I spent the summer considering what I would like to do for my action research project and felt very uninspired. I started to get concerned that I would never come up with a viable idea that I felt passionate about. I do not consider myself an academically minded person and always struggled reading and writing due to my dyslexia, and felt like I had a mental block.
That was until I read a post on a sewing Facebook group that I am a member of. A lady had posted asking if her sewing days were over after becoming paralysed from the waist down due to a car accident. There were many comments of support, encouragement and practical advice about domestic sewing machines that do not require the use of a foot pedal. The same domestic machines that I had purchased for the costume department 2 years ago. This lead me to think about the industrial machines we have and how they are not wheelchair accessible due to the height and the required use of the foot pedal in order to operate them.
LCF’s move to East bank promised many new opportunities for us as a course. Coming from the 1st floor in D block Lime Grove which did not have a lift, to the new building that is wheelchair accessible gives us a opportunity to be more inclusive.
I started to think about the social model of disability from the Inclusive practise term and using this to identify barriers on the BA and MA costume courses that would prevent students who are wheelchair users from applying to the courses now we are moving to an accessible building.
Reference
AccessAble (2023) London college of fashion – lime grove – block D. Available at: https://www.accessable.co.uk/university-of-the-arts-london-ual/london-college-of-fashion-lime-grove/access-guides/london-college-of-fashion-lime-grove-block-d Accessed 17th November 2023