September 12, 2023
Every year, we have an event where we meet with young designers. This year, 90 young designers joined us in the field of Inclusive Design. Our focus is on understanding and empathizing, not just feeling pity. It is essential for designers to communicate with users to gather initial information…
Morning session: The boys and girls tried to experience disabilities; some closed their eyes, while others had their arms and legs tied. Even though it was just a few hours, they got a sense of how it feels when their bodies change.
Afternoon session: It involved providing concrete information. We started by listening to the voices who had experienced disabilities. I sat and listened to them with a full fill of the happiness.
This year, Khun Golf from the Disability Support Services Center join us to provide information about support centers and provided us wheelchairs for the boys and girls to try.
We also had Beckham, Rose, and Khai (Visual impairment group) and Mai and Model (Mobility group) who joined us to provide insights into various aspects of life, education, and daily living.
We demonstrated the use of various necessary equipment, and the new generation of designers were very excited, asking questions enthusiastically.
My role is to summarize the big picture, consider equality in all dimensions, whether it’s urban accessibility, public transportation systems, or even societal attitudes. Surely we all knew everything is interconnected.
Every year, I take information from our work, pickup interesting topics to raise awareness among these new generation. Our city, which I call the “War Zone,” the public transportation systems both in terms of physical infrastructure and services, and various issues around us are products that were initially created without considering everyone, and we still see these problems every day…
I conclude my speech by challenging them: In designing products for this year, anything is good, but if anyone designs something interesting related to people’s lives, such as safety and accessibility, they will get all my points on my hands.
For at least 7 years x 7 generations about 700 we have had the young gen who understand the others.
What I see today is that these mischievous young people are having fun, and everyone is lovely. Tomorrow, they will be the force for change. When they grow up and become workers, managers, community leaders, or even national leaders, our city will undoubtedly change.
Thanks to the management team, Professor Renato and the faculty of the Inclusive Design staff team for supporting every idea in the presentation and Thammasat University, Rangsit campus for always prioritizing this issue. Thanks to Khun Nirut and the photographer from APTU, we have beautiful photos every year.
It’s not just about people with disabilities. Providing knowledge is the sustainable way to solve long-lasting problems. A new world we can build in by our hands.
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