Disability Access News

Steve Blum of Fairport has Down's syndrome, and has worked at a hardware store for six years. He said he's never had a bad interaction with people he has met at his workplace or in the community.

"I like to talk to them like people," Steve said. "Because that's how I see people in general, just as people. Not with disabilities, race, color or whatever, I just see them as people and hopefully they'll see me in that same way."

Though Steve feels a sense of acceptance in society, the same is not always the case for other persons with disabilities – which is why disability advocates are working to remind the community that people with disabilities are people first.

"If I'm sitting with an individual that has a disability, I think that people automatically see a disability," said Fanny Furgiuele, service coordinator for ARC of Monroe. "And they focus on me, or they try to communicate with me, to communicate with them."

Advocates say speak directly to a person with disabilities, make eye contact, and when describing someone, remember that a disability is only a diagnosis. It's something a person has, it's not what a person is.

"Just keeping in mind how your words affect others and what you say is very important," said Furgiuele.

As Steve likes to say, it all comes down to the "Golden Rule."

"Treat others as you like to be treated," he said.

The ARC of Monroe is holding an upcoming open house at their new Institute for Social Inclusion. For more information on this event, check out the Related Link to this story.

I thank the New Vision, for highlighting the plight of persons with disability as seen in the April 16 issue article titled �Parents advised on disabled kids.

The article quoted Dr. Regina Zulianello, a paediatric physiotherapist with Katalemwa Chesire Home in Kamwokya, as saying that many children with disabilities die because their parents and guardians associate disability with witchcraft.

Zulianello's views correspond very well with the findings of Uganda National Action on Physical Disability (UNAPD), a non-governmental organisation for people with disabilities.

Zulianello asserted that many Ugandans have wrong beliefs about the causes of disability, coupled with a bad attitude towards people with disability.

It is worrying that there are many average Ugandans who still believe that disability is caused by witchcraft or a punishment from God.

Such people fail to take their children with disabilities to hospitals because they fear to be seen around disabled people. The result of this is that the child may die due to neglect or failure to get adequate treatment for the disability at an early stage. This might even result into secondary disability. Parents should take their children to health facilities as soon as they detect a disability in them because many disabilities can be corrected at an early stage.

The main causes of disability are birth defects, accidents and diseases like polio and malaria.

We should not look at the disabled people as a burden to society. This burden is created by you when you fail to socially, spiritually and economically empower disabled people the way you do your normal children. All children, regardless of their physical status, should be treated in the same way. They should have access to the basic human needs.

Ugandans should look at people with disability with a positive attitude so as to enable them realise their full potential.

Hamad Lubwama
Information Officer UNAPD

Published on: Saturday, 26th April, 2008

A WOMAN walking from Kalgoorlie to Perth to highlight the lack of disability services in regional areas passed through Merredin on the weekend.

Jo Russell, whose children Daniel (18) and Megan (4) suffer from autism, said people in rural and remote communities were considerably disadvantaged by the lack of support.

Ms Russell, who was born in Merredin but now lives in the Goldfields city, said the walk from Kalgoorlie had taken four months to prepare and had been tough on all involved, but would be worthwhile.

She will present a petition to Kalgoorlie MLA Matt Birney on the steps of Parliament House when she arrives in Perth next week.

Ms Russell attended St Mary’s Catholic School when she lived in Merredin and later worked at the Southern Cross Hospital as a registered nurse.

When she arrived in Merredin on Saturday, she was met by family and friends and said it was great to be back in the town.

She is being accompanied on the walk by her husband, John and 73 year old father, Cobber Roger who is a well known former resident of the district.

The walkers passed through Carrabin about 12 noon on Anzac Day on their way to a night stop at Mr Rogers’s brothers in Burracoppin.

Ms Russell left Burracoppin on Saturday morning to walk into Merredin and was met on the way by her cousin Dianne Grigson who escorted her into town.

She said she could hardly walk when they arrived in Southern Cross and had to replan some of their strategies.

“My feet have been badly blistered so I have spent some time cycling to alleviate the problem,” she said.

“But the support and encouragement from communities and motorists has been great.

“Every person we see agrees with what I am doing and we have collected an enormous amount of signatures.”

Any donations given to Ms Russell will be handed to the Royal Flying Doctors Service as Ms Russell said they are an organisation which provides a service to the country.

By REBECCA TODD - The Press | Thursday, 17 April 2008

Canterbury University graduate Jonathan Darby faced more challenges then most when setting out on a university career.

The 28-year-old was born with spina bifida and has been in a wheelchair since he was a little boy.

But his disability has never held him back. Eight years after rolling into his first university class, he has the degrees to prove it.

Darby graduated with an LLB yesterday afternoon and also has a BA and business diploma under his belt.

Completing a degree provided extra challenges for him, such as getting around campus and keeping energy levels up for late nights studying, he said.

"There's always more to your day then just a normal person."

Despite not being very academic at school, he always wanted to go to university and Canterbury had been great in accommodating his needs.

He has been overachieving since he was young. At 17 he completed a gold Duke of Edinburgh Award, which included physical activities such as tramping.

Canterbury University held two capping ceremonies yesterday and will hold another two tomorrow.

More than 1500 students are receiving degrees, diplomas and certificates.

By Georgiann Caruso
CNN

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A middle-aged woman arrives at yoga class, a guide dog beside her wheelchair. She slides onto a mat on the floor and begins warming up with help from the instructor, stretching her knee and leg muscles to the side.

Nearby, a man lying on a bench gets an assist from a class helper as he lifts his leg and brings his knee toward his body. Another person, an overweight student, sits and places his feet on brick-like props to enable him to stretch higher.

This is the scene at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where students attend weekly adaptive yoga class. Derived from traditional yoga, poses are modified for those with disabilities or health conditions.

Hundreds of miles away, longtime instructor Karen O'Donnell Clarke says the limitations could have a number of sources: multiple sclerosis (which she has), a sports injury, fibromyalgia or even a sedentary lifestyle. Post-surgical conditions, Parkinson's disease, stroke and arthritis may also cause some impairment. "Pretty much if you name a health condition, yoga can help with it," she says.

Physical therapist Sarah Knopf says the class' popularity is due to many patients asking what else they can be doing to strengthen their bodies or overcome a health challenge quicker.

"The adaptive yoga will take into consideration the patient's limitations," Knopf says. "A lot of patients with MS, for example, don't do well if they get overheated. So, with adaptive yoga, the instructor will take things nice and slowly, focusing more on breathing and relaxation.... If you are doing yoga in a gym, it's a little faster-paced."

Instructors say one benefit of adaptive classes is that more than one or two people in the group are doing something differently.

Evette Abron, who attends weekly adaptive yoga class at Jai Shanti Yoga in Atlanta, has MS and suffers from poor balance. She says she feels less self-conscious in this environment. Because of the personalized attention, she doesn't feel bad if she can't do something correctly or even at all.

Adaptive yoga is not just for those who have balance problems. People in wheelchairs can also benefit. The poses are modified in a way that anyone can take part.

Steven Kruger, who uses a wheelchair because of a car accident in 1998, says he took yoga about four times a week before his injury. Since the accident, he's found adaptive yoga to be relaxing. "Life with a disability sometimes can be a little overwhelming," Kruger says. The classes help him stretch muscles he can't stretch on his own, so he's more comfortable physically, especially with leg tremors. "Since I've been coming to the yoga classes, because of all the stretching, the tremors are a lot less, and when I do have them, they're a lot less painful."

Bill Hufschmidt, his instructor, says any consistent practice of yoga will help the student strengthen his or her body and increase mobility in the joints. He adds, "People who do this practice regularly have more awareness of their breath, and by taking deeper breaths, by taking longer breaths, there is a greater sense of vitality in the body, in their life."

Breathing exercises help prevent wheelchair patients from developing poor posture, Knopf adds. She says someone with poor posture may find it very difficult to take a deep breath, and yoga opens the chest.

Concentrating on breathing techniques is a major focus, says instructor Terri Leonard. She also likes to teach students to break awareness down into sensations of pain, how to relieve them, tightness in the body or numbness.

"If you have a disability and you're struggling with managing your body, managing your symptoms, coming to a yoga class is all about slowing down, and really focusing on your body in a way that perhaps you didn't focus before your injury or illness," Leonard says

Herald Sun
April 11, 2008 01:55pm

THE advent of low cost airlines in Australia and their over-zealous interpretation of safety regulations has led to greater discrimination against people with disabilities, the disability watchdog says.

A group of deaf people from Melbourne has launched a discrimination case against Tiger Airways after the budget carrier insisted they travel with a carer last month.

Federal disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes says the problem isn't limited to Tiger.

"There have been endemic problems in airlines over the past few years where people with disabilities have been refused carriage because of their disability," Mr Innes said on Sky News.

"The introduction of low cost airlines has been one of the reasons."

Mr Innes said they often applied unnecessarily strenuous or zealous interpretations of airline safety regulations and their staff weren't trained well enough.

"What you get sometimes are individual decisions which are outside airline policies," he said.

In 2006, Virgin Blue was forced to back down over its policy requiring wheel chair-bound passengers to be accompanied by a carer. It was currently fighting a federal court case over alleged discrimination, he said.

Last week, Mr Innes co-chaired a forum with Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities Services Bill Shorten to discuss how disabled people were treated by airlines.

The forum included the main airlines, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and government representatives.

Mr Shorten said the Government was concerned that discrimination was taking place "in the name of safety".

"But the reality is most people with impairment can understand (safety) instructions and fly," Mr Shorten said on Sky News.

Mr Shorten said Tiger was wrong to insist deaf passengers travelled with a carer.

"People who are deaf can still see and all emergency safety briefings have pictorial representations," he said.

"Just because people are deaf doesn't mean that they're stupid."

He said Qantas had the best policy: "If you can't self-medicate and self-see then you need a carer".

But Mr Shorten said individual flight attendants were not to blame.

Better training and awareness about disability was needed, he said.

"The airline industry needs to reach out to people with disability."

Comment is being sought from Tiger Airways.

By scopical.com.au
Published: 11 April 2008 8:59am

Four deaf passengers traveling aboard Singapore-owned Tiger Airways - which now flies in Australia - say they feel humiliated by requests to not travel on the airline again because of their hearing problem.

News Limited newspapers reported that a group of four Victorians - Adrian and Julie Doyle, along with two friends Steve and Robyn May - were asked when boarded to either purchase a seat of a sign-language translator, or to not fly with Tiger Airways again.

The four say they are humiliated by Tigers requests, and have now launched a discrimination case against the airline.

Adrian Doyle said that it was a humiliating and embarrassing moment for the group.

"The stewardess wrote on a piece of paper to me that we all require a carer on a plane because of our 'deafness', which sure floored me," Mr Doyle said.

"My friends had steam coming out of their ears, and my wife was dumbfounded."

"I then took the paper and wrote that they had insulted us by saying that we require a carer, since we have all travelled a lot, and never encountered any problems with our disabilities."

The airline says it is their policy to require those suffering from such an issue to be accompanied by a carer.

"I am shocked and stunned that Tiger allow themselves to discriminate against deaf people," Mr Doyle said.

The airline has now offered to apologise.

"We are happy to apologise to the people involved for the inconvenience and embarrassment they might have experienced," Tiger's Matt Hobbs said.

However both Qantas-owned Jetstar and Virgin Blue allow deaf passengers to travel unassisted.

Daily Advertiser 08 April 2008

If Rex is successful, intellectually disabled people, who are unable to understand safety procedures, will be required to travel with a carer.

The proposal will also affect wheelchair users, who may need physical assistance while travelling.

The application has been lodged with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, asking for an exemption to anti-discrimination laws.

“We’ve been carrying disabled people for years,” acting managing director of Rex Jim Davies said.

“We’ve been consulting with community groups for some time, and this proposed change is our way of trying to make things as easy as possible for disabled people.”

The application has proved to be controversial, with the federal

parliamentary secretary for disabilities and children’s services,

Bill Shorten, speaking out against it.

“People with disabilities are being treated as second-class citizens,” he said.

However, Davies called for calm.

“It is only an application. No decision has been made yet.”

Rex’s justification for its application is the airline’s use of 33 Saab aircraft, which are only large enough for one attendant.

According to Rex, it is too much for the attendant to maintain an appropriate duty of care to a disabled person who may need physical assistance.

The airline also claims three crew members have been injured from lifting passengers.

Rex maintains that the fares for carers would remain as low as possible, regardless of demand.

Romford Recorder 04 April 2008

CHEAPER gym access for the disabled could become a reality if leisure bosses and Havering Council cave-in to pressure.

A special meeting was called yesterday at the office of Havering Association for the Disabled (HAD) to thrash out ideas on what could be done to help get members into the leisure centres at lower cost during the day - when footfall is at its lowest.
Romford Recorder

Chief Executive of HAD, Mary Capon, said: "Just because someone is disabled doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to maximise their health.

"We would like to see some sort of concession for disabled people, as most are on state benefits.

"I have heard repeatedly that pools and leisure centres are not operating at full capacity during the day, and at least 10 per cent of people in Havering can be qualified as disabled."

Havering Council Leader Michael White has previously hinted cheaper prices may be in the pipeline.

He wrote in an e-mail: "It may be that we can agree some reduced pricing during the day to encourage increased usage by community groups across the borough.

Just a matter of weeks after nationwide condemnation of England captain John Terry for parking his Bentley in a disabled spot while he enjoyed a long lunch, Rochdale Online has been sent photos by a reader of a police van parked in the disabled parking bays at ASDA supermarket on Dane Street last Sunday (30 March).

The photos have caused controversy, especially after the police backed ASDA’s stance over the selfish abuse of disabled parking spaces.

In a move that was welcomed by disability groups ASDA recently started fining drivers who park in disabled and parent and child spaces when they shouldn't £60.

Helen Smith, director of policy and campaigns of National disabled charity, Mobilise said: "We fully support ASDA's decision to fine people abusing parking bays. Since 2002, our organisation has been putting pressure on supermarkets to tackle this problem, so I am glad they have decided to deal with it head-on. Not being able to park in a disabled bay means some disabled people will not be able to do their shopping. We sincerely hope other supermarkets follow ASDA's lead."

Local MP Paul Rowen also praised the ASDA initiative at the time of its announcement saying: "Selfish drivers who park in these spaces do not realise the misery they can cause. Some of our most vulnerable simply rely on them to do their shopping.

"I hope that other major supermarkets can look at the example of ASDA and take firm action against those who can’t be bothered to tow the line.

Asked by Rochdale Online for his response to the poor example being set by the driver of the police van, Mr Rowen unequivocally condemned Greater Manchester Police.

Mr Rowen, who recently wrote an Early Day Motion supporting disabled people, said: “I have long campaigned against the misuse of disabled parking spaces and I am stunned at these photos. The police should be setting an example and I hope that the police carry out an investigation into the officer responsible and give him a firm warning. I would further hope that ASDA look to fine Greater Manchester Police the £60 fixed penalty.”

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "All GMP officers are advised with regard to their responsibilities when parking their vehicle and they should keep this in mind at all times.

"GMP is currently examining the circumstances surrounding the photographs, in order to establish whether the police van that was parked at Asda was responding to an emergency incident.

"It is not acceptable for police vehicles to park in disabled bays generally and if it is found that officers were not responding to an emergency call then appropriate action will be taken."

Mr Rowen's Early Day Motion

That this House recognises that parents of young children and disabled people gain tremendous benefit from more generously sized parking bays; disapproves of the selfish use of these special parking bays by people who do not need them; congratulates ASDA on its plans to charge drivers parking at its stores if they wrongly park in a space reserved for parents with young children or disabled people; welcomes the fact that all profits generated from the charges will go to baby charity Tommy's and Motability, the national disability charity providing the leading car scheme for disabled people; further notes that the trial in North West England saw the number of available parking spots in the disabled and parent section rise by up to 60 per cent.; encourages other supermarkets to follow suit; and suggests that supermarkets consider making parking bays in future developments larger to benefit all their customers.

By RUTH EGLASH
The Jerusalem Post

Thousands of people with physical, mental or emotional disabilities not officially classified as such feel a high level of isolation within Israeli society, according to a first-of-its-kind study published this week.

Some 16.7 percent of disabled Israelis, or roughly 50,000 people, are significantly disabled but either do not meet government criteria or simply chose not to apply for state benefits, according to the study, conducted by the University of Haifa's Prof. Arie Rimmerman, an expert in disability research and civil and social participation.

He holds the Richard Crossman Chair for Social Welfare and Planning at the university.

The researchers interviewed a representative sample of some 600 people with disabilities and 600 without,

"This was a big surprise for us," Rimmerman told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, adding that in the US the rate of non-recognized disabled was 12%.

"This group has a higher participation in society than those who are recognized as disabled but they are much less involved socially than the general public," he said.

The study also found that almost one-third of Israel's non-recognized disabled said they had not had any social visits in the last month and a large proportion felt like outsiders in society. Sixty percent are single and 40% do not work.

"We always knew that compared to the rest of the Western world, Israel was less tolerant of the disabled, but this study really draws that out," Rimmerman said. "Not only are they not considered disabled and not entitled to any benefits, but they are also isolated by the rest of society."

Part of the problem was that the "threshold for [determining] disabilities is quite high," he said.

More than 250,000 people collected disability benefits either from the National Insurance Institute, the IDF or another official body last year. Together with the unrecognized disabled, the number of Israelis with disabilities could total more than 300,000.

Asked why some people chose not to claim benefits even if they might fit the criteria, Rimmerman said this might be because the amounts were "so low."

"Some of these people who do not claim benefits probably do fulfill the criteria but to apply and go through such a tortuous system to determine their disability levels for [roughly] NIS 2,000 a month is not worth it for them," he said.

The study, which initially questioned 13,000 Israelis, was funded by the National Insurance Institute (70%) and the Richard Crossman Chair (30%). It will be officially released next week at the second annual Haifa University Conference on Social Responsibility.