#ablebodiedprivilege

For my post I decided to take a picture of a Starbucks drive thru, I picked the Starbucks drive thru because of their accessibility for people that may be deaf or hard of hearing. Starbucks has recently built a camera into their drive thru screen that resembles something like Skype, which allows people to sign their order instead of speaking it. Due to this new accommodation, Starbucks has begun to hire at least one employee on their waitstaff that can sign American Sign Language to communicate with these individuals. This is a major breakthrough for the people in the Deaf Community to gain the support of an international corporation like Starbucks. 

In The Social Construction of Difference, Johnson explains that able-bodied individuals “...can also assume that most buildings and other structures will not be designed in ways that limit their access.” (Pg. 19)  By creating this window, Starbucks has demonstrated their compassion and understanding towards people with disabilities. Although there are more people that are hearing than Deaf, Starbucks still finds it important to make their business accessible for everyone. This action that Starbucks has taken to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to access their business helps give off a message to society. Starbucks is showing that they support people despite their differences, and they want everyone to have the same opportunities as one another. Many people do not think about the inconvenience certain structures have on others ability to communicate, but Starbucks is helping bring awareness to the topic by creating this new way of communicating in a drive thru. Able-bodied people take for granted the endless opportunities we have that someone that isn’t able-bodied doesn’t get. It is important to spread awareness that there is more beyond ourselves, and it is our responsibility to ensure that our society is functional for all individuals as a whole.

Flat Freire made an appearance at Bryan Hall, which is the dorm I live in. This building is very old. It has two different entrances at the front of the building and one in the back. In order to enter this building, a person would have to walk up stairs varying from two to over one hundred. Ohio University does have many buildings that are accessible but there is still a good amount of buildings that are not wheelchair accessible.  

 The reason for the lack of accessibility of Bryan Hall is most likely because of its age. If we compare it to McCracken, which was recently renovated, we can see just how much Bryan doesn’t accommodate people who have a physical disability. In Johnson’s article, “The Social Construction of Difference,” he discusses many different privileges and draws our attention to the privileges that able-bodied people have. “They can also assume that buildings and other structures will not be designed in ways that limit their access.” (pg. 19).  Speaking as a person who is able-bodied, I don’t ever wonder if I am going to have problems or not be able to enter a building. It is nice to see how accessibility has evolved on campus and it is easy to see which buildings are old and new based on their accessibility.

For my post I decided to use my sorority house,  I picked this house due to the layout and structure of it. This house is extremely old, with that being said it is not accommodating to handicap individuals. The two main entrances to the house both have stairs to get to the door. Although, there is another entrance to the building that is wheelchair accessible, to get to the main floor or even the second floor you would have to take the stairs. That is a major concern because if an individual isn’t able to walk up stairs then they will not be able to see how beautiful the inside of the house is.

 In The Social Construction of Difference, Johnson explains that able-bodied individuals “…can also assume that most buildings and other strictures will not be designed in ways that limit their access.” (Pg. 19) Unfortunately, this house (and the updates added to it over 5 years ago) only accommodate to privileged abled-bodied individuals. From this reading I have realized how privileged abled-bodied individuals are to live in this home. Its explained that when handicapped individuals travel or look for living situations it becomes extremely tedious to find a home compatible to their living style. It would be difficult to feel included in certain activities due to the inconvenience of the homes layout, which should be the last feeling someone has to encounter when joining this chapter. Johnson also explains that, “Nondisabled people choose whether to be conscious of their disability status or to ignore it and regard themselves simply as human beings” (Pg. 19) This is very true in this example because most of the girls who do live in this home did not even think about this issue until I pointed it out.