Access - is it that bad?

[scipilot]

Access - Is it Really that Bad?

OK disabled people all moan about it, all have horror stories to tell but as a w/chair user of more than thirty years and having a long memory I can positively say ‘things are definitely on the up’

OK before you shoot me down in flames with your stories of ‘I can’t get in here or I cant get in there’ let me explain a little more.

30 years ago at the tender age of 16, I came out of hospital after being in for 11 ½ months. I could not cross most roads as dropped curbs were a rare thing. Going into a pub (yes even at 16) was near on impossible and you would be frowned upon for doing so.

I remember being denied access to many places such as cinemas because I was a Health & Safety risk’ in case a fire broke out. Booking a hotel was near on impossible and as for flying, I’d have more luck trying to grow wings.

Disabled people didn’t drive cars either, they had (Bright Blue) ‘invalid carriages’ that stood out like a sore thumb and shouted out ‘Look I’m disabled’

Not only have there been many improvements in this time but more importantly peoples attitudes have changed a great deal and I really do mean a GREAT deal. We now have a place in society but further more are excepted in the big bad outside world.

OK so there are still places we cant access and to be honest there always will be but on a whole we have evolved in leaps and bounds.

Correcting all the worlds access issues is a mammoth task, especially in a country as old as the UK but we are getting there, no longer can we be denied access to cinemas, booking (most) hotels is now possible and yes, they even have disabled rooms (Something that was not heard of not so long ago in the past) not only have ‘Invalid carriages’ been scrapped but the word invalid has been scrapped with it. (UK)

We are getting there, we just need to see it.

[Bobbi]

Thank you for relaying how access has improved in the U.K. It is important to be able to know from others' perspectives - or regions.

I know that things have improved in the U.S., too, which is where I am, only there are still so many barriers to access. Some are more obvious than others, and some hurt worse than others. It's all subjective.

Take theatres here, for example: only "x" number (or a set number of seating spaces) are designated for the disabled. It's not possible to make use of tickets gifted or given as a gift for a certain production. It shoots the gift down when someone has purchased tickets for a certain broadway show, but, those tickets cannot be used but must be turned in and exchanged for a different gift certificate (use at a later date). Also, no orchestra seating. It's all way, way back. No choice. It's just how it is.

Another example? Amtrak. I was asked by an attendent or porter to help lift my own chair. Uhhh, makes total sense, doesn't it, considering I use the chair. (The train's lift system for the disabled car was broken... and I was supposed to help remedy that problem.)

There are several more examples I could cite, only I understand the points you're making.

Strides have been made, granted. At the same time, though, progress happens as a result of people who turn activist.

[scipilot]

I agree 100% with you Bobbi we must continue to fight so things continue to improve.

But coming from the older school of disabled people i can compare back a few years (too many i'm afraid) as see where we have come from. It will be a few more years before we are able to go, or use all the facilities and services currently on offer to the non-disabled but yes keep fighting guys n gals a those years will soon be here :)

[Bobbi]

Wouldn't it be such a delight just to be able to have the same access as AB - without having to "work" for that access so tirelessly :).

I mean, everything is so totally affected: transit, shopping, health care (and that should be a no-brainer but some places that legally don't face compliance with ADA for access, depending when those offices set up "shop," do seem to cater to a select customer/client base they wish to attract).

[scipilot]

Wouldn't it be such a delight just to be able to have the same access as AB

Would also be nice if every time it rained, gold fell from the sky, that aint going to happen either but at least we can say the rain is easing :)

[snowmelts]

The ADA laws in the USA help so many more disabilities.
True, I understand many of the non-disabled think of disabled as being in a wheel chair.
It's a misconception.

There are those fall through the cracks, of course.
My elderly mother used canes and then a walker.
She can't drive so she uses a Sr Citizen Van to get to the DR and such untill she had the walker.
The vans are equiped with stairs for those who can climb stairs and lifts for those in wheelchairs, but those useing walkers are left out. People with walkers cannot stand on the wheel chair lift or risk losing balance and falling.
So she had to stop useing the Vans because they remain unaccessable, in a safe manner, to people using walkers.

That said I still must shout to the rooftops how much I love the help provided under ADA laws for many disabilities.

I am legally deaf. Have been since I was about 24. At that time I lost the ability to use a telephone, hear the TV, movies or music.
From age 24 to 40 those were useless to me.
Then things changed. Technology developed Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf (TDD) and Closed Caption for TV's. Still these were very expensive to privately buy.

For 16 years I had not watched TV. For me the Closed Caption Converter Box as well worth the expense. Very few shows or movies were captioned but those that were ment a lot to me.

The TDD had extrememly limited use since it could only communicate with another TDD. A few churches and organizations began helping us by haveing hours were volunteers would "relay" a call to a normal phone for us. We had communicarion but it was still extremely limited.

Then along came the ADA laws and made my life so much better.

All TV's made in the USA over 13" must by law now have Closed Caption abilities built in. so many, actually, most TV shows and movies shown on TV, VCR tapes or DVD are now captioned.

A national "relay" service was establised and I could call anyone I pleased any time of day or night via my TDD.
You have no idea how VERY VERY much this means to me.

It reopened up a world that I had been locked out of.

But YES all this stuff needs fought for. Each individual fight counts.

I fought, just me and my trusty typewriter, to get a TDD established at the University I attended in my mid 30's so I could call them on my TDD. ( a normal university, not a special one for hearing loss). I SUCCEEDED. This was BEFORE the ADA laws. My own personal little drop added to that bucket of fights.:p

The ADA law DOES state that hospitals do have to have a TDD available for admitted patients ..but.. sadly this has to be worked on. A few times my hearing loss relatives have been hospitalized and each time we had to push and force the hospital to come up with a TDD for thier room.

Mother is currently ill and in a nurseing home therapy wing. They suggested she bring her own TDD for calls. So she did. BUT sadly she (and I) can't make it work to call out. I can call in, complicated way of doing it, but it can be done.
I've complained about the calling out problem but so far it's not fixed.
I do believe they are working on figureing out how to fix it.
Gotta say the medical care there is really wonderful, but the phone situation there isn't quite yet meeting equal access needs of the deaf.

[scipilot]

The ADA laws in the USA help so many more disabilities.
True, I understand many of the non-disabled think of disabled as being in a wheel chair.
It's a misconception.

Very true. In the UK wheelchair users represent only 4% of all disabilities. A great post there snowmelts :)

[brainandspinalcord]

Wow that's awful how many things people were denied just because of being in a wheelchair. I think the younger generation in particular doesn't understand just how hard it was to get to the point things are at now, and how much struggle was involved.

[scipilot]

Wow that's awful how many things people were denied just because of being in a wheelchair. I think the younger generation in particular doesn't understand just how hard it was to get to the point things are at now, and how much struggle was involved.

Very true indeed. ;)