"Accessible design is good design"

above: Guests in fifth grade this year have included Gordon staff member Graham Watkins ’08, who talked about his twenty-year involvement with New England Disabled Sports. 

Fifth grade is hitting the road on Friday to visit two innovatively designed spaces: Foster’s Ilzro House and Warwick’s Impossible Dream playground. 

The trip is part of a study of accessible and inclusive designed spaces woven throughout the fifth grade curriculum this year. 

Fifth grade has long included study of disability advocacy and their work recognizing, interrupting and dismantling ableism. Every year, fifth graders’ reading of the novel Wonder and other books on the theme of disability is supplemented by authentic, rich conversations with a range of people with disabilities; past guests have included Sam Drazin, autism advocate Jordyn Zimmerman, Chris Waddell, guests from the Rhode Island School for the Deaf, activists from Communication First, and Gordon staff member Graham Watkins ’08.
 

above: Students also met with alumni parent and faculty spouse Matt Fraza, who is active in the national adaptive surfing community and works to support access to the sport on a number of levels.

This year, the study has been extended to include independent projects on design, accessibility and advocacy. Students will:

Choose a space in your own life that is important to you. Using the principles of Universal Design, you will problem solve how to make changes so that the space is more accessible to everyone. You are then going to write a proposal that explains these changes and why you think they should happen. You will also create a 3D model of your redesigned space. 

Then, you will write a letter to someone who is attached somehow to the space you have redesigned and send your proposal to them. 

Projects will be shared with the community in an Accessibility Design Fair.
 

above: Fifth grade parent Emily Vogler visited fifth grade to talk about her work in landscape architecture, and the practical choices involved in making outdoor spaces compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Friday’s field trip will take students to Foster’s Ilzro House, a house built in the early seventies using pioneering principles that later evolved into the Universal Design movement. The house was designed and built by RISD students, growing out school projects not that far removed from the one fifth graders will be doing later this spring.

Students will also visit Warwick’s Impossible Dream playground, an integrated playground that aims to be play friendly for children of all physical abilities. This space will be especially resonant for and fifth grader who chooses to base their spring proect on a space around Gordon.

What does teacher Mimi Roterman hope students get out of this lesson? “Through all of this work, they are learning that accessible design is simply good design, and good design benefits everyone. By making our spaces inclusive for more people, we improve the experience for everyone.”