“Disabled children are children first and disabled second.”
(Weinstein and David, 1987:188)
17 CHAPTER 2 UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF DISABILITIES AND
THEIR IMPACT ON ARCHITECTURE
Introduction
All children have patterns of individual strengths and weaknesses and these differences among children and people is what makes life interesting. A normal child can be described as one who does not deviate from developmental norms. In other words, development can be described as a process of change that a child undergoes on the route to adulthood. Thain et al (1980) stated that this development occurs through the interaction with the environment. With time, children learn to make distinctions between the signals coming from their senses which allow them to exhibit a range of behaviours, which is called differentiation (Day, 2007). Different stages of development have differing characteristics and children cannot learn certain things until they have reached that stage of development where they are able to comprehend exactly the situation that they are in. Most importantly, children develop physically, mentally and emotionally all at once. A large percentage of children are born with their senses in a good working order and those that are not developed fully at birth generally develop over time.
Children use their senses in the process of perception, converting everyday stimulation into useful information and this is a skill which must be learned through experience and this aspect of development is vital to the growth of children. Thain et al (1980) argue that if a child does not learn adequate perceptual skills early in life, he or she will have difficulty mastering the more complex tasks later on in life.
With that in mind, there are many children with mental or physical disabilities and this population is increasing rapidly on a daily basis (Statssa, 2001). These disabilities may be caused due to accidents, infections, birth trauma and they may be congenital or hereditary. Children may have one disability such as deafness or multiple disabilities such as cerebral palsy with hearing loss as well as mental retardation. When a child has a congenital disability, this means that it is present at birth, while hereditary refers to the transmission of a trait from the parent to the child. Dealing with disabled children becomes harrowing for the families and medical and educational support becomes critical to the healthy development of these children. In the past, educational programs for
18 disabled children were few and far between and many children were put into institutions or hidden away at home starting at an early age because people could not understand how to deal with them (Gwitima and Khupe, 2008). Educational systems were not equipped to deal with them either and as a result, very few disabled children were taught in a systematic manner. With advances in the medical field, however, the dialogue between medical and educational systems has been developing rapidly and it has been realised that a concerted effort is required in the care and teaching of disabled children.
Education for disabled children varies in terms of the degree and extent of the disability.
If a child is not severely disabled, he or she may attend a normal school, however, those with extreme disabilities may find it extremely difficult to become integrated into a normal school environment. Architectural barriers are usually the main reasons that children find difficulty at normal schools (CTBUH, 1992) and it is therefore important that disabled children be placed in an educational setting which also provides physical therapy so that they too can enjoy a comfortable and care – free childhood. Special learning programmes need be formulated for children with disabilities to help them cope better with daily tasks. For disabled children‟s development, they should also be encouraged to learn how to do things themselves and good teaching also makes a difference. Day (2007), Urry (1970), Werner (1987) and Wilbur et al (1980) state that disabled children need more stimulation and activity than children without disabilities.
They outline the main areas which should be greatly considered for disabled children and these are; movement, body control, strength, balance, use of the hands, stimulating the senses, communication, socialising, observing, thinking and doing. Repetition should be avoided and variety is vital in stimulating their development. These aspects, suggested above, need to be carefully considered in architectural environments for disabled children and therefore, as a starting point, an understanding of the different types of disabilities (their causes and symptoms) will be outlined to enhance the research and architectural solution.
The Different Types of Physical Disabilities
The types of disabilities affecting people ranges from the more common disabilities such as blindness, deafness and cerebral palsy, to rare diseases such as osteogenesis
19 imperfecta. There are many different types of disabilities and their causes, symptoms and treatments are sometimes dissimilar but do overlap. Children who have more than one disability are referred to as having multi – sensory impairments. For the purpose of this research three main types of disabilities will be discussed as these were found to be very common in KwaZulu Natal (Statssa, 2001: 1); blindness, cerebral palsy and mobility impairments (paralysis/lack of the arms or legs). There are many causes for general physical disabilities and some of them occur through accidents when the child is very young or even through amputation for various reasons and this part will also be discussed in brief, to gain a better understanding of their circumstances.
Difficulty with seeing can be mild, moderate or severe and those children who cannot see at all are called blind. Werner (1987) stated that most blind children can see a little and some can see the difference between light and dark, but cannot distinguish the shapes of objects, while others can see only large objects. Some children with cerebral palsy or other disabilities are partly or completely blind and blindness can make the progress of early skills slow and challenging. Brain damage causes blindness in children, usually in combination with other physical disabilities. Causes of this can include German measles during pregnancy, delayed breathing at birth as well as meningitis. Children who are blind can develop early skills just as quickly as other children and their other senses become heightened and more attuned in their use (Werner, 1987: 246). For blind children to get accustomed to their surrounding environments, they use their hands and ears to orient themselves to wherever they need to go. They do this by using landmarks within the environment to understand where they are as they easily remember that objects, walls and other things are placed in certain context to rooms or spaces. Once a blind child has been guided by other people, over time he or she will learn to adapt to their surroundings and will eventually find their way around easily. Blind children are taught to read and write using braille which is a system of raised dots that denote letters and numbers and which can be read through touch, with the fingertips (Werner, 1987:
253).
Cerebral palsy (brain paralysis) affects movement and body position. This type of disability comes from brain damage which happened before the baby was born, during
20 birth or as a young baby. The parts of the brain which control movement is what is affected and once damaged, these parts of the brain do not recover. The movements, body positions and related problems can be improved depending on how the child is treated. In many countries, it is the most frequent cause of physical disability amongst children and in South Africa it accounts for being the second highest recorded disability (Statssa, 2001: 14). Muscle stiffness or spasticity causes part of the body to be rigid or stiff, therefore movements are slow and awkward. The stiffness increases when the child is distraught or excited or even when their body is in certain positions. The pattern of stiffness varies from child to child. Uncontrolled movements, called athetosis; are sluggish, wriggly or quick movements of the child‟s feet, arms, hands or face muscles.
When a child moves by choice, body parts move too fast and too far and a child‟s balance will be poor causing him or her to fall over easily. Children with athetosis will have a normal intelligence but if the muscles for speech are affected, it will be hard for them to communicate, thus necessitating the need for a speech or language therapist. Ataxia occurs when a child has difficulty beginning to sit and stand, thus they fall often and have very clumsy use of their hands. Usually, this problem lasts for life and because they may seem so clumsy, other children often make fun of them. Medicines usually do not help children with forms of cerebral palsy and the damaged parts of the brain cannot be repaired. Most children do learn to walk but much later than normal. Some children may need crutches, braces or other aids and there are many different ways to help children who cannot walk, through the use of wheelchairs, special walkers or hand – pedal tricycles. Helping these children early in life means to encourage them to keep their bodies straight, make sure their arms are constantly in use in front of them and ensure that they bear weight equally on both sides of their bodies. Werner also suggests that to relieve and relax spastic muscles, applying warm soaks to the child‟s body or having him or her lie in warm water may help, therefore water treatments in the forms of pools or hydrotherapy may be applicable (Werner, 1987: 87). Quinn (1998) stated that a child with cerebral palsy should be exposed to a variety of sights, sounds and textures, which would greatly help to encourage their development.
Lastly, there are many types of other physical disabilities and these children end up being in wheelchairs or have a mild to moderate paralysis that causes the loss of only one arm
21 or leg. Paralysis (muscle weakness) can begin when the child is small and it may affect any muscles of the body but is most prevalent in the legs. In most cases, the intelligence and feelings of the child are not extremely affected except when the child has been paralysed due to an accident or illness. Injuries to the spinal cord can also cause paralysis of the arms and legs. Usually, the children with these types of disabilities need a lot more stimulation in order for them to become independent, healthy people later in life.
The Impact of Disabilities on the Architectural Environment
People who have physical disabilities such as those listed above are impeded from using buildings in many ways. The blind and wheelchair bound find it difficult to use stairs.
Some spaces become too small for wheelchairs to manoeuvre in and the blind struggle to find their way around without having some form of orientation training beforehand.
People who experience these barriers are referred to as being handicapped by their environments. Creating enabling environments for the disabled has become crucial to architects and designing for disabled children becomes even more of a challenge. The life story of each disabled person is unique and their experience with the surroundings shapes their entire life as Mayer Spivack stated (cited in Lifchez and Winslow, 1979: 61):
“When people live in environments restricted to a severely limited range of settings in which to carry out all the behaviour that constitutes the human repertoire, their ability to function as individuals and family groups, and the integrity and quality of their society, may be impaired. People fail to maintain deep, lasting interpersonal relationships, they may suffer in their ability to work, provide or eat food, to sleep in deep renewing comfort, play, raise children, explore and protect territory, to meet with their peers, and make decisions which control the shape and quality of life”.
Therefore, designing for the disabled requires an understanding of the implications of various disabilities on the architectural environment; be it a dwelling, hospital, school or library, each place requires a unique approach. People who are blind generally have intensified senses of touch, hearing and smell, which develop over time. For them, architectural environments should have enhanced aspects of textures, echoes from surfaces and particular smells in specific places to help them remember places and thus find their surroundings legible and easy to navigate. Anthropometrics also becomes a characteristic to greatly take into consideration, since the sizes of wheelchairs would also affect various components of building design. Brebner (1982: 121) stated that the crucial
22 aspects of building design which are directly related to people using wheelchairs are as follows:
Parking and vehicular access and covered protection becomes extremely important, as well as surfaces to pathways.
Anthropometrics defines the design of aspects such as reaching, sitting and moving through passages.
Doorways, ablutions and lifts were the main sources of problems in the past and despite recent advances, built environments still offer barriers in the form of these.
Some types of terrain will require the use of ramps for the disabled and thus, the choice of site also becomes one of the determining factors of building design (Brebner, 1982: 121).
Scale and proportion are intrinsically linked to anthropometric design and these also become important to consider. All of these aspects form part of barrier – free design, which can be described as „an environment that supports the independent functioning of individuals so that they can get to, and participate without assistance in, everyday activities such as acquisition of goods and services, community living, employment and leisure‟ (Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, 1992: 27). The concepts of accessibility and adaptability also form part of the dynamic relationship between a disabled person and the environment. However, no matter where a person is, the concepts remain basically the same, but most importantly, when designing for disabled children, one must always remember that they are children first and disabled second.
Conclusion
Since the crux of the research lies in understanding the relationship between architecture and child development, an understanding of psychology theories and child development will be set out in the following chapters. The connection and undeniable relationship between architectural environments and their impact on child development will also be explored. Therefore, sensory architecture, adaptability, anthropometrics, wayfinding and legibility, which all form part of designing barrier – free environments, will be dealt with
23 in order to gain a deeper understanding on how to create successful, sensitive built environments for children.