By KJ Hepworth

It’s no secret that all people have good days and bad days. Or that some people have a lot less access to good days due to discrimination, being excluded, and the violence of structural inequities.

The more privileged we are, the luckier we seem to be. The closer we are to the centres of power, the more we are catered to. The information we need shows up when and how we prefer it, and we benefit from the understanding and insight that brings.

Would you believe me if I told you that graphic recording can play a big part in making more good days for some people? Or that graphic recording can temporarily bridge social disparities and empower people with greater access to understanding?

Findings from a range of sciences tell us that the key elements of graphic recording – illustrative depictions combined with words, visualising complex concepts, images being drawn as words are said, and hand-rendered aesthetics – help people learn better, retain information, translate facts into personally meaningful understanding, and feel positively toward the subjects being displayed.

While science says the inherent qualities of graphic recording benefit learning and enjoyment for all people, the benefits really shine for people facing temporary incapacity and permanently disabled people.

Capacity to understand information and participate in events are temporary privileges. Some people enjoy them for some parts of our lives. No-one enjoys full understanding their whole lives, from the time they are born to the time they die. Babies don’t see or hear most of what’s around them at first, let alone understand it. And it is a privileged few who age with their complete adult understanding and access in tact until thwir last breaths. We are built to rely on one another for information, just as much as any other kind of access.

All human life has variable capacity built in by design. Apart from developmental and ageing challenges to understanding, there’s also many other understanding gaps throughout life. Hormonal changes – such as in teenagehood, menopause, and gender affirming care – often bring brain fog and temporary loss of access to some thinking skills. So do toxic long-term stress, overwork, and burnout. So do hunger and housing insecurity.

For some people, all these life ups and downs in access to understanding are made more complex by having less access to understanding as our baseline. This is sometimes called neurological disability, developmental disability, learning disability, or acquired brain injury.*

When the thing people don’t have as much access to is understanding, graphic recording helps even more than for the rest of us.