Learning to Construct a More Inclusive Society through the Practice of Universal Design Projects
Marta Dischinger, Departamento de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, Associate Professor, UFSC, Brazil
Vera Helena Moro Bins Ely, Engineering Design, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil
Inclusion in Brazil
In the last ten years a great effort has been made to confront inclusion problems in Brazil, trying to create conditions for social participation and access to work, education and leisure for persons who have some form of disability. Community associations and entities have chiefly conducted the struggle for equal social rights, and for the right to be different. Their efforts resulted on a greater social consciousness about the problem, and more recently in the creation of laws, regulations and norms to assure inclusion rights to all citizens independently of their abilities and restrictions.
In spite of this encouraging scene, many other efforts are still necessary to implement the newly created accessibility laws through concrete Universal Design actions. Among other factors the access to specialized technical knowledge is an especially pressing issue in order to qualify the professionals to solve the usually complex problems related to accessibility.
The continental dimensions of the country, allied to the lack of a unifying policy and financial resources, contribute to hold back the concretion and spreading of actions, and the exchange of existent knowledge and positive experiences. A vital step towards the practical construction of an inclusive society is the creation of a national policy for inclusion and the consequent establishment of a centralizing structure. These actions are fundamental to establish general and local strategies to promote inclusion, allocating financial resources, creating real conditions for accessibility and controlling the application of the existent laws and technical norms.
Notwithstanding the existent constraints there are significant number of actions in the field of research, education and practice of Universal Design being implemented by independent associations, university groups, centers of reference and public institutions all over Brazil. Unlike other countries it is often through the development of these practical studies and projects that new knowledge is being created and implemented.
To support the discussion we intend to present a recount of two educational research projects with concrete repercussions in society developed by the "Universal Design Group" in the Department of Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Both projects were focused on children's needs and developed in cooperation with local public institutions, the Foundation of Special Education of Santa Catarina State, and the Secretary of Education of Florianópolis.
Designing Toys for Rehabilitation
To create inclusive toys means to promote different play opportunities that take into consideration children's abilities, restrictions and specific needs, supporting the development of educational and rehabilitation activities. These play activities are fundamental for the individual development of each child and to establish effective conditions for inclusion in different learning environments augmenting social integration conditions. Consequently, inclusive toys have to stimulate imagination and curiosity of the target child as much as all children. Moreover they have to allow different ways of play considering not only the restrictions to recover, but centrally the potentialities of each child.
During five terms, between the years 2000 and 2002, to design rehabilitation toys to support the inclusion of children with special needs was the central task of architecture students in the course "Introduction to Design." Along this period twenty-eight different toys were designed by the architecture students with the support of the technical staff of the Foundation of Special Education of Santa Catarina. The toy prototypes were donated to the Foundation where children with special needs could use them in their educational activities, and the toys could be evaluated. According to this evaluation the toys were to be produced and distributed to support inclusion actions in the regular educational system of the state.
Methodological Approach
The development of inclusive toys necessarily has to be based on the knowledge of the restrictions caused by different impairments - motor, cognitive, sensorial or multiple. Consequently, beyond theoretical support the students needed to establish direct contact with the problem and exchange knowledge with special teachers, physiotherapists and other specialists in special education. The observation and participation in different situations of education, rehabilitation or play with the children was central for the understanding of the problem, the selection of a project subject, and the definition of each toy functioning. To face the novelty of the observed situations and the lack of "previous design models" the architecture students had to search for new answers and innovative design solutions.
Another central methodological approach was to emphasize the testing and evaluation of the toy prototype during its development. When this intermediate evaluation was possible not only the toy's formal and technical characteristics could be improved, but also its defined use and other possible uses observed and evaluated. This period was essential to improve the perception and handling possibilities of the toy and also to increase the student's knowledge about the problem. Such a stance based on the direct contact with users need and the exchange of practical knowledge was the key that allowed the comprehension of a complex situation and the acquisition of knew knowledge in a relative short period of time (three months).
Fig.1 - Tactile memory game designed for low vision and blind children, playing shoes for
walking exercises, "glug-glub" for hydrotherapy exercises.
The project was a successful methodological experience on how to introduce Universal Design concepts and approach through very concrete actions, and in 2001 received an award from the International Federation of Interior Architects for its social concern - the PROVITAE DIPLOM. In spite of the positive results of the project, and the good design of a significant number of toys, none of them has been industrially produced yet. One of the central reasons for this shortcoming is the absence of structural and financial support regarding the provision of specialized pedagogical material to support inclusion in the Brazilian educational system.
Evaluating Schools' Accessibility
The school is the first social space for a child being responsible for his/hers development in all levels. For children who have some form of disability the school plays a determinant role in their inclusion process. It is the school responsibility to offer special pedagogical support, and it is often at school where the children's families obtain information about rehabilitation and special education rights.
In Brazil, since inclusion in education became obligatory by law (Lei Nº 9394/ 1996), children who presented some form of disability and were until then excluded from the regular educational system, or frequented special institutions, started to participate in ordinary schools. Facing this new situation it is urgent to ask if the existent schools facilities offer spatial conditions to allow for the desired inclusion.
Appropriate educational environments should guarantee, not only physical access, but also participation in school activities for all users independent of their abilities and restrictions. For the development of this evaluation it is also necessary to investigate if the application of the existent technical norm (NBR 9050/ 1994 in revision) in new projects and adaptations is sufficient to provide accessibility and participation in school environments. It is important to consider from the start that technical solutions (such as ramps and adapted toilets) are designed for adults and do not take into consideration children's anthropometrical and physical characteristics. For instance, to go up a ramp with 8% of slope using a wheel chair for a child with reduced mobility can be an insurmountable task due to his/her lack of muscular strength. Also the obligatory provision of adapted toilet by gender may not consider children's specific problems as well. Especially very young children, or children with severe mobility restrictions, need help from an adult to use a toilet. In this case, as there is no obligation of unisex adapted toilets, their lack may cause constraints for the child and his/hers attendant when they are of different genders.
Methodological Approach
Facing the lack of specific technical knowledge about the existent school's spatial accessibility the Secretary of Education of Florianópolis asked the technical support of the university to develop a study for their evaluation. The study would examine the architectural conditions of accessibility from a wider perspective of effective inclusion in education.
The impossibility of examining each one of the 150 local school facilities, allied to the need of developing an in-depth evaluation, determined the selection of five representative case studies. In four schools the presence of disabled students made it possible to evaluate the most frequent situations of exclusion regarding different restrictions. To verify the suitability of norms to the special requirements of inclusion in educational environments a detailed spatial analysis of a newly built school where all accessibility technical norms were implemented was done.
The need to focus on the study of real situations was also reinforced by the lack of previous studies. Most of the existent specific bibliography about accessible schools refers to special education in developed countries that differ considerably from the Brazilian educational reality where the access to assistive technology and adapted pedagogic material is still very recent.. It was central to focus on the causes of restrictions to perform desired activities brought by the relations between existent spatial conditions and each child's special condition. The main aspects evaluated were: the possibilities of spatial understanding and orientation, the conditions for independent movement, and the suitability of existent equipment for the performing of educational activities.
Initial theoretical studies followed by the examination of laws, regulations and project examples of accessible school facilities in Brazil and abroad helped to unify the main concepts of impairment, restrictions, activity participation, inclusion and their relation with the provision of spatial accessibility. These studies were followed by practical field studies in the chosen schools aiming to understand the problems that children with diverse restrictions confront in different environments. What kind of impediments a child with severe movement restriction confronts to reach the school? How does he come, by bus, using a wheel-chair, carried by parents? And what kind of barriers a visually impaired child has to perform the same task? How can he/she cross the street and identify the school main entrance? In which measure spatial existent conditions support or impede the accomplishment of the desired learning activities? In which measure spatial characteristics were determinant and what other aspects were also relevant to attain accessibility and inclusion? Different methodological instruments were used to perform this evaluation. Direct observation, open interviews with the students, the school staff and the families, and also on a final stage "accompanied walks" (Dischinger, 2000). During the "accompanied walks" it was possible to verify in detail the performance of desired activities considering the presence of restrictions of movement, perception, cognition and participation.
Fig. 2 - Different conditions of mobility could be observed in different schools
regarding the building and the user equipment.
Fig. 3 - Inadequate equipment causes different restrictions for the user participation.
The general analysis of the problem and its systematization lead to the formulation of general and specific accessibility parameters and architectural guidelines. These were illustrated by practical design examples and a final report was produced to spread the knowledge to the technical team of the Secretary of Education composed of architects, engineers and educational technicians. Presently a practical technical course is being planned in order to apply the design guidelines established in different school situations.
Final Discussion
From the results obtained in these two educational and research projects some important questions emerge. We hope that the discussion of these questions will help to construct future actions to disseminate and implement Universal design knowledge and effectively support inclusion on a more general level in the Brazilian society.
The first three questions are related, and have to do with the necessary improvement of technical knowledge about Universal Design issues. Firstly, we could ask: How to include Universal Design as a subject in the courses of architecture, engineering, design and related professions to promote the access to this necessary expertise? Secondly: How to promote the realization of technical courses at a professional level? And thirdly: How to spread Universal Design knowledge based on local and concrete actions?
Our fourth question considers the need to discuss the general character and suitability of the Brazilian technical norm when applied to special environments such as school's facilities in the very moment of its final revision and approval. How to implement the norm application in cases where there is a need for the creation of specific guidelines and technical parameters for accessibility?
Finally our last question has to do with the implementation of concrete universal design actions in Brazil and the creation of a national policy for inclusion defining general strategies, allocating financial resources and controlling the application of the existent laws and technical norms. How to use and adapt existent knowledge and experience of other countries to support the construction of such a structure in developing countries such as Brazil?
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