[nabs-l] Awareness and advocacy in our professions

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all,

I am entering a field that really has an emphasis on working with
people who have disabilities.  While it is possible for someone to
enter music therapy for mental illness or to supplement their health
and wellness practices, most of the work done in the profession is
carried out with people who have disabilities or those in hospitals.

Before entering college I thought that surely those in helping
professions would be more open-minded about people with disabilities.
I mean, if they make their living problem-solving and finding
alternative ways for their clients to do things, surely they'd be more
open to working alongside someone with a disability, right?  I wasn't
so naive as to think that people in helping professions would never
need education and of course I knew not everyone works with people who
have physical disabilities in the first place, but I simply thought
they'd be more likely to problem-solve and brainstorm accommodations
for a person with a disability to do the same work they do than
someone who is completely and utterly not exposed to those with
disabilities in the workplace.  My professors have done a good job at
this, but I've heard horror stories from other blind music therapy
students who's professors for really strange reasons said the student
couldn't do the job---they can't see facial expressions, lack of
vision is a liability, etc.  I think I overestimated there, and in the
past have been disheartened by the lack of resources out there for
people with disabilities in helping professions to come together.
Sure, the NFB has set up great divisions here, and I'm sure other
disability groups have as well, but shouldn't these professions be
doing the same for their own interests?  I've been able to learn a lot
from other students and human services division members here, but
who's to say that an accommodation a wheelchair user has come up with
won't completely rock my world in the clinic, or something I do to
keep myself organized won't be something they would adopt in their own
practices as well?  Furthermore, especially for students like me in
less commonly pursued fields, it's hard to find another person who
completely gets where I'm coming from.  Blind psychologists and
socialworkers get the therapeutic side of what I do, but they don't
always get the rationale behind some of the methodology or know just
how physically I have to work within the clinic space with
manipulatives, working hand over hand with a client, etc.

I understand why this problem exists; a lot of these professions came
about in the early 20th century and late 19th century, when disabled
people were still being sequestered in institutions and such.  Music
therapy really got going after World War II with blinded soldiers, and
back then no one would have ever thought a blind person would be
capable of doing the job.  However, in discussing this problem with my
professors they have even acknowledged this is something that will
need to be confronted sooner or later.  More and more disabled
students are able to go to college by the decade, and more and more
seem to be going into professions that benefitted them in some way as
a means of giving back or bringing life experience into a career.
It's therefore really discouraging to have professionals in the field
either not know how to adapt the job to teach you, or to simply not
get it that you're wanting to do the same work they are doing.  There
was talk from my professors about the possibility of doing some
research to establish some guidelines for educators teaching music
therapy to blind students, but this research has yet to get underway.

I went to a professional conference once, and I called ahead to
request a braille agenda be printed for me.  I also planned to utilize
guide services because then I would be able to focus on the conference
and my sessions rather than waste time learning the hotel I'd only be
in for 3 or 4 days.  An older blind music therapist told me she used
these accommodations, so since I requested them I thought they'd be
there.  Surprise, no braille agenda and I had to fight first with the
registration ladies up to someone actually in the organization to get
guide services.  The response I kept getting was, "You're a student.
Can't you just go with your classmates?"  No, not if they're not
wanting to go to the same conference sessions that I want to go to,
and I paid my registration money just like they did.  (Note I wasn't
overusing this.  I knew enough to get back to the registration desk
from each session and don't use this accommodation at all at smaller,
regional conferences, but in a huge hotel that sometimes had sesssions
all over the place, it was more practical to ask for someone to show
me the way so I could arrive at sessions on time.  I did hook up with
classmates a few times as well when we happened to discuss going to
the same session and wanted to go together, but I wanted the freedom
to go to the sessions I wanted to learn from).  Recently at a regional
conference one person had the bright and kind idea to tap me on the
shoulder during one of the sessions and ask if I would like her to
describe some of the slides.  I said yes and every so often she did
so.  This was because the pictures were dictating a cherades-like
experience that combined music and drama therapy, and this person
realized I'd totally miss the point without knowing what the pictures
were.  That was the only time I'd ever had that happen in a conference
session, and the woman was a masters student.  Most of the time I'm
ignored in conferences, which is simultaneously good and irritating at
times.  I'm happpy to have the freedom of walking around a hotel
without being pestered all the time, but there are times when I really
do need some assistance and I have a hard time getting it, E.G,
navigating those monster hotels in a timely manner or going around
internship fares where I don't want to ask every table what they
represent and incur the obligation to listen to their shpeel.  I get
the sense sometimes that as many people in these conferences as there
are working with people who have disabilities, and as much collective
knowledge there is in any given room at these conferences about how
capable disabled people might actually be, professionals with
disabilities are still such a tiny minority that people don't know
what to do or how to interact with them since they're not a client.

I'm wondering if any of you have faced similar issues in your fields,
and if you've been able to work with your professional organizations
to set up a group of some sorts.  I recognize I probably won't do
anything about it till I'm done with my degree myself, but I think it
is an important issue.  There is a group for blind music therapists on
Yahoo groups, but as far as I know I'm the only student on there, and
the list has had only a handful of emails since I joined a few years
ago.  I'd love to make a facebook page of sorts for students and
professionals with disabilities to share life hacks and tips, but
don't know if that would be the way to go.  I would love to find a way
to both bring students and young professionals with disabilities
together, possibly also bring in older professionals who have tried
and true methods, and to do some advocacy of professionals with
disabilities.  Thoughts?


-- 
Kaiti Shelton