Using Design to Redefine an Empathetic Mental Health Assessment

The Mindnosis Kit is a set of exercises that "help understand emotional distress and how to feel about it" and to reach out for help when necessary. The first tool, for instance, consists of six colourful triangles which represent areas that may be have an impact on the user's wellbeing. Once the right one has been chosen, it can be pasted into the journal with thoughts and reflections. Another tool is made of activity tools (mindfulness, cognitive behaviour therapy techniques, tips from peers). (via/more: Dezeen)

"When I was 17 I became unwell for a year. Accessing and using mental health services was a very traumatic experience which I buried and felt ashamed of for a long time.
Years after I discovered many people had had similar experiences and we all shared the same thoughts. That is why I decided to use design to redefine what an empathetic mental health assessment can look like, as done by people who had gone through it."
Sarah Lopez Ibanez

- - - - - - - - - 

photograph via Dezeen

A Do-It-Yourself Prosthetics Manual

Desiree Riny has designed a DIY prosthetics manual helping people to create their own prosthetics using e.g. bicycle parts. The inspiration for this guide was/is the very fact that most of the world's lower-limb amputees live in environments without access to professional care which again means that the latest advances in prostethics mean little to them (more: Dezeen).

- - - - - - - - - 

photograph via Dezeen

Graz: 5. Tag der Barrierefreiheit

Bilder via Behindertenarbeit

A Smart Cane

"The WeWalk stick has an ultrasonic sensor that detects obstacles above chest level and uses vibrations to warn the user. It can be paired with a smartphone to help navigation, and is integrated with a voice assistant and Google Maps."

Meet Ezra Frech

"I was born like this. I can't change it. And when I play sports, I don't feel the difference."

What's Your Story?

"There is something for everyone."

Living Big in a Tiny House: Charming + Mobility Friendly

"This tiny house has many elderly / disability friendly features which helps to make this tiny home a very liveable space. These features include design aspects such as ramps, reinforced walls for secure hand rails, and an accessibility toilet and shower. Care was taken to ensure there are zero trip hazards in the home and the dimensions of the home were even designed around the ability to use a wheelchair in the tiny house if need be."
"For those who have disabilities or mobility issues, one of the best things about a tiny house on wheels is that you can design it to your specific needs. In this case, Merle has a home where she is warm and comfortable, but most importantly, a house which has given her back her independence and dramatically increased her quality of life."
"This tiny house was constructed by Ferne’s company, Tiny Footprint in Australia."

Save the date: Ball der Viefalt | Graz

Zum vierten Mal findet nun der bezaubernd-verzaubernde Grazer Ball der Vielfalt statt, ein Ball der Menschlichkeit, Inklusion und Toleranz, ein ganz besonderer Ball, der hält was er verspricht. Inklusion ist hier kein Motto, sondern wird durch und durch gelebt; es wird auf eine Bekleidungsvorschrift verzichtet, der Eintritt ist frei, über freiwillige Spenden freut man sich, das Programm ist bunt. Auf einen wunderschönen Abend!

26. April 2019, ab 20 Uhr, Kammersäle

::: Programm: DOWNLOAD

- - - - - - - - - 

Photo via Mein Bezirk

The Architect and the Accessible City

"Alone and small in the street, my self-awareness heightens. Large swarms of hurried people part when they see me approaching. My whole identity has changed in the eyes of the city within minutes. My wheelchair is my fortress and the enemy. With its large spindly wheels as my first and only defence, they are also my burden. Jarred into an utterly complex version of what I formerly knew as reality, my eyes begin scrutinising and dissecting the cobbled street surface ahead into zones which I can and cannot access. Never before had I seen the streetscape in such meticulous detail. Tiny height differences such as curbs and grooves between cobbles become mountains, cruelly halting progress and making small advances, exhausting. Whilst battling physical obstructions, I myself have become one. If the pavements were widened, perhaps disabled citizens wouldn’t be seen as causing an obstruction. (...)"

The essay "A day in the life of a wheelchair user: navigating Lincoln" by Sophia Bannert won the Berkeley Prize. With the prize, the Department of Architecture at the University of Berkeley aims to promote "the investigation of architecture as a social art."

The whole essay: READ

- - - - - - - - - 

photograph via Millbrook

When everybody plays, we all win

"When technology empowers each of us, it empowers all of us. This Super Bowl, follow the inspirational story of passionate young gamers rising to the top of their game with a little help from their friends, family and the Xbox Adaptive Controller. The story illustrates Microsoft’s commitment to building accessible technology that levels the playing field and creates opportunity for all of us."

This ad was called the highlight of the Super Bowl 53 ("The game didn't quite live up to expectations, but Microsoft's ad for the Xbos Adaptive Controller did.") (c|net).
Thank you, Microsoft!

Breda - European City Award 2019

Ian

"To Ian, for sparkling with his smile, strenghtening us with his love, and conquering our heart."

“Ian” is a short, animated film inspired by the real-life Ian, a boy with a disability determined to get to the playground despite his playmates bullying him. This film sets out to show that children with disabilities can and should be included.
“Ian” started as a mother’s mission to educate her son’s bullies on the playground—one to one. When she realized that the need for inclusion was bigger than one playground, she wrote a book and founded Fundación ian to change thousands of minds and attitudes about people with disabilities. She approached MundoLoco, a top digital animation studio in Latin America, about creating “Ian,” an animated film to deliver the message of inclusion to audiences all over the world.
The real Ian is a fourth grader who, like most fourth graders, wants to play with his friends. But because some kids are not used to someone like Ian—someone who has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair, and a computer that works with his eye movements to communicate—they bully him and don’t include him when they play.
“The film is an opportunity for all society…to break down barriers, walls, and free us from prejudices,” Graschinsky said. The film was crafted to “guide [all children] to acquire concrete tools to be people of solidarity.”
excerpts via respect ability

Prosthetic Ballet

"I wanted to explore what would happen if you could allow a person to perform on pointe 100 per cent of the time. How would ballet change? I wanted to create a tool for someone to take and let their imagination define the capabilities of the product."
"The design of the prosthesis will change to fit the dancer, but also to match the specific movements of the newly developed choreography. However, until I meet this dancer, I will continue to develop as a designer."
Jae-Hyun An

- - - - - - - - - 

image via Dezeen

Apartments for Adults with Autism and Neurodiversities

First Place is housing "designed to nurture the spirit of community, independence and interdependence within a supportive and caring environment". The 55-unit apartment property is located in the centre of Phoenix and aims to promote safety, security and well-being by offering residents with autism "the comforts of home without the distractions that can make life challenging" (First Place).
Projects like this are important as half a million teenagers on the autism spectrum are expected to reach adulthood in the next ten years. The vast majority of them will continue living with their parents which can be challenging when parents age leaving institutionalisation the only possible solution (CityLab).

- - - - - - - - - 

image via Phoenix Business Journal

Wheelchair Superstar

"Küschall decided to use graphene to revolutionise the performance of contemporary wheelchairs with a frame that is 30 per cent lighter and 20 per cent stronger compared to classic carbon-fibre wheelchairs. 
Our goal was to design the best wheelchair in the world for the most active wheelchair users."
André Fangueiro

So you punched them? Kids meet a woman with Down Syndrome

Graz. 4. Tag der Barrierefreiheit

Dienstag, 4. Oktober 2018, Kammersäle Graz
Start 10 Uhr
Programm: LINK

- - - - - - - - - 

Foto via Graz Tourismus

Manami Ito. Nurse, Paralympian Swimmer, Violinist.

Manami Ito "lost her right arm in a traffic accident in November 2004 when she was studying to become a nurse, which initially forced her to abandon her career. However, when she went to a facility to get her artificial arm, she was impressed by people with a disability playing basketball. Since then, she began swimming as well as returning to study again to become a nurse."
Para swimming, Olympic Games

Kitchenware for Users with Sight Loss

British product designer Simon Kinneir uses "subtle sensory feedback" to help users with visual impairment.

"If somebody has sight loss, it's not black and white. If someone has hearing loss, we don't have to make huge iterations to our environments products and services, but actually we can give subtle cues and people can work with those.
Self-confidence in the kitchen improves self-sufficiency for people with sight loss. Whether through temperature, sound, or movement, these products amplify active processes in the task at hand."
Simon Kinneir 

"The Leaven jug features a slanted container made of stainless steel, suspended in a tubular metal framework with an angled base. As the jug is filled up its balance changes, causing it to tip forward slightly so a user touching its frame knows when it is nearly full." (via Dezeen)



image via Dezeen

"Oh, isn't it wonderful?"