When architecture disables: teaching undergraduates to perceive ableism in the built environment

When Architecture Disables: Teaching Undergraduates to Perceive Ableism in the Built
Environment
Author(s): Kathy Livingston
Source: Teaching Sociology, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Jul., 2000), pp. 182-191
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1318988
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ARTICLES
WHEN ARCHITECTURE DISABLES:
TEACHING UNDERGRADUATES TO PERCEIVE
ABLEISM IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT*
This article describes an exercise in which students analyze architectural barr
in campus buildings to understand that people with disabilities are excluded
everyday social interaction. Sociological concepts such as deviance and discri
nation prove elusive to students when merely studied from a textbook. Thr
this active learning exercise, students link their experiential understanding of
environmental obstacles with theories and concepts about conformity and
non-conformity. In their written work, students report about access in public
spaces, an understanding of obstacles imposed on people with disabilities, a
connection between the physical and social environments, and deviance as a
failure to meet the demands of an environment built for able bodies.
KATHY LIVINGSTON
Quinnipiac University
IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE for able-bodied stu-
dents to understand fully the real and day-to-
day experiences of people with permanent
disabilities. To increase students' awareness
of how people with disabilities can be ex-
cluded from such social institutions as edu-
cation or the labor force, I assign an exer-
cise that requires students to inspect build-
ings on their campus and report on barriers
in the physical environment that may affect
people who are blind or use wheelchairs.
Students initially become familiar with ac-
cess issues through selected readings.' In
class, they consider and discuss the relation-
ship of barriers in the physical environment
to barriers in the social environment. Once
they have completed their observations of
the campus, they report their findings in a
three-page paper analyzing stigmatization of
people with disabilities and hidden forms of
institutional discrimination.
Although a goal of the exercise is to get
students to recognize discrimination, most
students have difficulty just grasping the
concept of deviance (Horton Smith 1996;
Jacoby 1985; Jones 1998) and are unaware
of the ways that institutional inequality fa-
vors them (Pence and Fields 1999) but
penalizes others. The concept of illness as
deviance (Parsons 1951) is used to explain
how people who are sick and who cannot
fulfill their routine social obligations receive
a temporary exemption from societal norms
"*This project was supported by a Quinnipiac
University Faculty Grant-in-Aid. The author
wishes to thank the editors and reviewers for
their comments on earlier versions of this paper.
Please address all correspondence to the author
at Box 394, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT
06518; e-mail: kathy.livingston@quinnipiac.edu
Editor's note: The reviewers were, in alpha-
betical order, Susan Harris, Jane Rinehart, Su-
san Stall, and Diane Taub.
'To begin, the students are assigned Chapters
1- 5 in Goffman (1963). For an overview of the
sociology of disability, they read Chapter 6 in
Weitz (1996). They then read the ADA Regula-
tion for Title II, 1991, "Subpart D: Program
Accessibility," in the Federal Register; ADA
Regulation for Title III, 1994, "Subpart C:
Removal of Barriers," in the Code of Federal
Regulations; and ADA Guide for Small Busi-
nesses, 1997, available from the U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice or the ADA Web site
(www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahoml.htm). For
political struggles of people with disabilit
they read the short articles by various author
the ADA, welfare, media, language, sexual
and health care in "Access Activism" (1993)
Teaching Sociology, Vol. 28, 2000 (July: 182-191) 182

WHEN ARCHITECTURE DISABLES 183
for conditions that are "not their fault." But
a chronic illness or disability necessitates a
penranent exemption from one's responsi-
bilities and can result in the person with
illness or disability being stigmatized and
excluded from social interaction. Students
are likely to protest in response to this
concept, saying that marginalization or
avoidance of people with disabilities is un-
fair, unusual, and done only by mean-
spirited people.
The concept of stigma (Goffman 1963)
can enable students to link deviance with the
more subtle ways that people with disabili-
ties are "punished" for being different.
Nearly all students have experienced avoid-
ance or felt socially invisible at some time,
so they can sympathize with stigmatized
people as described in their readings. They
begin to acknowledge ableism, or prejudice
and discrimination against people with dis-
abilities. But there is a difference between
individual discrimination, which tends to be
consciously motivated, and institutional dis-
crimination, which is often unconscious and
hidden.
Individual discrimination includes overt
and intentional acts by individuals that harm
minority group members, as in the case of a
non-disabled person who takes an accessible
parking space reserved for a person with a
disability. Such behavior would typically be
condemned by others and regarded as im-
moral.
Institutional discrimination, on the other
hand, includes intentional acts that "protect
the advantages of the dominant group," but
also unintentional acts that "result in the
continued exclusion of a subordinate group"
(Miles 1989). Although most members of
the majority group will preserve the status
quo by defending a system that favors them,
many have no personal prejudice or con-
scious bias against minority group members.
Institutional racism, for example, would in-
clude behaviors that defend "the seniority
system in occupations, or [opposing] affir-
mative action, quota systems, busing to
achieve racial balance, and open enrollment
in higher education" (Eitzen and Baca Zinn
2000:224). As Wellman (1977) points out,
individual prejudice is not a necessary pre-
condition for institutional discrimination.
Institutional ableism involves such behav-
iors as defending policies that disqualify
people with disabilities from Medicaid if
they earn wages; defending conditions that
force people with disabilities to live as de-
pendents in crowded or dilapidated housing;
voting for political officials who perpetuate
policies that work against the interests of
people with disabilities; and building trans-
portation networks that discourage passen-
gers who have impairments to their mobil-
ity, hearing, and sight.
Students recognize the overt nature of
individual discrimination but have difficulty
seeing the hidden and tenacious quality of
institutional racism, sexism, or ableism.
This exercise shows them that institutional
ableism can be as or more harmful than
individual ableism if policies in architecture,
education, employment, government, and
media remain unquestioned and continue to
deny rights to an entire group. The Ameri-
cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
was enacted to end such discrimination by
calling for public buildings, work environ-
ments, transportation vehicles, and telecom-
munications equipment to be made accessi-
ble to people with physical, visual, and
hearing impairments. But there is still much
room for improvement. Through this exer-
cise, students will discover that, despite the
ADA, society still operates against people
with disabilities in various ways.
It is easier to teach concepts like deviance
and ableism when students are involved as
active participants rather than passive ob-
servers. Active learning (Meyers and Jones
1993) empowers students by encouraging
them to reflect on their experiences before
analyzing and discussing results with one
another. Reflection, or having the chance
simply to mull over ideas and interpret one's
experiences, is essential to active learning
but instructors seldom make time for this as
they attempt to cover more material
(Brookfield 1990). Exercises that require
students to reflect and to write about new

184 TEACHING SOCIOLOGY
concepts help them apply thos
Teaching complex concepts thr
learning has been explored (Ste
particularly in teaching about dev
(Horton Smith 1996). To teach
students, as members of the dominant
group, to perceive institutional inequality
against minorities is an exciting challenge.
Such active learning exercises have been
created to illustrate structured sexism
(Bohmer and Briggs 1991) as well as racism
and classism (Bohmer and Briggs 1991;
Cohen 1995; Pence and Fields 1999) to
non-minority students.
In addition, various simulation exercises
have been used to teach students about the
experiences and environments of people
with disabilities as an attempt to increase
their understanding of aging (Clark, Foos
and Faucher 1995) and such disabling condi-
tions as tunnel vision, hearing impairment,
and dyslexia (Weisz 1990). But simulation
exercises can be controversial; French
(1995) asserts that an exercise in which
students in wheelchairs feign a disability to
observe the reaction of others is offensive to
people with disabilities and cannot replicate
the experience of disability for an able-
bodied person. Rather than attempting to
simulate the experience of disability, this
exercise illustrates hidden ableism and lets
non-disabled students see themselves as ben-
eficiaries of a structure that favors the able-
bodied. By focusing on the actual navigation
of a public space, students glimpse how
people with disabilities are included and
excluded from the built environment.
Specifically, they observe architecture in
relation to people who use wheelchairs and
those who are blind by making note of
entryways, hallways, elevators, water foun-
tains, restroom facilities, parking spaces,
and signs in Braille. A goal of this exercise
is to teach students that the acceptance or
avoidance of others in the social environ-
ment is determined, at least in part, by the
built environment, which either enables or
hampers people with disabilities from navi-
gating public spaces independently.
THE SOCIOLOGICAL
MODEL OF DISABILITY
The definition of disability used by the
World Health Organization (WHO) is "an
restriction or lack of ability to perform an
activity in the manner or within the rang
considered normal for a human being
(Weitz 1996:155). Although the WHO
model focuses on the individual and sugges
that disability resides within the person, a
sociological model suggests that disability i
defined or determined by how others r
spond "to bodies that fail to meet socia
expectations...[as] reflected in the social o
built environment" (Weitz 1996:155). Th
built environment demands certain physica
abilities and "rewards" able-bodied peopl
as "normal" but "punishes" those who can
not meet those demands and thus deviate
from the norm. For example, stairways
make parks, buildings, buses and trains
inaccessible to people who use wheelchairs,
whereas wheelchair ramps allow anyone to
access those places independently. A link
can then be made between access to the built
environment and access to the social envi-
ronment; public spaces that favor able-
bodied people create ableism by making
people with disabilities less visible, mini-
mizing their chances for social interaction,
and making isolation and stigma likely. Re-
moving barriers in public places for people
with disabilities increases their visibility and
provides opportunities for social interaction
among all people, regardless of their abili-
ties. If the built environment were modified
to accommodate people with various abili-
ties, almost anyone could live independently
and travel to jobs or school without having
to rely on the "mercy" of others for assis-
tance. But students need help perceiving and
understanding these examples as illustrations
of structural discrimination or ableism.
Many good syllabi (Schlesinger and Taub
1998) list readings, films, and videos (see
Appendix A) to prepare students for the
study of disability. I begin by having stu-
dents read Goffman's (1963) Stigma. Then I
use videos to illustrate stigma (Breathing

Lessons 1996) and ways of managing stigma
(People in Motion, Parts 1 and 2 1996). We
discuss the personal empowerment of people
with disabilities and challenging stigma
(Without Pity 1996). Next, students read
Chapter 6, The Experience of Illness and
Chronic Disability, in Weitz (1996) for an
overview of the sociology of disability, in-
cluding social policy. They view No Way In
(1997), to illustrate discrimination against
people with disabilities in jobs, housing, and
transportation. In addition, we read and
discuss short articles on the politics of dis-
ability all contained in the series entitled
Access Activism (1993). Class discussions
focus on how transportation (People in Mo-
tion, Part 3) is necessary to get and retain
jobs, and that people with disabilities suffer
discrimination in both of these areas.
Throughout, we discuss how the ADA of
1990 was intended to improve access to
employment, transportation, and public ac-
commodations, and we explore areas that
have improved since the ADA was enacted.
For example, by examining the unemploy-
ment rate for people with disabilities, stu-
dents see that little has changed since 1990.
To review background information on Ti-
tle III of the ADA, instructors can use the
ADA home page (www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/
adahoml.htm) or various publications on the
law. The "Checklist" (see Appendix B) is
the easiest way to find the ADA architec-
tural standards for ramps, parking, entry-
ways, doors, signage, stairs, elevators, re-
strooms, drinking fountains, and tele-
phones-any or all of which can be used in
the exercise.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT
Organizing Students in Teams
To prepare for the field exercise, the in-
structor must obtain checklists for distribu-
tion. "The Americans with Disabilities Act
Checklist for Readily Achievable Barrier
Removal" (Adaptive Environments Center
1995)2 contains a list of architectural stan-
dards and measurements on the left, and a
column of possible solutions for barriers to
access on the right. The instructor can mod-
ify the checklist (see Appendix B) if a less
detailed list is needed. Listing possible solu-
tions for each architectural barrier, how-
ever, maximizes the students' learning expe-
rience.
The actual class time required for this
assignment is 15 minutes of preparation
during one class before the assignment, an
entire class period for carrying out the as-
signment, and a subsequent class period for
discussion.
At the end of the class before the outing, I
describe the field exercise briefly, ask the
students to bring a tape measure to the next
class, and assign students to work teams. I
organize the teams by dividing the total
number of students in class by the number of
buildings (or discrete areas of large build-
ings) on campus. For example, if there are
10 buildings and 100 students, there would
be 10 teams with 10 students per team. I
find that teams of no more than five students
each are the most productive. For a class of
100, I would create 20 teams of five students
each, and each of the 10 buildings would be
observed by two teams of five students. The
exercise can also be tailored for very large
classes.3
The Field Exercise
On the day of the exercise, students report to
class and join their teammates. The instruc-
tor supplies tape measures (fabric tapes are
inexpensive) to students who did not bring
2Copies of the checklist, "The Americans with
Disabilities Act Checklist for Readily Achiev-
able Barrier Removal" can be obtained from the
Disability and Business Technical Assistance
Center by calling (800) 949-4ADA. The check-
list is also available on the U.S. Department of
Justice Web site (www.usdoj.gov) by selecting
"publications and documents," then "reports and
publications," and then "Civil Rights Division."
3At least three areas of discrimination are
addressed in the ADA: public spaces, transporta-
tion, and telecommunications. For very large
classes, divide the students into three groups and
assign each group to study one of the three areas;
then divide each area into teams of about five

them and gives each student a repo
list (Appendix B) to record their
tions as they inspect their assigned
One checklist per student allows
divide the labor in any way they c
students must compile their result
the end of their field exercise, repo
the classroom to hand in one checklist for
the team. The collection of reports gives the
instructor an overview of barriers on cam-
pus as found by all the teams, which can be
reported to the students in the following
class.
Classroom Discussion
The class following the field exercise is
invariably one of the most animated of the
semester as the students get a chance to
discuss what they found. They are likely to
be surprised by their observations, and some
will express indignation at the impact of
disabling architecture on people with disabil-
ities. By exploring and rediscovering a fa-
miliar built environment, they come to see
that ableism in the built environment exists,
albeit unintentionally and unconsciously.
The discussion should be organized
around key issues: (1) how architecture
includes or excludes people with disabilities
in the design of buildings; (2) how to
achieve compliance with the ADA stan-
dards; and (3) how access to the social and
built environment can be improved for peo-
ple with disabilities. A guest speaker such as
an architect, a disability rights group repre-
sentative, the campus compliance officer, or
campus facilities administrator, should be
invited to discuss the technical aspects of
compliance. A large campus with a con-
struction management department may have
architects and engineers, and the compliance
officer may work in that department. Small
colleges may have a compliance officer or
disabilities specialist in the learning center.
If the instructor prefers to invite a disabil-
ity rights activist, speakers may be found
from the nearest Independent Living Center
listed in the local phone book under disabil-
ity services. In addition, the National Insti-
tute on Disability Rehabilitation Research
(NIDRR) provides free copies of its Pro-
gram Directory of Regional Centers and can
be reached at (202) 205-8134. Another op-
tion is to invite a speaker from a specific
disability organization such as the National
Multiple Sclerosis Society. In addition to
their specialized knowledge, such speakers
are certain to be familiar with the ADA and
access issues. If students are reticent about
asking questions, as they may be in large
classes, they can be invited to write ques-
tions on index cards to be read by the
instructor or guest speaker.
Undoubtedly, the students will see areas in
which the campus seems out of compliance
with the ADA. Remind them that it is hasty
and unwise to assume that because barriers
exist, the campus is out of compliance.
Private colleges are generally categorized
with private businesses and commercial fa-
cilities and are required by Title III of the
ADA to make "reasonable accommoda-
tions" in policies, practices, and programs.
Architectural barriers must be removed if
their removal is "readily achievable" and
without "undue financial and administrative
burden" (U.S. Department of Justice
1994:476). This tentative language in the
ADA means that not all architectural barri-
ers that can be removed will be removed.
Public colleges and universities are gov-
erned by Title II of the ADA. Like any state
or local government facility, their campuses
must provide "program access" to people
with disabilities and are not required to
modify every building with wheelchair
ramps or Braille. The ADA requires all
government programs, not all government
buildings, to be accessible. If a history class,
for example, meets on the second floor of a
building without a wheelchair-accessible ele-
students. The public spaces teams could observe
buildings for wheelchair access or access for
people who are blind. The transportation teams
could study campus shuttle buses and/or public
buses, subways, and trains to and from the
campus. The telecommunications teams could
observe buildings for telephone booths and con-
sider issues that affect people with hearing im-
pairments.

vator and a student with a disability is
enrolled, the college must move the history
class to a building with wheelchair access or
to the first floor of another accessible build-
ing for that semester. As long as the college
makes the history class available to people
with disabilities, and because it is not re-
quired to retrofit every building on campus,
it may be in compliance. Public campuses
are not required to remove all architectural
barriers; they are required only to make all
programs, services, and activities accessible
(U.S. Department of Justice 1991:35719-
20).
Two scenarios are then possible. If the
campus is out of compliance, the question to
be addressed is, "What areas of access
improvement are mandated by law?" The
students will find it enlightening to hear the
administrative explanations for noncompli-
ance if an architect or compliance officer is
present, and they may get to see the politics
of disability firsthand. Students will recall
"possible solutions" to barriers from the
checklist they used and may need little or no
encouragement to press the experts for pro-
posed changes.
If the campus is in compliance, the appro-
priate question is, "What areas of improve-
ment are not mandated by law but should be
made?" Students may find an elevator with
floor numbers in Braille but then discover
that the elevator is not equipped to beep
when it reaches a floor so that a person who
is blind would know when to get off by
counting the beeps. Students can be chal-
lenged to find similar "gaps" between what
people with disabilities actually need in the
way of barrier removal and what they actu-
ally get from ADA standards for accessibil-
ity.
Writing Assignment
A three page paper from each student is due
on the day of the following class. Urge
students to provide examples from the litera-
ture they have read, the videos they have
seen, and the field exercise whenever possi-
ble to answer the following questions:
1. Overall, what did you observe about
access to the built environment for peo-
ple with disabilities? For which disabili-
ties do your observations apply?
2. Overall, what did you observe about
barriers to the built environment for
people with disabilities? For which dis-
abilities do your observations apply?
3. Would you consider any of the barriers
you observed to be connected to educa-
tion, job, or housing discrimination
against people with disabilities in any
way? If so, how? And for which group?
4. Take one person discussed in your
readings or seen in the videos and ex-
amine how that person manages stigma.
An example from the video Breaking
the Silence Barrier would be Bob
Williams. How does Bob Williams
"manage stigma?" Would you consider
him an example of "passing,"
"covering," "disclosing," "disavowing
deviance," or "challenging" the stigma?
Choose one and explain how Bob illus-
trates that concept.
EXERCISE ASSESSMENT
I have used this exercise with students from
various majors in a medical sociology course
on illness and disability. Students in geron-
tology, physical therapy, occupational ther-
apy, and health management, and those who
plan to work with older persons and people
with disabilities need to be aware of how
clients experience the social and built envi-
ronment. These issues are critical since most
students have never experienced a chronic
disability and are likely to be unfamiliar
with the range of obstacles faced by the
clients they will work with. The exercise is
also well suited to a course on deviance by
using the concept of illness as deviance to
illustrate how definitions of conformity and
nonconformity are socially constructed.
To be truly useful, any assignment must
be accessible to all students, including those
with disabilities. An asset of this exercise is
the potential for a member of the class who
is disabled to become the "expert," lending

the most knowledge to his or
Once, when I introduced the exercise to a
class, a wheelchair user exclaimed,
"Finally!" She explained that in the past, she
had often been excluded from certain cam-
pus activities. For this exercise, however,
she knew she would be the most desirable
"lab partner" in the room.
This exercise can also be done in the
wider community at a restaurant, a medical
care facility, a shopping mall, a library, a
bus or train station, and a grocery store. In
the community, allow additional time in the
exercise for travel to and from the assigned
places.
Students' Comments
An aim of this exercise is for students to
consider the possible ways in which campus
buildings are experienced by people with
disabilities, and to find links between physi-
cal barriers and barriers in the social envi-
ronment such as structural discrimination in
housing, jobs, or transportation. Several
common themes have appeared in students'
written reports. The most frequent have
been general comments about physical
space. The students have found cars parked
illegally in accessible parking spaces, an
absence of curb cuts to and from the parking
lot, and walkways too narrow for a
wheelchair. They have observed Braille in
some places but not others and have noted
the lack of continuity. One student observed:
I never realized how important an auto-
matic door was until the one at (Building
X) was stuck. It was halfway opened and
would not budge in either direction. I
thought to myself, "What if I was disabled
and nobody was here to assist me?"
The second theme is a better understand-
ing of people with disabilities, but recogniz-
ing the impossibility of knowing what people
with disabilities truly feel. Students have
acknowledged the demands imposed on
marginalized people. One student wrote:
This experience provided us with the opportu-
nity to understand and appreciate the physical
and some of the emotional challenges that
people with disabilities encounter on a daily
basis. Perhaps a few hours wasn't enough time
to experience the powerful effects of prejudice
toward people with disabilities. But we found
this experience quite interesting, and we be-
lieve everyone should engage in a similar
experience so that they can acquire a better
understanding and acceptance of people with
disabilities.
The third theme is the link between social
acceptance or rejection and the demands of
a physical environment structured for able
bodies. This theme is central to students'
understanding of discrimination, as typified
by the following comment:
This experience was a hands-on way to under-
stand the plight of the people with disabilities.
Even with the physical environment greatly
improving wheelchair accessibility, there are
still areas where a person in a wheelchair
cannot enter. If we lived in a society full of
ramps and elevators instead of stairs and esca-
lators, the wheelchair disabled would not be
labeled so.
Last, many students indicated a recogni-
tion that meaning is socially constructed
(Berger and Luckman 1966) and that ways
of knowing or thinking about the world,
including definitions of deviance and confor-
mity, are socially produced. This theme also
is expressed by the following comment:
(S)ociety today is structured for those of us
who are presently able-bodied.... Disability is
a social problem due to the fact that we as an
able-bodied society have defined what disabil-
ity is. We feel that society is made up of
various, diverse groups and none of these
groups should be denied equal access or treat-
ment because of their differences. Overall this
experience has made us much more sensitive to
discrimination and the needs of people with
disabilities.
Possible Drawbacks and Solutions
One possible drawback for the instructor is
that the ADA is a complex, voluminous
legal document that takes time to absorb.

The ADA checklist (Appendix B) makes i
easy to find architectural standards, bu
instructors may wish to know more abou
how the law applies to existing building
versus new construction, or to privately
owned buildings and campuses as compare
with public ones. The ADA Informatio
Line at (800) 514-0301 provides information
specialists to answer questions about the
ADA Title II and III and recommend appro
priate documents.
Another possible drawback is an unpre-
pared guest. If a campus compliance officer
is invited to class but not prepared ahead of
time, he or she may bear the brunt of angr
students' accusations of noncompliance with
the ADA. The instructor should review the
students' findings with the speaker, so that
the speaker will know what to expect. This
will avert any awkwardness in the classroom
discussion. The instructor might also have
students brainstorm ways to propose changes
on campus regarding noncompliance issues
to the compliance officer. In small groups,
students can discuss which methods of
proposing changes might be most and least
effective.
The exercise assumes students are mature
and responsible enough to share the work,
and this might pose a problem. With only
one checklist per group due at the end of the
exercise, there is potential for some students
to take a passive role while letting others
lead. If this is a concern, the instructor may
wish to assign a specific role to each mem-
ber of the team (restroom observer, parking
lot observer). Similarly, students can be
asked to brainstorm in class the day before
the exercise to anticipate which roles will
exist and decide who will fill them.
CONCLUSION
Ableism thrives on the isolation and invisi-
bility of people with disabilities. In its nine
years of existence the ADA has promoted
community among people with disabilities
and helped them to increase their visibility
on the streets, in shopping malls, in stadi-
ums, and on sports fields. Only continued
advocacy will erode more barriers, chal-
lenge stigma, and increase the impact of the
ADA on society.
This exercise can potentially change stu-
dents' perceptions, not only of familiar fea-
tures in the built environment but of the
often unconscious discrimination against
people with disabilities in education, jobs,
and housing. As students observe and reflect
on architectural determinants of the social
relations between able-bodied people and
people with disabilities, abstract concepts of
deviance and ableism become concrete. Ac-
tive learning exercises that demonstrate the
struggle between more powerful and less
powerful groups are rigorous, both for stu-
dents and the instructor, but the enthusiasm
they engender makes them well worth the
effort.
APPENDIX A. SELECTED VIDEOS
Films, both popular and educational, can be used
as a basis for in-class discussion or short writin
exercises to enhance students' understanding o
disability and disabling architecture. Numerous
popular films about illness and disability are iden
tified in Schlesinger and Taub (1998). The follow
ing are several educational films to use with th
exercise:
A New Sense of Place (People in Motion, II. Part
1). Producer Vicki Sufian. PBS 1996. Video-
cassette. 60 minutes. Artists who challenge the
stigma of disability. Examples include a deaf
percussionist and a blind photographer.
Breaking the Silence Barrier (People in Motion,
II. Part 2). Producers Gail Freedman and Jan
Legnitto. PBS 1996. 1-800-420-2626. Video-
cassette. 60 minutes. Computer-assistive tech-
nology, including the Liberator, a speech-
producing keyboard that allows nonspeaking
people to communicate.
Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark
O 'Brien. Producer Jessica Yu. Fanlight Produc-
tions 1996. 47 Halifax Street, Boston, MA
02130. Videocassette. 35 minutes. A Berkeley,
California, writer/poet links the personal strug-
gle to overcome stigma with the political strug-
gles for access and accommodations.
No Way In (NBC Dateline: Access). Producer
Joseph Rhee. 1997. Videocassette #NDL
970909. 45 minutes. A three-part series about

ableism in jobs, housing, and publ
Without Barriers or Borders (Peop
II. Part 3). Producer Lyn Goldfar
Videocassette. 60 minutes. The disab
movement in Cambodia, Japan, an
States, with especially useful examp
ers to public transp
Without Pity: A Fi
Michael Mierendo
Warner Entertainment 1996. 60 minutes. Illus-
trates social stigma and deviance disavowal
through a focus on ability.
APPENDIX B. CHECKLIST FOR ARCHITECTURAL BARRIERS
(Adapted from "The ADA Checklist for Readily Achievable Barrier Removal
available from Adaptive Environments Center, Inc.)
Team Members Names: Campus Building:
(Include large spaces for note taking)
QUESTIONS POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
1. Is there a way into the building that does not - Add
require the use of stairs?
2. Can an object protruding into the path be de- - P
tected by a person using a cane? (Object must be war
27 inches or lower.)
3. Does the entrance door have a 32 inch opening? - Ins
4. Does the control panel in the elevator have - Inst
Braille and raised lettering? control panel buttons
5. Can a person with a closed fist operate the sink - Install paddle faucet handles
faucet in the restroom?
6. Is there one water fountain with a spout no - Add a paper cup dispenser
higher than 36 inches?
7. If a pay phone exists, is it hearing-aid compati- - Replace existing phone with hearing-aid co
ble? ible phone
REFERENCES
"Access Activism." 1993. Utne Reader, March-
April: 98-110.
Adaptive Environments Center, Inc. 1995. "The
Americans With Disabilities Act Checklist for
Readily Achievable Barrier Removal." Boston,
MA: Barrier Free Environments, Inc.
Berger, Peter L. and Thomas Luckman. 1966.
The Social Construction of Reality. New York:
Doubleday.
Bohmer, Susanne and Joyce L. Briggs. 1991.
"Teaching Privileged Students About Gender,
Race, and Class Oppression." Teaching Sociol-
ogy 19:154-63.
Brookfield, Stephen D. 1990. The Skillful
Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Respon-
siveness in the Classroom. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Clark, M. Cherie, Paul W. Foos, and Manon H.
Faucher. 1995. "You Can Touch This: Simula-
tion Exercises for Aging and Disability." Edu-
cational Gerontology 21:643-51.
Cohen, Lorraine. 1995. "Facilitating the Critique
of Racism and Classism: An Experiential
Model for Euro-American Middle-Class Stu-
dents." Teaching Sociology 23:87-93
Eitzen, D. Stanley and Maxine Baca Zinn. 2000.
Social Problems. Boston, MA: Allyn and Ba-
con.
French, Sally. 1995. "Simulation Exercises in
Disability Awareness Training: A Critique."
Pp. 114-23 in Beyond Disability, edited by
Gerald Hales. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Goffman, Erving. 1963. Stigma. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Horton Smith, David. 1996. "Teaching a Course
on Deviant Groups: A Neglected Aspect of
Deviance." Teaching Sociology 24:177-88.
Jacoby, Joseph E. 1985. "Removing an Obstacle
to Learning Deviance: The Perceived Differ-
ence Between 'Us' and 'Them.'" Teaching
Sociology 13:107-12.
Jones, Angela L. 1998. "Random Acts of Kind-

ness: A Teaching Tool for Positive Deviance."
Teaching Sociology 26:179-89.
Junn, Ellen N. 1994. "The Party." College
Teaching 42:109-10.
McKeachie, Wilbert J. 1978. Teaching Tips.
Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Co.
Meyers, Chet and Thomas B. Jones. 1993. Pro-
moting Active Learning. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Miles, Robert. 1989. Racism. New York: Tavis-
tock.
Parsons, Talcott. 1951. The Social System. Glen-
coe, IL: Free Press.
Pence, Dan J. and J. Arthur Fields. 1999.
"Teaching about Race and Ethnicity: Trying to
Uncover White Privilege for a White Audi-
ence." Teaching Sociology 27:150-8.
Schlesinger, Lynn and Diane E. Taub, eds. 1998.
Syllabi and Instructional Materials for Teach-
ing Sociology of Disabilities. Washington, DC:
American Sociological Association.
Stearns, Susan A. 1994. "Steps for Active Learn-
ing of Complex Concepts." College Teaching
42:107-8.
U.S. Department of Justice. 1997. ADA Guide
for Small Businesses.
_ . 1991. "ADA Regulation for Title II."
Federal Register (7/26/91).
_ . 1994. "ADA Regulation for Title III."
Code of Federal Regulations (7/1/94).
Weisz, Eva. 1990. "Energizing the Classroom."
College Teaching 38:74-6.
Weitz, Rose. 1996. The Sociology of Health,
Illness, and Health Care: A Critical Approach.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Wellman, David. 1977. Portraits of White
Racism. 2d ed. Cambridge, England: Cam-
bridge University Press.
Kathy Livingston is an associate professor of sociol-
ogy at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut.
She regularly teaches courses on disability, death and
bereavement, mental illness, and evaluation research.

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