I have done pioneer work on developing the process of comprehensive accessibility. / suom. Olen tehnyt pioneerityötä kokonaisvaltaisen saavutettavuuden prosessin kehittämisen parissa.
Accessibility is a living, contextual, and collective process, in which we take part in, all the time. Access is the starting point of my work, not the last thing on a to do -list.
The access work I do, centres inclusive and reciprocal cooperation. This contains recognizing and welcoming disabled people’s skills and leadership. “Nothing about us, without us” – we need disabled expertise to succeed in access work. I have gained my current, ever-developing skills and knowledges in practice, and by learning from other crip and disabled people and collectives in Finland and internationally.
Access work is collective work: I have collaborated with multiple institutions, projects, and collectives in Finland and abroad. I have most experience in access work for chronically ill audiences and professionals, in the context of arts and culture.
I have given speeches, workshops, trainings, and consultation sessions on comprehensive accessibility for more than a dozen institutions, e.g. Stroom Den Haag (The Neatherlands), UrbanApa, and kuudestila dance festival.
In Finland, some grassroots collectives I have cooperated with are for example Just Another Crip Group, Crip Care Network Helsinki, Crip Student Organisation, and Opiskelijat Leikkauksia Vastaan (Students Against Cuts). With Just Another Crip Group, we have organized a more accessible and non-commercial rampa pride event since 2022. In making the event, we have explored different access strategies, emphasis on how to best communicate about accessibility.
In the field of arts, I have also worked with the Baltic Circle International Theatre Festival. In 2022-23, I was a facilitator in their multi-year ‘Coming Stage’ -project, funded by Kone Foundation. I did extensive access work with
a) the festival institution,
b) the two crip artistic working groups I convened and facilitated,
c) with audiences,
and between all of these actors.
The areas of access work included for example communication, working methods, physical access, language access, sensorial access, consent practices, and access riders.
After the first year of the coming stage -project, our piece “inviting precarious perspectives” was awarded with the Theatre act of the year 2023 -award.
During the second year, we created a crip performance “rampa landscape – lazy, late, absent”. We paid particular attention to creating access for neurodivergent, visually impaired, and chronically ill audiences. In the process, we also worked together with an Expert in audio description, Anu Aaltonen. In November 2023, our piece premiered at Iiris centre for people with visual impairments.