Designing for: The Changing Reality of Disability in America (Season 2, Episode 2)

By: Janet Roche & Carolyn Robbins Edited by: Andrew Parrella Guest: Valerie Fletcher What is the state of disability in America today, and what does this mean to Inclusive Designers… especially in this time of Covid? IDP sits down with Valerie Fletcher, Executive Director of the Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD) in Boston, MA. She is an advocate and world think leader in all things Inclusive Design. Her research focuses on integrated social and environmentally sustainable solutions for multifamily housing, healthcare, culture, workplaces, and the public realm. We discuss with Valerie the research paper and documentary she recently completed for the IHCD called The Changing Reality of Poverty in America: 2020. The project reexamines the experience of disability in America and shines a light on the stories of those all too often left behind. It also includes some eye-opening conclusions for Inclusive Designers. Other topics include: ADA, toxic environments, Poverty in America, definitions of disability, functional limitations, neo-diversity and, of course, Inclusive Design. Guest: Valerie Fletcher is Executive Director of the Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD). She writes, lectures and works internationally. She currently oversees projects including the development of a new national website on accessibility and inclusive design in cultural facilities for the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as a wide range of consultation and design services to public and private entities in the US and globally. Valerie’s career has been divided between design and public mental health. She was the former Deputy Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, and has been a Special Advisor on Inclusive Design to the Open Society Institute and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.  She is the North American representative on the Board of the International Association for Universal Design (IAUD) in Japan. “Inaction is a civil rights exclusion” ~ Valerie Fletcher, https://humancentereddesign.org   • IHCD Documentary; Research Paper – Documentary Team: Matthew Brault, MPP; PJ Moynihan, Digital Eyes Film; Dr. Erica Walker, HPHS “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced” ~James Baldwin- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin   – References: • ADA Wheelchair Stats-There are currently about 2.7 million wheelchair users in the US • ADL Defined: