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Description

How accessible is your meeting place? Turn into a top team of disability detectives and find out. taken from the Scouts Beta Site.

Source https://www.scouts.org.uk/activities/disability-detectives/

Resources

Pens or pencils
Detective Cards PDF

Change the level of challenge
- If you have a camera (or smartphone), people could take pictures of the meeting place as well as (or instead of) making notes.
- People can tell the helper what they found, and the helper can make notes.
- Groups can swap cards once they’ve finished if they want to. They could also give another group a tour, pointing out everything they found.
- Many organisations support and advocate for disabled people—you could invite them along to talk to everyone, and even help with the activity. Some parents and carers may be able to help (or lend an expert opinion) too.

Take it further
You may want to explore the changes you could make as part of your Community Impact Staged Activity Badge.

Youth shaped guidance
If people find something they could change about their meeting place, empower them to plan and make the changes themselves, whether they make some better signs or fundraise for a ramp.

Instructions

1. Everyone should sit in a circle. The person leading the activity should ask if anyone knows what ‘disability’ means, and whether anyone can name any ways people can be disabled.

2. The person leading the activity should help everyone understand what a disability is, and different ways people may be disabled. We’ve included some 'Disability facts' below [PDF], and the 'Disability detective cards' [PDF} to help you explain. This activity focuses on people who use mobility aids, people who are blind or partially sighted (or have a visual impairment), and people who are Deaf or deaf (or have a hearing impairment), so you may want to focus on these examples.

3. The person leading the game should explain that disabled people are often excluded and left out from activities, events, and experiences because they haven’t been designed to include everyone. They should explain that we can change things to make them more inclusive so everyone can join in.

4. Everyone should think of ways they’ve seen things made accessible. For example, have they seen a ramp on a bus, or a bus that says the stops out loud? Have they seen museums with displays in braille or videos with subtitles?

5. Everyone should split into groups of between four and six people. The person leading the activity should give each group a Disability detective card, a pencil or pen, and a helper who’s a confident reader. If you have more than three groups, it’s OK if more than one has the same card.

6. Each group should work together to explore their meeting place. What makes it safe and accessible for the people on their card? Is there anything that could be changed to make their meeting place more accessible? It’s probably best for each group to start in a different place, so they don’t bump into each other. Make use of as much of your space as you can, both indoors and outdoors.

7. Once each group has filled their card with discoveries, everyone should gather back together in a circle. They should gather in the middle of the space, so they can see as much of it as possible without needing to move.

8. Each group should share some of their findings. If they found something that wasn’t very accessible, everyone should share their suggestions about what they could do to improve the space: maybe they’ll fundraise to buy a ramp, or make some signs in larger print.


Reflection
- This activity helped you to respect others. Why is it important to make sure spaces are accessible? How accessible was your meeting place—what things (good and bad) did you notice? People may have noticed things like stairs, high up handles, switches, or cupboards, or a lot of written notices.
- This activity also helped you to care. Imagine if you were disabled and came to join in all of the fun. Think about one way of being disabled you’ve talked about today. Closing your eyes may help you think more clearly. How accessible are your meeting place and activities? How do you think you’d feel before you came for the first time, if you weren’t sure if you’d be included? How would it feel if you were included? What about if you were left out? Everyone should open their eyes. You can do a lot to make sure people are included: you can be welcoming and make sure you include people in your games and activities, and you can try to make sure the people in charge of activities and places make changes so everyone can take part.

Tags

• Disability Awareness

Badge Links

• Disability Awareness - Building accessibility
• Disability Awareness - Disability definition