The neuroscience of words and universal design
The picture I placed above it’s there for a reason, and I’m going to go back to it later on. For now I don’t want you to pay attention too much to the picture.
The first thing that we are going to look at are some of the ideas that we are seeing more and more of in the world of design. Every day we are becoming more conscious that we can benefit from more inclusive design. And to take more universal approaches to design, absolutely benefits everyone.
A lot of the terms in accessibility have evolved to use person-first language. The really good thing about that is the idea that people come first and that the person is the most important factor; this shows an advancement in our empathy as designers. But I think that the idea goes further for true universal design. I think bridging the gap between inclusivity and design is the language we use. And here is why:
Words affect our experience, on a neurochemical level
There are studies that show that the types of words that we use release neurochemicals in our brains. Certain positive words can release oxytocin and negatively associated words can release cortisol⁽¹⁾.
Cortisol is going to cause all sorts of reactions in the brain because its release causes many reactions that can make a person become and feel more stressed, this can lead to them becoming more reactive and sensitive. Words even if they are just brought into the conversation once will trigger a chemical reaction and our brains will respond.
Now the thing about this is that the way words are formed, there is an emotional association that is created with words. And it’s a lot faster for us to react to words with a negative association⁽²⁾, half as fast as positive words actually.
That reaction happening in the brain doesn’t end there, because of the stress and anxiety releasing hormones introduced to the system, that according to a study even imagining negative words can cause, a person can become defensive.
“However, a single negative word can increase the activity in our amygdala (the fear center of the brain). This releases dozens of stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters, which in turn interrupts our brains’ functioning.”
And take that one step further.
A look at another study⁽⁴⁾ that talks about the way words are formed in our brains, show that there is this area called Broca’s area where you don’t actually have to speak or listen or read the word to get the same reaction.
For example, when you look at a stop sign, you don’t actually read the word stop anymore, you already have an immediate reaction as to what that is. And there’s a lot of things in this world that you already have that immediate reaction with.
So, I want to go ahead and introduce to you an alternative to one of the terms that recently came up while collaborating on a project.
I was talking to a friend the other day and as soon as I said in the nicest most careful way, the phrase “person with disability”. I saw that as soon as the word came up, there was a change in expression, it was subtle. In the face of the person, I could see that the label was hurtful because of the association that that word has had, it hurtfully doesn’t describe the person it describes something else. Like a good friend, I thought “wait, wait.. let’s try something different”. And this sparked an awesome conversation.
And talking to this person they illuminated my mind by telling me that they prefer to see things as challenges. And that they have had these challenges and they are living their lives. They are used to these challenges, and so we coined the term “people with unique challenges”.
At some point after that I went to get something to eat and I got out of my car and I saw those two blue lines in the parking lot and I said:
“hmm Person with a Unique Challenge”
And then come to think of it, it makes sense. It makes sense because there are different situations that may cause you to have unique challenges, it could be temporary, situational, or permanent challenge. I like it because it’s also broad enough to include just about anyone at some point in time.
There’s a Harvard business review article⁽⁵⁾ that also talks about the way that organizations and people use language in order to create better more inclusive cultures and relationships that actually can lead to higher performance. Changing the language can affect organizations and teams.
Challenges are also things we can relate with. We can handle challenges as human beings. It’s what we do.
And speaking for myself, I wear glasses. I have broken some bones in the past. I’ve also had to balance a lot of groceries with a toddler on one arm. These are unique challenges, some a lot of people can relate to.
a unique challenge = almost universally applicable
That kind of language allows for a variety of reason, it also indicates that it’s a person and you relate to that, and you can release that oxytocin and you can create these new words in your Broca’s area, so that when you look at a parking lot again and you see a space for person with unique challenges. You don’t have an idea of who that is, it could be anyone or maybe it could be you.
That I think is the idea that I wanted to add to the movement of universal design. Let’s use universally applicable language.
Sources
[1]. Neuroscience News. “How Words Get an Emotional Meaning.” Neuroscience News, 9 Jan. 2019, neurosciencenews.com/words-emotion-meaning-10474.
[2].“Do Words Hurt? Brain Activation during the Processing of… : PAIN.” LWW, journals.lww.com/pain/Abstract/2010/02000/Do_words_hurt__Brain_activation_during_the.7.aspx. Accessed 18 Sept. 2020.
[3]Therese J., Borchard. “Words Can Change Your Brain.” Psych Central, 27 May 2019, psychcentral.com/blog/words-can-change-your-brain-2.
[4]. Sutherland, Stephani. “When We Read, We Recognize Words as Pictures and Hear Them Spoken Aloud.” Scientific American, 1 July 2015, www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-we-read-we-recognize-words-as-pictures-and-hear-them-spoken-aloud/?error=cookies_not_supported&code=22b7ca66-93dd-4a53-88de-6df6aadc74b0.
[5]. “The Neurochemistry of Positive Conversations.” Harvard Business Review, 6 Dec. 2017, hbr.org/2014/06/the-neurochemistry-of-positive-conversations.
[6]. Kruse, Tom. “The Neuroscience Behind Our Words.” BRM Institute, 6 Aug. 2019, brm.institute/neuroscience-behind-words.
