THE PROBLEM
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The word limit for the project description is 10,000 characters (approximately 350-500 words & 2-3 pages).
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"A photo of a woman using a cane while looking at a mobile phone has been widely shared online with many social media users suggesting the woman is faking her visual impairment." This viral social media post shows the public's lack of basic knowledge when dealing with disabilities. The post has led to many people explaining that mobiles and other technology can be used by visually impaired people. There are different levels of blindness and the decision to use a cane is a personal matter. However, some people have experience with people accusing them of faking or exaggerating their disability "for extra privileges". The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) said it often hears of people facing prejudice and discrimination for just doing daily tasks of life. "We need to educate social media users and wider society as a whole as to the harm that posts like this can cause - ill-informed stories and ignorant reactions to them can really dent the self-confidence of blind and partially sighted people."
Sometimes when you are out and about you struggle to keep up with your friends or family. It sometimes is important to act as a human guide for your visually impaired friend or family member. A human guide is a guide that acts as a person's eyes. It is done to help accelerate tasks and avoid injury. One of the most important rules as a human guide is to äsk not grab". This is referring to when you notice someone needing help. Instead of just going up and grab them to assist. It is polite to introduce yourself and ask if they need help and then proceed accordingly. When giving verbal directions it is important to be descriptive with tasks. For example, saying Ï I'm right here" is not very helpful. Stating, Ï is two steps to the left, next to the pole is more helpful. The five most important obstacles are curbs, stairs. Potholes, poles, and walls. Sometimes holding onto an arm or hand is more helpful than verbal directions.
According to the "the social complexities of disability". It is found that life satisfaction is lower among youth with a disability. Moreover, many experience disability-related discrimination, which has a negative effect on life satisfaction. However, this is mitigated by a sense of belonging to the community. Specifically, youth with a disability do not report lower life satisfaction when high belonging is present, even if they experience ."
The objective of my project is to assist in discrimination elimination, inclusion and to make an accessibility tool a source of connection. I feel that the white cane design is very outdated. It is a stick that design has barely changed since its invention. I feel that by utilizing pop culture & sci-fi references in tools, that nondisabled users will be more inclusive and connective towards disabled people. I will accomplish the project by designing a few pop-culture related - children friendly - white long cane for the visually impaired. I intend to complete the project through 3D printing and aluminum casting. I will be utilizing several software and applications to create designs and mocks of my cane in order to print. In October of 2018, I unexpectedly lost my vision due to a rare uncurable eye condition called Retinal Pigmintosis. I have very limited vision in one of my eyes. I am very disappointed with the designs and accessibility features that exist. After graduation, I am hoping to create an accessibility friendly design company. I would like to design trendy and more useful wheelchairs as well as hearing aids. I am an avid nerve and my wardrobe consists of mostly fandom clothing. When using my white cane I feel very self-conscious. It definitely does not match my wardrobe. Upon researching, I found that the product I was looking for simply does not exist. In the future, I hope to be an Imagineer for The Walt Disney Company. I want to specialize in ride accessibility and park upgrades. As a New Media major - I am constantly exposed to new trends and emerging technologies. I feel that my design idea is unique and one of a kind. I hope that by having fandom-related white canes - that it will inspire more visually impaired people to start using canes. I feel that accessibility designs and inventions are decades behind sighted inventions. I hope that I am able to create more unique products for a marginalized group of people. My community of users would be primarily children and young adults. The canes would be individually printed based on the user's height and tip preferences. I feel that my design helps reach a niche of people who are on the spectrum of vision loss and inspire higher use of accessibility devices when needed as a tool. As this group of people is typically discriminated against and excluded from peer groups - I feel that this project is a game-changer for low vision, vision impaired and blind children. I feel that due to my very low vision and legally blind status, that I am highly knowledgeable in the struggles and advantages of using a cane. I feel that the benefits of cane use are life-changing for transportation, independence, and growth.
Google Drive Version: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LF_jg_olOAnKyybMEE_AIq-xnBWI0-B-5qimjnuoRy4/edit#
Copyright: Alej Pride (Allison Priole) September 2019 University of Maine
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