Viable Paradise hopes to provide a workshop that is comfortable for all of our students, faculty, and staff. For those with accessibility concerns, the Island Inn (the workshop’s venue) may pose some particular challenges.
Because of the breadth of information here, we have divided the overview into several sections:
The facility has three floors, with classes and workshop activity typically happening on two of the three (only residences are on the middle floor). The bottom floor – where group lectures and discussions are held – is accessible via outdoor stairs and an outdoor (paved/concrete) ramp. The middle floor (where most students reside in the hotel’s “Condo” suites) can be accessed via the ramp without needing to climb stairs. The third floor – where students and faculty who have taken Townhouse suites reside – is only accessible via partially-covered outdoor staircases. A number of the faculty will reside on the “middle” floor, and the workshop staff have one staff room on the “middle” floor, and one larger staff room on the third floor. In inclement weather, all staircases and walkways may prove slippery and caution is advised.
The hotel suites themselves vary in their configuration. The two-floor townhouses on the third floor feature an internal spiral staircase. We recommend that students discuss specific room configuration with the hotel when making their reservations, to ensure that a specific room will not have specific unforeseen complicating factors. However, to account for any unforeseen complications the Viable Paradise workshop will have several portable wheelchair ramps which can be loaned to students who may require them.
The vast majority of student activity is confined to a single building at the Island Inn, however students will need to visit the hotel office at check-in and check-out. The office is located in a separate building, approximately 500 feet away. The hotel provides golf carts for transport if necessary, and the Viable Paradise staff can accommodate with their cars as well.
During the week, some workshop activity may take place off-site. For example, students have one evening on the island with no scheduled activities, when they may travel into town. There are numerous transportation options, including the island’s accessible buses and taxi service. For off-site activities that organized by the workshop itself, those students who wish to may walk, while the VP Staff also drive to off-site locations to accommodate those faculty and students who do not wish to walk there or back. Please be aware that none of the current VP Staff drives a wheelchair-accessible vehicle.
While some instructors may use visual aids in the lectures (e.g. diagrams, props, etc.), the vast majority of the workshop experience occurs through conversation in small group settings. Students are expected to read and critique classmates’ stories assigned to them. All workshop material is provided on paper to incoming students. The VP Staff can also provide electronic versions of this material for use with screen readers or other accessibility tools.
As of 2019, the Island Inn did not provide braille room numbers on its doors, however the VP Staff will ensure that rooms are numbered and labeled in braille if requested. If desired, upon arrival the VP Staff can provide students with a walk through orientation of the facility so as to help establish a sense of the Island Inn, its layout, and configuration.
The Island Inn can accommodate service animals. If a student would like to bring a service animal to the workshop, we would kindly ask that they reach out to the VP Staff so that we can learn more about how to best accommodate them and their service animal.
While the hotel’s interior and immediate surroundings (balcony, patios, etc.) are well-lit, the grounds (lawns, driveway, etc.) are not. As a result, visibility at night will be limited.
We recommend that students who are visually impaired review the section about food at Viable Paradise below, as well.
Viable Paradise has a long history of working with faculty, students, and staff who are hard of hearing. As a workshop, we are able to make certain accommodations, but not others. Much of the workshop experience is oriented around group discussions, including small group discussions (8 people), larger group discussions (30 or more people), communal meals, and individual conversions. There is often cross-talk, which may cause concern for some students.
As described in our Covid-19 protocols, students, faculty, and staff at Viable Paradise 2022 will be expected to wear masks at all times (except when in the privacy of their own hotel room, or when actively eating). This is likely to have an adverse impact on the experience of students, faculty, or staff who may be hard of hearing. We apologize for this, and are planning to take several steps to improve that experience. First, lecturers will be equipped with a microphone and speakers. Second, lectures and group sessions will be equipped with a real-time transcription service via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Students who wish to, can access the video conference via their smartphones, tablets, or computers to track the auto-generated transcript in real time during sessions. While the fidelity of real-time transcription is not perfect, it is likely to provide some assistance.
After you have been accepted to the workshop and confirmed your attendance, Viable Paradise will ask you a variety of questions related to emergency management. These questions include details of your Covid vaccination status, emergency contacts, food allergies, non-food allergies, and other information that you would want a first-responder to be aware of in the event of a crisis.
This information is kept strictly confidential by the workshop, and is only used to prepare meals accordingly and provide first-responders with relevant information should it prove necessary.
Food is a big part of the Viable Paradise experience, and the workshop strongly believes that it is a glue that binds our community together. The VP Staff work hard to accommodate students’ dietary restrictions when preparing meals to the extent that we are able.
The workshop provides two communal meal daily (lunch + dinner), and snacks (fruits, vegetables, popcorn) throughout the day. Students are expected to prepare other meals themselves. Each suite at the Island Inn has a small kitchenette with a range, oven, refrigerator, and freezer.
The health and emergency details we collect will include information about food allergies and dietary restrictions. The staff will take these into account when preparing meals: Each meal will typically be served with a tasty meatless and vegan alternative, and dishes will be planned so as to eliminate allergens that students have told us about, although we cannot entirely rule out cross-contamination.
While staff works very hard to accommodate students’ dietary restrictions, there are circumstances where we cannot. These may include particularly complicated health conditions, observance of kosher or halal, etc. In these circumstances, we will privately let the student know after reviewing their dietary restrictions so that they are prepared to make their own arrangements.
Staff make regularly-scheduled trips to the local grocery store in Edgartown and are usually happy to take along passengers and/or short wish lists with cash. Please note: There are soft drink vending machines, but no snack vending machines or restaurants, on-site at the Island Inn.
With the ever-evolving pandemic situation, the workshop is actively considering how to best serve meals safely. While the specific serving logistics have yet to be finalized, they will be posted to the Viable Paradise website several months prior to the start of the workshop.
In the past, we have allowed students to bring companions with them to the workshop and invited them to participate in public activities. Unfortunately, due to the global pandemic we can no longer make these allowances. The only circumstance where companions will be allowed is in the event that a student requires a companion for assistance in some fashion, and the companion will have to adhere to all of the Covid protocols outlined by the workshop.
If you would like your companion to assist you during non-public activities – particularly lectures, critiques, etc. – we would ask that you reach out to the VP Staff for us to coordinate appropriately.
Viable Paradise strongly believes that students, faculty, and staff should all feel safe at the workshop. At the beginning of the workshop, the VP Staff provide an orientation during which we specifically discuss our harassment policy, and the steps we take to provide a healthy environment for our faculty, staff, and students. During this orientation, we also make space for faculty, staff, and students to discuss particular issues or concerns they may have.
This is a good opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to establish their own boundaries (e.g. “if I need help, I will ask”, “try not to surprise me”, etc.), set expectations (e.g. “if I seem like I’m ignoring you, I’m not – I may just not have heard/seen you”), and make requests (e.g. “if I don’t hear the joke, please repeat it”).
If you are uncomfortable speaking up about these issues in a group environment, that is okay, too. Speak with the VP Staff before orientation, and we will incorporate the message you would like delivered into our general orientation without mentioning your name or putting you on the spot.