Disability and artistic performance: Reconsidering rehabilitation and assistive technology

Abstract

We argue for the importance of disabled persons’ access to creative expression. For disabled individuals, the development and enhancement of personhood may not be tied so much to everyday functioning, as to the opportunity for creative expression that affords dignity because it is recognized and validated by a community. Drawing on work by Erving Goffman and Judith Butler, we argue that creative performances can subvert the performativity (in Butler's sense) of disability. We posit that the inclusion of disabled persons in artistic performance settings may contribute to enhanced understanding and more positive attitudes toward disability by others in society. Our views have relevance for health care professionals, for policy-makers and for assistive technology research and development. This article draws on our experience with the concert debut of a novel device – the Virtual Musical Instrument™ (VMI) developed at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto, Canada.

Keywords:

• arts
• well-being
• disability
• rehabilitation
• assistive technology

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the work of Tom Chau, Eric Wan, Pierre Duez, and Andrea Lamont in the development of the VMI. They would like to thank Diane Savage, Senior Director, Participation and Inclusion, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, and the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation for their support of the project. They would also like the thank the VMI performer and all who agreed to be interviewed. This research was approved by the Holland Bloorview Research Ethics Board on October 25, 2011 (File no. 11–260).