The thinking process of a partially blind builder
A new perspective on thinking; how a blind person is able to utilise technology, tools and strategy to overcome design barriers in his world.
I asked my friend Hussein Patwa to write this post after he talked me through his process for building a wardrobe from IKEA whilst being blind! Hussein is an accessibility consultant and on the panel of Scotland’s Mobility Access Committee.
He provides me often with a unique perspective on the world which helps me think differently and grow as a designer. Hopefully it will help you too!
Enjoy the post!
To this day I still get funny looks when I mention the words ‘blind’ and ‘shooting’ in the same sentence. It comes whenever I mention one of my hobbies, air rifle shooting. But as with many things related to disability, it can be done, and I do.
I’m Hussein Patwa and I’m 35 years old. I’m a self-employed accessibility consultant, self-certified tech geek and after a year of lockdowns (and most likely beforehand) probably a little nuts too. Scratch that, a lot. I’m registered blind and also suffer from chronic pain. The blindness is a challenge to be overcome, and the pain is a fiery, devastating, ever-present, and most definitely unwanted companion. I’ve done many things in my life; played the piano, toured Myanmar and built my computer from scratch to name but a few, but all of these gratefully received help at some point along the way. Some things simply can’t be done due to physical limitations; lifting something that is just too heavy, balancing on an unstable platform without someone to hold it steady, or in my case, seeing and understanding pictures and diagrams.
So, when last year I decided to build my own flatpack wardrobe from scratch without any help, it was a cut above the rest. People have asked me how I did it without injuring myself (or the house) and so I decided to detail the process I followed in the hope it will inspire others to try something new or to persevere with something they thought was impossible.
As with any well-run project, the first thing to do was to see what I had to work with, and more importantly, to use the parts to work out what the end result should be. I knew it was a 3 door, 4 drawer wardrobe from the basic product description on the shop’s website but working out on what side the doors should be mounted, or where the dividers should be placed was down to logic alone — and if I’m honest, a little trial and error.
It may sound strange given my sight issues, but I’ve found that visualisation is everything; taking each piece of wood, screw, and dowel individually, feeling it, getting to know it inside and out and using that knowledge to mentally map out the possible ways they could be put together to form the desired result. It’s a process of elimination starting with the largest parts, the sides, and using touch to work out which size screws fit into their respectively correct holes to join everything up, a little like a jigsaw. By the time I was finished, I had an intimate knowledge of what I had to work with and a fairly promising idea of the steps needed to put the wardrobe together. How I would physically manage it was a completely different story.
People say it all the time, but organisation is pivotal not only to the success of any project but also to reducing frustration and the risk of irreparable mistakes and keeping to a good pace. Before starting anything, I had all the major parts of the unit together with their corresponding screws and connectors separated out across my room, the landing and even the stairs in what must have seemed to my mum like organised chaos, but what to me was clear as a well-designed flowchart. I also had all my tools charged and close at hand.
Speaking of tools, modern tech has opened up a world of opportunities and independent projects for disabled people. Previously unsurmountable problems are now resolved with commonplace solutions. The user manual was available electronically and was accessible via my Android tablet and Talkback screen reader. It didn’t help with the pictures, but I could read the measurements of each part, match them up with what I had in front of me and map them to the minimal textual instructions. I have an excellent (though expensive) talking tape measure and an app on my phone that acts as a spirit level. Blu Tack is great for temporarily marking positions and a small slice of Velcro is just enough to hold two bits of wood together until they can be screwed into place.
So how do you build a wardrobe that clearly requires two people when you’re in the midst of a pandemic and determined to manage yourself? You improvise. I used foam blocks that came with the packaging to raise the base off the floor so I could reach underneath, a pile of DVD cases to support a shelf that needed more than two hands and at one point even used a bungee cord with hooks to hold the whole thing together whilst I tacked the backboards into place. As they say, your imagination really is the limit. Research is also essential, both for safety and to avoid costly mistakes. YouTube has a wealth of how-to videos, although many lack audio descriptions needed to relate to what’s going on. Google is good for the rest with articles and reviews and doesn’t discount user forums where others are keen to provide detailed explanations if you just ask.
“Another time the mostly finished skeleton collapsed just before I could tighten it up, cracking one of the boards and leaving me to start from the ground up. It may have deterred some, but not me.”
However, if this all sounds like it was all plain sailing and that nothing went wrong, think again. One time I accidentally kicked a screwdriver and lost half a day waiting for Mum to come home so she could help me find it (she did, in about 30 seconds). Another time the mostly finished skeleton collapsed just before I could tighten it up, cracking one of the boards and leaving me to start from the ground up. It may have deterred some, but not me. Off I scurried to Amazon for some wood filler and then continued right on. Then, just when I was right on the finishing edge, the last dowel needed to join the top onto the rest of the unit just wouldn’t slot into place, no matter what I tried. I spent two days assaulting the top with hammers, chisels, and anything else I could think of to no avail. I even had the crazy notion of just scrapping everything, buying a new unit, and starting from scratch, but something in me just couldn’t give up. Almost crying with frustration, so close but yet so far, I thumped the top panel — and just like that, it popped into place. My hand was in agony, but the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment was indescribable.
This is perhaps an extreme example and not something one does every day, but it hopefully proves the point that anything is achievable if you put your mind to it, cast aside the typical stereotypes and nay-sayers and above all, believe in yourself. Organisation, research, technology and improvisation are tools to help make life easier, but in my experience, the biggest barrier to success is your own self-doubt that can limit you from using the resources that are available.
So, if this has inspired you or given you the urge to try something new, then in the words of Johann Goethe, ‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.’
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