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SRS Business right back atcha

frequentmouse
2007-08-31 03:14 am UTC (link)

The biggest problem I see with ADA i that accomodations and assistance has become a zero-sum game, with different classes of disability getting unequal treatment. The easy stuff gets done- curb cuts in newconstruction, speaking route signs on buses and speaking cross-walk controls, for instance, but the hard stuff, like employment accomodations for people who need not to sit at their desks all day or adequate coverage for disabling mental health problems pretty much gets shoved off to the next biennium, forever.

And, y'know, if I'm on a bus that has six people with wheelchairs getting on and off at twelve different locations and I need to make a connection with a once-an-hour local bus so I can get my diabetic self with my bad feet home before I develop blisters on my feet and/or a bad low, I may well give the last one of them a sort of anxious and or annoyed look. I'm not eligible for dial-a-lift because my mobility limitations are not absolute, but some days shit happens that leaves me out of money and snacks and I need to get home.

It's better than it used to be, since the main crosstown buses now have low-contour entries which only take about thirty seconds for a wheelchair to use, and since there is also more frequent cross-town service and it's less likely that a whole lot of wheelchairs and scooters will be on the same run.

In general I figure that I'll live longer if I try to accept the fact that life on a planet with other people on it means I don't get my own way all the time, and that "reasonable accomodation" doesn't mean perfect convenience.

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Continuing the srs bizness

themadmermaid
2007-08-31 03:51 am UTC (link)

I think that what you are talking about extends to most areas of disability advocacy and law, not just ADA. Acceptance and inclusion of persons with physical disabilities, starting even in grade school, is much greater than those whose disabilities are developmental, emotional, or intellectual.

For one thing, as you've pointed out, it's fairly easy to do things to physically accommodate people with no other type of support need. Also, in America, returning war veterans with injuries were a major factor the realization of the worth of people with disabilities, which means that at first we decided that people that needed support in the motor domains were actually valuable citizens.

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	Re: Continuing the srs bizness frequentmouse 2007-08-31 03:55 am UTC (link)
	And meanwhile returning veterans with PTSD get court marshalled for displaying symptoms of their disabiling condition. I could make a list... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Continuing the srs bizness themadmermaid 2007-08-31 04:07 am UTC (link)
	I think we do the worst job helping people with mental and emotional disabilities. Even if we are cheesy and condescending about developmental problems, we at least pretend to help. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Continuing the srs bizness

jerel
2007-09-01 09:57 pm UTC (link)

I think we do the worst job helping people with mental and emotional disabilities

Because too many people still think PTSD is a fancy name for "weak and can't cope." That depressed people just have to cheer up. That folks with anxiety disorders need to calm down. They forget that the brain is also an organ, and can have something physically wrong with it, e.g makes too much of a chemical or not enough. Since the problem is with the head, they think it's all "in our heads."

Whoops. No more thoughts on yaoi today.

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	Re: Continuing the srs bizness littlest_lurker 2007-08-31 05:58 am UTC (link)
	And the ones that don't have that happen to them still come back to a Veteran's care system that is woefully unequipped to handle them (the physically and psychological wounded). Because of advanced medical care soldiers that might have otherwise been killed can return home, but to an incredibly broken and underfunded VA system that cannot properly care for them. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Continuing the srs bizness vigilanterodent 2007-08-31 03:47 pm UTC (link)
	It's funny how we do a much better job by them when it's absolute life-or-death than we do at what comes after the life-or-death. Wait, not funny. Incredibly, painfully sad in the worst way, is what I meant to say. (Reply to this)(Parent)

Re: SRS Business right back atcha

jat_sapphire
2007-08-31 03:56 am UTC (link)

In my city, bus routes and frequency are getting cut, plus whatever it is that makes the bus arrive at the stop at times that seem positively randomized. AND we still have a certain number of busses that don't kneel at all, meaning that the passenger in a wheel chair may not be able to get into the bus even when it comes.

Now that I see newer busses that are built lower to begin with, I wonder why it ever seemed like a good idea to hike the chassis up so high.

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	Re: SRS Business right back atcha frequentmouse 2007-08-31 04:02 am UTC (link)
	It's an artefact of the days when all buses were front engine/rear wheel drive truck chassis(es ?)and needed room for the drive-train. The new buses are awesome, easier for everyone to use and I guess also easier to drive. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: SRS Business right back atcha jat_sapphire 2007-08-31 04:09 am UTC (link)
	Oh, a real reason! Thank you. I really do learn a lot around here. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: SRS Business right back atcha lyssa 2007-08-31 05:06 am UTC (link)
	Gah, I hate waiting twenty minutes for a bus, then having three of the same bus in a row arrive at the same time. /I kinda miss the car (Reply to this)(Parent)

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