A Silent Friday Night Out

A Silent Friday Night Out 

By: Samantha Freeman 

HS-3300- 02

For my accessible date project, I did not know anyone that was disabled so I had to imagine what it would be like to take a friend of mine who was deaf out of a Friday. I tried to think of all the possible challenges when planning the day out but I think until I am actually in the situation it is hard to imagine every possible obstacle that we way come in contact with. When I sat down to plan my day out I thought it would be a good idea to go to subway and to Brunswick Zone XL to go bowling and play arcade games. Finally, we would come back to my apartment and play a game spades (a card game). During this assignment I took the opportunity to actually go out with one of my friends to give me a better idea of the environments I wanted to bring my pretend date to. The main obstacle we would have had during the evening if I actually went on a date was with a person that was deaf was how would we communicate. Well I don’t know sign language and he did not speak fully we decided to text back and forth. It would have ended up working very well and during my pretend date I think that would have been my only option on a way of communicating. 

Ë Accessibility: When we went to subway the environment was not very assessable for a person that is deaf.  Since, you have to tell the person everything that you want on your sandwich from start to finish. So my friends just choose from the pre-made sandwiches and I did the same we both ended up getting a meatball sub.  Once we got to Brunswick Zone XL we got a lane and began to bowl. The bowling alley was very accessible for a person that is deaf do to the fact that it is so loud most people don’t talk that much when they bowl. It is also an activity that we could have fun doing and we could be up and moving around. 

Ë Comfort: In all three environments were very comfortable. I thought that the bowling alley was very comfortable because it was not too crowded and it would allow people with a disability to move freely within the environment. When I first thought of a date I figured subway would’ve been a fine place to grab a bit to eat but I was wrong. For a person that is deaf subway is not the best place to go for dinner. The reason being is that when you enter in subway there are no menus to point to and you have to tell the person behind the counter everything you want.  Although the environment was very comfortable and we enjoyed our meal.

Ë Activity:  The activity of the restaurant was not that intense. When we arrived it was not very busy at all so we were able to walk directly up to the counter and began to order. When we arrived at the bowling alley there was a lot of activity but it was not too overwhelming. Even when the bowling alley has a lot of activity it is well organized and not to crowded.

Ë Meaning: The bowling alley has a lot of meaning culturally in the United States.  Since it is where people play games and watch sports while bowling. Often times there are some bars, and many have family nights, and cosmic bowling. There are even Saturday and Sunday morning leagues for people to participate in weekly. One of the great things is that even if a person is deaf they can still experience all those things. This is a great place to bring a person that is deaf because they are able to be apart of something that is so common in American culture with minimal obstacles. They can just have fun and do what everyone else gets to do.

Ë Privacy: When we went to subway there was some privacy while we were eating because it was not that crowed. Although at the bowling alley there was little to no privacy but the upside was we were able to interact with our environment. When we had privacy was when we got back to my apartment to play cards.  Since this allowed the two of us to have selective control over the amount of people that were with us.

Ë Sensory Stimulation: At Brunswick Zone XL there was a lot of sensory stimulation. When we entered the bowling alley it was 10:00 p.m. so they were just starting comic bowling and the black lights were going. The music was loud although my date was deaf he could have felt the vibration of the strong bass since the chair were vibrating. Also the feeling of touch was stimulated since we were bowling and playing arcade games. At my apartment there is not much sensory stimulation except for a couple pictures. 

Ë Sociality- There is a high degree of sociality at the bowling alley. People are everywhere we look and the way you sit at the bowling it forces people to communicate. When we came back to my apartment to play card there was still a degree of sociality since we were the only two people we did interacted among one another.

Ë Crowding- At the bowling alley there was some crowding since you have to share your space to bowl with strangers. At subways there was not any crowding and we basically have the restaurant to ourselves. At my apartment when we played cards there was not any crowding since we were the only ones home.  

Overall I think this assignment really opened my eyes and it made me think of the simple things I take for granted.