Some Thoughts on Access by Twin Cities Writers

by Marion Gomez

John Lee Clark, Raymond Luczak, Tara Arlene Innmon, and Lynne Nerenberg took some time to relate their insights on access, inclusion, and the local literary scene. They will be featured at The Same Difference: Writers with Disabilities Reading happening at the Loft on June 3.

When asked what access means to him, poet and editor of the anthology Deaf American Poetry, John Lee Clark, responded, “Access has to do with opening doors that could be closed. If there isn’t even a door there, you don’t say that the wall is a barrier. It is just a wall, to anyone. But when there is a door, the dynamic is different. It could be open or closed to you. Gaining access may require payment, or that you are an employee and have a key. That’s fine. But when the reason you are not gaining access is your disability, that’s a problem. You may have the ticket or the key, yet the door is a barrier. That’s not fine.”

Poet, playwright, and fiction writer Raymond Luczak commented, “Like communication, accessibility should be a two-way street. If I ask the person responsible for promoting a particular reading well in advance about having it ASL-interpreted, what matters is how the person reacts to my inquiry. If she says something like, ‘We’d love to, but we don’t have the money for one, so if you can give us ideas, let’s talk,’ I’m much more receptive to working with her to find a solution. The key here is collaborating to figure out a way to make it happen, and having a healthy dialogue.”

Besides ensuring American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation, both John and Raymond stress the importance of featured writers providing the pieces they plan to read in advance to interpreters so that interpreters can attend to the complexities apparent in any work of art. “I’ve encountered writers who respond well to this request and others who get haughty and say, ‘I don’t know what I’ll be reading.’ As it turns out, the writers who do prepare ahead of time tend to perform better, and this is good not just for the interpreter and the deaf audience but for everyone! Providing accommodations often has the result of being good for everyone.”

John’s and Raymond’s comments allude to the distinction between access and inclusion, which largely depends on one’s attitude. While providing access involves removing barriers to participation, inclusion goes further by creating a feeling of belonging and ownership. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa put it well when he stated in 2001, “The toughest barriers faced by people with disabilities are not architectural; they are attitudinal. They are not in the environment; they are in our hearts and in our minds.” Writer and artist Tara Arlene Innmon agrees. Having been declared legally blind over 20 years ago, she says even when an event has been made accessible to her, people’s attitudes tend to prevent full inclusion, “People are more likely to approach me asking, how can I help you, rather than engaging me in small talk like they would a person they assume does not have a disability.”

As the saying goes, attitude is everything; it affects how we treat people, whether we see them as contributing members of society or as burdens in constant need of our assistance. Without the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which requires institutions to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, many requests for accommodation would surely be denied. However, at a recent panel I attended on accessible cultural programming, an audience member remarked that when access is expressed solely as a legal obligation, people with disabilities often feel they are looked at as burdens rather than as assets. If institutions saw the “possibilities of disabilities,” as the keynote speaker Leslye Orr argued, inclusion would be a primary mission instead of an obligation.

Through their Artability program, People Incorporated is doing substantial work to change attitudes. Artability comprises a summerlong series of art and writing workshops and culminates in a three-day show in October to celebrate the creativity of people with mental illness and the contributions they make to society. Participants gain not only access to the arts but also a greater sense of inclusion. Because of her involvement with Artability, including winning first place for her creative nonfiction, Lynne Nerenberg has started to take her writing seriously. With her sister, Lynne hopes to publish a book about her experiences with mental illness and temporary homelessness. Lynne has been able to take writing classes with local writers, including Marge Barrett, and says “writing has provided me with an important outlet for healing.”

Lynne is far from alone in this discovery. Raymond Luczak adds, “Writing more than once has redeemed me . . . and I find from my readers here and there that my books have nurtured others.” He is quick to point out that “so much great literature explores the feelings and experiences of outsiderhood—many main characters in novels don’t feel as if they quite fit in anywhere in the context of their stories—I’d dare say that the disabled  are the ultimate outsiders, and therefore merit a closer study and acceptance. The fact that we are disabled freaks out many people mainly because we are living proof of what it means to be rejected and/or not accepted by society at large. Who wants that? The funny thing is, I think many of us, even those who are able-bodied, feel different because we know we are different in many ways, both subtle and obvious, from other people. We just don’t share these feelings for fear of being judged outwardly, and that’s a tragedy because we will often find ourselves shocked to be more alike than not.” Raymond hopes able-bodied readers will realize from his work that “deafness isn’t so limiting—in the same way that viewers will watch a Martin Scorsese film about Italian Americans and know that these characters are much more than their shared heritage; in other words, they are us. My words, I hope, will testify that I did once exist, and that younger writers in turn will feel inspired to leave behind a record of what it means to be human in all its terrible beauty.”

The Same Difference: Writers with Disabilities Reading takes place on Friday, June 3, in the Target Performance Hall at 7 p.m. along with an exhibit featuring the art of Artability participants. ASL interpretation, open captioning, and Braille programs will be provided. Free and open to the public.

Marion Gomez was a recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Cultural Community Partnership grant to mentor immigrant and Latino youth in poetry and has organized youth poetry and spoken word events. She received her BA in English with a concentration in creative writing from Hamline University and was a 2008 Loft Mentor Series participant in poetry. She currently works at the Loft on providing accessible programming.