Studio Every Conversations: Jade Smith from Royal School for Blind, with Kelly Dawson from Studio Every
We sat down with Jade Smith, a teacher at the Royal School for Blind in Liverpool, where she introduced us to how she as a blind teacher shares her knowledge and skills to help children learn and develop.
Starting out her career at a Design & Technology teacher, Jade brings a design mindset to her role where she has hacked and prototyped new ways for children to learn braille. She has an energy that is infectious and admirable, not to mention her humbleness. She is a T12 para athlete, becoming 1,500m England Champion in 2022.
The school is a real lesson in how to create a space for children to thrive. Hacks and modifications around the space are a hint to what we should perhaps see in all buildings. Indications to know that you’ve got the end of stairs, tactile shapes to signal a classroom on the right, and fragrance rooms to know which room you are in. It’s a multi-sensory playground that demonstrates that it is the environment around us that can make people disabled. It is a masterclass in how harnessing sensory cues can help children gain independence.
Do you see braille could become superseded by technology?
I think there was a time when technology was first introduced that braille got the reputation for being old fashioned and unnecessary. But in my opinion now the novelty has worn off, the blind community are recognising the effects of reduced use of braille, mainly upon independence. Ignoring the fact that assistive technology is highly expensive, it also comes with many downfalls and the efficiency is unreliable.
To think of a sighted person needing to make a quick note of something, they grab a scrap piece of paper and a pen. What they don’t do is open a computer or laptop and wait for it to load, they may sometimes take out their phone, but this is depending upon a charged battery and Wi-Fi or signal in some cases.
Also, in everyday situations such as using a lift, a cash machine, public transport, or general signs for example, you would take a quick look and move on. By using braille, a blind person would have this same quick ability to interact with their immediate environment as independently as everyone else. Tactile braille is reliable and consistent; therefore, I think no matter what new technology appears on the market, we will always revert back to this trustworthy system.
How can the senses enhance an experience?
As a blind person other senses can be of high value, yet at the same time can also become overwhelming. Throughout my day I make numerous ‘educated guesses’ thanks to the feedback of sound, smells, and touch. For example, I am in a new building and meeting someone in the café at lunch time. So, I follow the sounds of clinking mugs, coffee machines, and chair legs scraping on the floors. I also follow the smells of food and hot drinks, before receiving a vibration on my watch to tell me the time. Scenarios like this can be very useful and work very well when considerations have been made.
This same scenario in another location could result in a very different outcome. For example, a vast open space with high ceilings and no soft furnishings creates a loud echoing environment, therefore is unnecessarily loud and directional sounds become difficult to locate. Also, the seating area could be situated away from the food preparation area, therefore causing sensory confusion.
“I also think that it is awful how much assistive technology costs. If you are blind, access to literacy is so expensive to obtain in comparison to literacy for a sighted person. Why should blind people be penalised for their disability? ”
If there’s one thing you could change or influence what would that be? For example, a common tactile way finding system.
I think it would be useful for braille to be present in every area there is standard text. Even if it is just the initial letter for a word to support a sign or shape. As a sighted person, imagine public toilets with no male or female door signs, or even any general toilet sign, how would you know where to go?
I also think that braille should not be hidden and that it would be nice to make a feature of. Quite often braille is on a transparent material hidden underneath an information board. I would like to see it displayed proudly with the raised dots in bold contrasting colours, enticing interest and recognition from all who come across it.
I also think that it is awful how much assistive technology costs. If you are blind, access to literacy is so expensive to obtain in comparison to literacy for a sighted person. Why should blind people be penalised for their disability?
How can we ensure those with sight-loss and visual impairments are considered more in everyday interactions?
I always enjoy going to places where I am offered some form audio description. I have been to some museums where I have been given a headset to wear which reads out all the information on the boards surrounding the artifacts, as well as providing detailed descriptions. In addition, being provided with audio description headphones at the cinema, as this makes a massive difference to my understanding of the narrative and sense of inclusion.
A final example is a tour bus experience I attended. The back of each seat had a headphone jack socket so I could plug in earphones and listen to a description of the scenery and historical landmark information. I liked the fact that I could do this discreetly without announcing to everyone else around me that I require audio assistance.
“ I think that braille would reach a wider audience if it was universally present coinciding with all standard print, and why shouldn’t it be? ”
How do you see that new products and services might truly include people with sight-loss and visual impairments?
New products such as examples I mentioned in the previous question have a great impact upon inclusion. Technology and new services can be of great value if used correctly and sensitively.
I am of the opinion that technology should be used to assist and support independence, not to replace it. People with sight-loss will be more inclined to go places if they are aware of support there, such as myself with going to the cinema.
How do you think the education of braille can reach a wider audience beyond your own work?
The majority of schools promote the use of makaton to support pupils with hearing loss, even when there are no pupils present who require this. It has become the ‘norm’ to use makaton signs and symbols in everyday primary environments, so my question is, why is this not the same for braille? Often babies are signing basic words such as please, thank you, and drink etc, before they can even speak! How is it that our society has incorporated support for the deaf community so welcomingly, yet not the blind?
Almost every high street shop now has a hearing loop at the cash desk, but yet again, no braille. I think that braille would reach a wider audience if it was universally present coinciding with all standard print, and why shouldn’t it be?
Follow Jade here on insta:
Jade (@jades.vision) | Instagram
