From blind gamers to a brand-new superhero: How people with disabilities are affecting change in their hobbies
For those with disabilities, hobbies can also be a lifeline to community
For people with disabilities, hobbies aren't just fun and games, says Chloe Atkins, a University of Toronto political scientist.
People with disabilities can get very isolated, says Atkins, who is the lead researcher for a project on employment and disability.
"It's really important that these types of activities exist so that this is an avenue back to a social life. These are a way to share this knowledge and to actually demonstrate how flexible and adaptive you can be."
For Hobilities, a holiday special on CBC Radio One, CBC spoke to people with disabilities — and a couple of allies — about using their hobbies to affect change when it comes to accessibility. Here are some of those stories.
Included in the Spider-Verse
Dayn Broder found themself bitten by inspiration when 2018's pop art phenomenon Into the Spider-Verse posited that longtime web-swinging hero, Peter Parker, wasn't the only spider-person.
So Broder sketched a 30-minute doodle of a "spidersona" with forearm crutches named Sun-Spider. The character reflects Broder, as both have Ehlers-Danlos (ED) syndrome. ED is a group of inherited disorders leading to over-flexibility of joints and fragile skin.
They uploaded it to Twitter, and soon, Marvel was calling. Next, Sun-Spider swung her way through a "Fanart" section at the back of a comic. The company even included her for a final battle scene in a 2020 issue of the Spider-Verse comic series.
"I was like, yeah, yeah, go for it! Oh my God!" said Broder.
Then Sun-Spider got her very own official origin story, appearing in a 2022 issue of the Edge of Spider-Verse series. She's also slated to make a cameo appearance in the upcoming animated film Across the Spider-Verse.
"I freaked out," Broder said of their own character making the leap to the page and screen.
While Broder said they're glad they got an outlet to influence disability in comics, these days, they prefer to work as an editor, helping others leave their own marks on the page.
"I draw entirely for myself. That's just the one part of me that I don't want to feel obligated to share. If I give myself entirely to comics without keeping one thing for me — I don't know, comics might break my heart."
'It was actually video games that sucked for me'
Steve Saylor knows the feeling of having a hobby come close to breaking your heart.
After his mother got his father a Nintendo Entertainment System for Valentine's Day, Saylor, who is blind, fell in love with gaming.
"Video games were a hobby, even though I couldn't really enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I just sort of thought, well, OK, maybe video games just are not for me, or that I sucked at video games. It wasn't until much later that I realized, oh, it was actually video games that sucked for me."
The love respawned when he started his YouTube channel, "The Blind Gamer," in 2005. He said he felt this was an outlet to build community, inspire change and, most of all, have a few laughs.
"I was hanging out with some friends, and I was telling them how bad I was. And to see them being entertained and laughing at that, not laughing at me, but laughing at how bad I was, I realized, oh, I can have fun with this!"
Now, he's not only a content creator. He's also a consultant for game developers, offering guidance on things like how to use proper captioning for deaf players, and audio cues and menu narration to help blind gamers like himself.
Getting accessibility into the game
Play is central to the Accessible Sport Expo hosted in Winnipeg this past November, an event aimed at helping disabled athletes in Manitoba feel included and supported.
"We are just creating a community amongst persons with a disability, from the active aging community, anybody who might be interested in using accessible sports to be physically active in our province," said Kirby Cote, a blind Paralympic swimmer and one of the event's organizers.
"A lot of their ailments [are] just a lack of opportunity to be physically active, or just feeling like they can't be."
The expo gave them a place they could. In all, 26 organizations across the province spent an afternoon rock climbing, playing bocce ball and cycling with over 250 participants.
There's a tradition within accessible sport that competition is great, but teamwork is key. Participants and event guides all work together to make sure everyone enjoys themselves.
Erika Roddeck, who is blind, for example, tried freedom concept cycling, which is done on a bike/wheelchair hybrid with a set of handlebars in the front and back — not to be confused with tandem cycling, where two riders pedal. The rider is in control, but a guide can steer and brake.
"I am always excited to try new things that are inclusive and try to accommodate everyone," said Roddeck. "I'm able to pedal, and then the person who was running the event was able to walk or run behind me and steer me, so I was safe and I wasn't going to run into anything. He was telling me to turn left or right. It's definitely something I would do again."
Cote hopes exhibitors took away just as much as participants.
"There are not enough resources, and the organizations that are doing [accessible sports] are understaffed. So, part of this is connecting these organizations together that might be able to run events or run programming. Or maybe they just need to meet a coach or new volunteers, " Cote said.
'Imagine what we're missing out on'
At the University of Toronto, Atkins said she believes Cote is onto something about community.
Atkins leads The PROUD Project on Employment and Disability, a global research group looking at the conditions that encourage and maintain the employment of qualified disabled persons in the workplace.
But her studies aren't all about work. She found that the activities they do in their downtime help disabled people use their hobbies to contribute and connect.
"If there were activities in communities that were integrated — not just oriented — towards disabled people … it makes people who are able-bodied less afraid, less worried, about contact with people with disabilities," she said.
"It's actually up to all of us. The more we make our communities accommodating and accessible, the more productive, the more capable they are. We actually encourage greater richness if we do this. We allow people to be fully expressive of themselves. Imagine what we're missing out on."
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