this phenomenon. Let’s bring as many decision-makers as possible, with as many resources as possible, into our process of accessibility, and involve as many people from the vulnerable or diverse groups we interact with. Don’t be angry if we don’t change the world because that won’t happen fast. Change is constant anyway, and we shouldn’t become control freaks, even though we have a cause we fight for or believe in, we shouldn’t become obsessed, we should be wise. We need to learn wisdom in approach, in my opinion, and in the rest, yes, we need to have as much access to people as possible, who can help us and influence us to make places as accessible as possible from all points of view. And to do as many projects like this as possible.
As I mentioned, I come to you with a message. I have an idea that I would like to express, and we talked about it. I believe it is very important for able-bodied people to be informed about our needs, about accessibility, and how we manage, in order to help us, to be our allies, and to integrate us. But I also believe that we should educate them less from now on. I mean, disability should no longer be at the level of curiosity, at the level of: wow, what does it mean to have a disability and have the same three superheroes as examples. It should be so integrated into our lives that we no longer need to be re-traumatized every time by talking about how we cope, about how easy or difficult it is for us, about how we do things in daily life, and so on. It’s time for able-bodied people to be more informed about diversity, and we need to be pioneers. I would put as many things into consideration as possible. I would put this into consideration as well: that this guide is a precursor to the moment when people need to understand diversity and disability as much as possible, and there should already be information and ways for you to learn on your own, so you don’t always have to ask people with disabilities, because not all of us feel comfortable answering those questions.
Also, when we talk about making a space more accessible, we need to understand the purpose of that space. As we, on our journey, understood that some of us went to a tourist space, some to a business space, some to a workspace. And it is necessary to already have as many accessibility levers, for people to know how to help us as much as possible, without always discussing things like: what do I need to do for you? Of course, we are all diverse with diverse needs, but there needs to be a minimum of knowledge in public spaces that we all use. And also, I would encourage one thing. We don’t all necessarily have a disability, but we all have special needs. Every person has something of their own. For example, there are some people who can’t work well if the files are not in a certain order, which is super okay. It’s their special need for which they need to adapt things.
And I would even launch a challenge for people, to identify their own special needs, which they may unconsciously fulfil, but to identify them consciously and realize how atypical… I mean, yes, we all are, in a way, the same, but we are all atypical because each person does things in their own way. And this may make people empathise more, in the sense that they will often think, when they meet a person with disabilities, about their own needs. And again, the project was great, an extraordinary experience, which I hope to repeat soon.
