The big conversation over Christmas and New Year has been the weather but in my view the weather is not the problem. The problem lies in the Irish government response to the extreme weather conditions.
I spent three years in America as a child living in Long Island. The first memory I have is snow up to the windowsill and most of the winters were like that.
My point here is to say that I don't remember things coming to a stop as they have here in Ireland. With climate change the government must plan ahead as our winters are going to get colder and our summers are going to get hotter.
An effective system have to be put in place in order to deal with more extreme weather conditions to avoid the situation where people don't have to go trough the same trauma as we have been witnessing all over the country with people isolated and alone at their home since as far back as 20th December in country areas such as Wicklow, Sligo and Meath.
Government ministers were on holiday while people were struggling to deal with the worst conditions in half century. The minister for the environment for example took two weeks to tell people it was not necessary to run their taps in order to stop the water pipes from freezing.
And now we are in the position of having to conserve water because the water supply is so low and one of the reasons put forward for the water shortage was that people run the taps when was not necessary to do so.
My point is that people could have been told immediately if the minister had chosen to do so.
Last week I was listening to RTE radio show called "Joe Duffy's show" and on Monday night I was watching Pat Kenney’s show called "The Front Line". These two RTE programs showed the lack of a coordinated government response to what the media called the big freeze.
We must learn from other countries where the winters are much colder and much more severe to put an appropriate system in place to ensure that we know how to deal with this better next time.
Why should it take a public out cry for the official bodies to react? All the public bodies should act together to ensure public safety because this what we all hope is not going to happen again can actually happen again and we owe it to ourselves to be prepared so country can keep on providing essential services to all sectors of society.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Edward Kennedy—a Man of Compassion
On Wednesday 26 August 2009 I woke up to the news that senator Edward M. Kennedy had passed away from brain cancer.
He has been described as the lion of the United States Senate. After the assassination of both his brothers—President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968—he made it his mission to carry on the work they had started. Although he came from a very wealthy and well-known family, he represented core Democratic Party ideals in devoting himself to the cause of the poor. He knew how to get what he wanted from legislation, and was responsible in large part for seeing that the Americans with Disabilities Act (or ADA) was passed and signed into law by President George H. W. Bush in 1990.
This Act has become the standard for treatment of people with disabilities in the workplace and in public life. The ADA has inspired Ireland and other European countries to pass legislation that has greatly improved the quality of life for people with disabilities.
On CNN’s Larry King show recently, two of Ted Kennedy’s sons were promoting late senator’s memoirs, titled True Compass. Ted Kennedy Jr. and Rhode Island congressman Patrick Kennedy talked about how their father instilled in them the ideal of service to the disadvantaged, whether poor or disabled. Indeed Ted Kennedy Jr. is himself an amputee, having lost his right leg to cancer. He now is on the board of the American Association of People with Disabilities. Congressman Patrick Kennedy, who had suffered from alcohol and substance abuse, worked with his father to pass US legislation on mental health.
Senator Kennedy’s sense of service led him to do all that he did for the disadvantaged. He was author of five hundred pieces of legislation having to do with improving the quality of life of Americans.
It was in the context of Kennedy's active pursuit of justice for the disadvantaged that in 2004 US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg defended the right of a young man to have equal access to justice. He was suing the State of Tennessee because he had to humiliate himself by having to get out of his wheelchair and crawl up two flights of stairs in the Tennessee State. As it turned out, the young man won the case. Justice Ginsberg wrote that, under the ADA, we might have to treat some citizens differently to give all citizens equal dignity.
We in Ireland could learn from Ted Kennedy’s legacy especially during these difficult economic times. When I was growing up in the Ireland of the 1980’s we had a health service that was the envy of the world. We now have a Harney health service that caters for those who can pay, while those who cannot pay are going to have to struggle against the odds.
When Senator Kennedy died America lost a great unifier and a unique champion of universal healthcare. There are stories of how Kennedy would talk late into the night trying to hammer out a deal with one or more Republican senators to reach a compromise so that the less well-off could have their lives made a little easier.
If they are really serious about paying tribute to him, members of the United States Congress can pass the universal healthcare plan Senator Kennedy was so passionate about.
He has been described as the lion of the United States Senate. After the assassination of both his brothers—President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968—he made it his mission to carry on the work they had started. Although he came from a very wealthy and well-known family, he represented core Democratic Party ideals in devoting himself to the cause of the poor. He knew how to get what he wanted from legislation, and was responsible in large part for seeing that the Americans with Disabilities Act (or ADA) was passed and signed into law by President George H. W. Bush in 1990.
This Act has become the standard for treatment of people with disabilities in the workplace and in public life. The ADA has inspired Ireland and other European countries to pass legislation that has greatly improved the quality of life for people with disabilities.
On CNN’s Larry King show recently, two of Ted Kennedy’s sons were promoting late senator’s memoirs, titled True Compass. Ted Kennedy Jr. and Rhode Island congressman Patrick Kennedy talked about how their father instilled in them the ideal of service to the disadvantaged, whether poor or disabled. Indeed Ted Kennedy Jr. is himself an amputee, having lost his right leg to cancer. He now is on the board of the American Association of People with Disabilities. Congressman Patrick Kennedy, who had suffered from alcohol and substance abuse, worked with his father to pass US legislation on mental health.
Senator Kennedy’s sense of service led him to do all that he did for the disadvantaged. He was author of five hundred pieces of legislation having to do with improving the quality of life of Americans.
It was in the context of Kennedy's active pursuit of justice for the disadvantaged that in 2004 US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg defended the right of a young man to have equal access to justice. He was suing the State of Tennessee because he had to humiliate himself by having to get out of his wheelchair and crawl up two flights of stairs in the Tennessee State. As it turned out, the young man won the case. Justice Ginsberg wrote that, under the ADA, we might have to treat some citizens differently to give all citizens equal dignity.
We in Ireland could learn from Ted Kennedy’s legacy especially during these difficult economic times. When I was growing up in the Ireland of the 1980’s we had a health service that was the envy of the world. We now have a Harney health service that caters for those who can pay, while those who cannot pay are going to have to struggle against the odds.
When Senator Kennedy died America lost a great unifier and a unique champion of universal healthcare. There are stories of how Kennedy would talk late into the night trying to hammer out a deal with one or more Republican senators to reach a compromise so that the less well-off could have their lives made a little easier.
If they are really serious about paying tribute to him, members of the United States Congress can pass the universal healthcare plan Senator Kennedy was so passionate about.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Scandinavia
In 1994 I visited Sweden. I was offered the chance to go to Sweden by one of my father’s former business colleagues and took the challenge eagerly.
My primary reason for going to Sweden was to fold firstly to find out what computer equipments was available as I had just completed my first year in collage when the trip was proposed.
After I had come to Sweden I found that the rehabilitation centres are housed under the department of Labour rather than health. The people of Sweden had past a referendum ensuring that anybody with a disability who needed a personal assistant for more than twenty hours a week could get personal assistant help to insure that they could live and work independently.
For people who are confused about the term personal assistant it is not just used in business terms but also as part of one of the main planks of the social model of independent living for people with severe physical and sensory disabilities.
In Sweden and other Scandinavian countries the rehabilitation centres find jobs for the clients based on their abilities rather than their disabilities.
Two cases coming to my mind as illustration of this. One was a man who only had to use a one finger and was on oxygen twenty-four hours a day. The oxygen was only removed when he was eating. Yet he came to work from eight am to five pm and did a database for the local or national museum. The other case was a woman who had a stroke and was also working on the same database for the same hours every day. Both of them had adapted apartments and personal assistants to help them do what they could not do.
The government should look at how Scandinavian countries have dealt with difficult economic times. I was fortunate to meet a former Danish prime minister last February at a Labour Party economic summit in the Westbury Hotel and I have no shame in admitting that I am a Labour party supporter.
I had made a comment about how one of my personal assistants was only paid seventy-five Irish pounds when she began working for me under the umbrella of Irish Wheelchair Association and how those with personal assistant had to campaign for higher wages in order to make the job attractive. I cannot remember the man’s name but I remember what he said very clearly.
He told that his government came to power after a similar economic situation to the one Ireland is faced at the moment. I was told that there was an automatic belief that those receiving any kind of state assistance should work in order to keep the assistance they were getting. By the time he stepped down the unemployment rate had gone from ten percent to three percent and again there was the same creative thinking as in Sweden.
Why does not the Irish government take the example of Scandinavian countries and focus on people’s abilities rather then their disabilities?
My primary reason for going to Sweden was to fold firstly to find out what computer equipments was available as I had just completed my first year in collage when the trip was proposed.
After I had come to Sweden I found that the rehabilitation centres are housed under the department of Labour rather than health. The people of Sweden had past a referendum ensuring that anybody with a disability who needed a personal assistant for more than twenty hours a week could get personal assistant help to insure that they could live and work independently.
For people who are confused about the term personal assistant it is not just used in business terms but also as part of one of the main planks of the social model of independent living for people with severe physical and sensory disabilities.
In Sweden and other Scandinavian countries the rehabilitation centres find jobs for the clients based on their abilities rather than their disabilities.
Two cases coming to my mind as illustration of this. One was a man who only had to use a one finger and was on oxygen twenty-four hours a day. The oxygen was only removed when he was eating. Yet he came to work from eight am to five pm and did a database for the local or national museum. The other case was a woman who had a stroke and was also working on the same database for the same hours every day. Both of them had adapted apartments and personal assistants to help them do what they could not do.
The government should look at how Scandinavian countries have dealt with difficult economic times. I was fortunate to meet a former Danish prime minister last February at a Labour Party economic summit in the Westbury Hotel and I have no shame in admitting that I am a Labour party supporter.
I had made a comment about how one of my personal assistants was only paid seventy-five Irish pounds when she began working for me under the umbrella of Irish Wheelchair Association and how those with personal assistant had to campaign for higher wages in order to make the job attractive. I cannot remember the man’s name but I remember what he said very clearly.
He told that his government came to power after a similar economic situation to the one Ireland is faced at the moment. I was told that there was an automatic belief that those receiving any kind of state assistance should work in order to keep the assistance they were getting. By the time he stepped down the unemployment rate had gone from ten percent to three percent and again there was the same creative thinking as in Sweden.
Why does not the Irish government take the example of Scandinavian countries and focus on people’s abilities rather then their disabilities?
Monday, July 6, 2009
Pharmacists' strike
On the sixth o'clock news I was shocked to learn that the Irish Government is planning to cut the money they give to pharmacies for operating the medical card scheme. It is another kick in the stomach for people that are already suffering.
I have a chronic pain and as result I am on thirty-five tablets a day most of which are for pain. I was just talking to my own pharmacist who says that the pharmacies have no other choice but to strike unless the government keeps paying the pharmacists the same amount of money.
Has the government got mad? They hit a people that are most vulnerable. How on Earth do they think that paying the pharmacists less when they are providing a valuable much needed service is going to help manage the four billion plus shortfall?
I ask this question because more and more people are loosing their jobs every day and they are having to apply for social welfare which includes medical card etc.
I don't understand the government's logic.
The last week in June I was watching TV and I couldn't believe that the government was closing words in a major Dublin children's hospital thus forcing the cancellation of life saving operations. This linked with the pharmacies strike shows me that the government's answer to this recession is to hope that the sickest and most vulnerable people will die.
The question has to be asked: Does the current Irish government want to kill the most vulnerable people who are as I see it the old, the young, people with life threatening, disabilities and medical conditions?
If the pharmacies' strike goes ahead and somebody dies, because they can't get the medicine that normally keeps them stable, then I would put the blame at the government's feet and not the pharmacists' feet.
All the pharmacists are asking for is for things to stay as they are and pay the pharmacists as they have been doing because by withdrawing this payment the pharmacies will go out of business and the most vulnerable people in Irish society will suffer.
I have a chronic pain and as result I am on thirty-five tablets a day most of which are for pain. I was just talking to my own pharmacist who says that the pharmacies have no other choice but to strike unless the government keeps paying the pharmacists the same amount of money.
Has the government got mad? They hit a people that are most vulnerable. How on Earth do they think that paying the pharmacists less when they are providing a valuable much needed service is going to help manage the four billion plus shortfall?
I ask this question because more and more people are loosing their jobs every day and they are having to apply for social welfare which includes medical card etc.
I don't understand the government's logic.
The last week in June I was watching TV and I couldn't believe that the government was closing words in a major Dublin children's hospital thus forcing the cancellation of life saving operations. This linked with the pharmacies strike shows me that the government's answer to this recession is to hope that the sickest and most vulnerable people will die.
The question has to be asked: Does the current Irish government want to kill the most vulnerable people who are as I see it the old, the young, people with life threatening, disabilities and medical conditions?
If the pharmacies' strike goes ahead and somebody dies, because they can't get the medicine that normally keeps them stable, then I would put the blame at the government's feet and not the pharmacists' feet.
All the pharmacists are asking for is for things to stay as they are and pay the pharmacists as they have been doing because by withdrawing this payment the pharmacies will go out of business and the most vulnerable people in Irish society will suffer.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Fast food seller's tax
I am sick of fast food chains such as McDonald, Burger King and KFC advertising on prime time TV about their euro saver menu. Since the economic downturn hit last September I have a very strong believe that it is the fast food chains that should be taxed. I saw a CNN item on cheeseburgers in a can for 6,50 American dollars.
The government is constantly talking about how we owe billions in borrowing and how we all need tighten our belts.
As a person who has lost between 60 to 70 pounds since October 2007 weighing approx 232 pounds at my heaviest. I have found that it has cost a lot more to eat healthy than it does for family to have a fast food meal. I have not attended McDonald since I saw a film Supersize me where a man ate nothing but McDonald's food for thirty days and had to be hospitalised.
I also watched RTE program investigating the growth in obesity but highlighting the fact that there is only one weight management service in a whole of Ireland which I am lucky to attend at present time.
Well the program highlighted the issues they did not really come up with an overall solution and asked people who are loosing their jobs and going on social welfare.
There is a solution promoting healthy eating by making fast food cost as much as a packet of cigarettes and passing the taxis gain from fast food change to subsidize those who want to eat healthy meals.
My point is that I call on the government to do something like I have suggested so that the obesity epidemic does not grow amongst those that lost their jobs and who maybe are finding healthy life hard to keep going.
The government is constantly talking about how we owe billions in borrowing and how we all need tighten our belts.
As a person who has lost between 60 to 70 pounds since October 2007 weighing approx 232 pounds at my heaviest. I have found that it has cost a lot more to eat healthy than it does for family to have a fast food meal. I have not attended McDonald since I saw a film Supersize me where a man ate nothing but McDonald's food for thirty days and had to be hospitalised.
I also watched RTE program investigating the growth in obesity but highlighting the fact that there is only one weight management service in a whole of Ireland which I am lucky to attend at present time.
Well the program highlighted the issues they did not really come up with an overall solution and asked people who are loosing their jobs and going on social welfare.
There is a solution promoting healthy eating by making fast food cost as much as a packet of cigarettes and passing the taxis gain from fast food change to subsidize those who want to eat healthy meals.
My point is that I call on the government to do something like I have suggested so that the obesity epidemic does not grow amongst those that lost their jobs and who maybe are finding healthy life hard to keep going.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Monaco Dream come true 2009
My first blog was titled 'Mary goes to Monaco' with a press release about the proposed exhibition. Now I want to tell you about some of the highlights.
The first highlight was my experience in the airport. You may be wondering why the airport was significant for me. It was due to the fact that up to my recent trip to Monaco I hadn't flown in an airplane since 1996 when I went to America with my mother to attend a family wedding. You can imagine the tension I was in due to the fact that I didn't know how I would fare with the security procedures which were totally new to me. I flew with Aer Lingus Dublin to Nice, my bags had been checked in on-line prior to the date so when I went to the Aer Lingus desk I handed my passport to the man behind the check-in desk.
My stomach was in a knot because I was worried about the customs and if I would have to be lifted out of my wheelchair and have the cushion lifted up to check for drugs. To my surprise none of that happened and I was also anxious because I have to take medication and I had to fill out lots of medical forms and submit them at least 10 days before the flight so I thought the bags I was carrying would be searched and my personal assistants interrogated but this did not happen.
My friend travelling with me was not so fortunate. Her bags were searched and she had forgotten the limit of 100ml for any sort of liquid. I however was just patted down and told to have a nice holiday.
The second highlight was actually being on the airplane. This was an experience I never thought I would have again.
The third was waking up the first morning in Monaco and having the patio doors of the apartment opened and feeling the heat of the Monaco sun before having breakfast on the balcony.
My fourth and most important hightlight was meeting His Serene Highness Prince Albert II who presented me with a scarf which depicts the Grimaldi family history as designed by Princess Grace. I was told by one of the trustees that it is only something that the Prince himself gives, so please note it is NOT for sale...
;-)
The first highlight was my experience in the airport. You may be wondering why the airport was significant for me. It was due to the fact that up to my recent trip to Monaco I hadn't flown in an airplane since 1996 when I went to America with my mother to attend a family wedding. You can imagine the tension I was in due to the fact that I didn't know how I would fare with the security procedures which were totally new to me. I flew with Aer Lingus Dublin to Nice, my bags had been checked in on-line prior to the date so when I went to the Aer Lingus desk I handed my passport to the man behind the check-in desk.
My stomach was in a knot because I was worried about the customs and if I would have to be lifted out of my wheelchair and have the cushion lifted up to check for drugs. To my surprise none of that happened and I was also anxious because I have to take medication and I had to fill out lots of medical forms and submit them at least 10 days before the flight so I thought the bags I was carrying would be searched and my personal assistants interrogated but this did not happen.
My friend travelling with me was not so fortunate. Her bags were searched and she had forgotten the limit of 100ml for any sort of liquid. I however was just patted down and told to have a nice holiday.
The second highlight was actually being on the airplane. This was an experience I never thought I would have again.
The third was waking up the first morning in Monaco and having the patio doors of the apartment opened and feeling the heat of the Monaco sun before having breakfast on the balcony.
My fourth and most important hightlight was meeting His Serene Highness Prince Albert II who presented me with a scarf which depicts the Grimaldi family history as designed by Princess Grace. I was told by one of the trustees that it is only something that the Prince himself gives, so please note it is NOT for sale...
;-)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Labour Party Motion, March 2009
This speech was read out at the Labour Party Motion Conference in Mullingar on March 29th 2009.
My name is Mary Collins and I am a member of the Jack Fitzgerald branch in Dun Laoghaire.
I have Cerebral Palsy and chronic pain and I’m confined to a wheelchair since birth.
Ireland is one of the few countries within the EU which does not have the Human Rights Commissioner for people with disabilities. The Irish government has failed to ratify the law, which would bring the Human Rights Commissioner into existence for people with disability.
I have been living on my own since August 2000 with the help of 3 personal assistants who help me in every aspect of my daily life.
Without them I would be in an institution and feel like a prisoner with no dignity and freedom. One of my first experiences of adult respite institutionalisation was that I was put to bed at 4pm not because I wanted to go to bed at that time but because I was forced to go to bed at that time. I can recall countless numbers of situations of similar nature.
I was among the first 30 people to get a PA service through the Centre for Independent Living in 1993 so that I could go to Trinity College.
I have since then graduated with a Masters degree in February 2009.
Now most of the PA services are administered through the Irish Wheelchair Association and other service providers.
Through having PAs I have also been able to do voluntary community work.
The Personal Assistants have enabled me to live independently and keep my dignity.
The most recent External Review of the Assisted Living Services states that there are 7000 possible service users yet to be assessed and it is likely that a significant number of these people will be in need of personal assistance. Also there are 600 people waiting for the Personal Assistant Services (Vincent McCarthy, Irish Wheelchair Association External Review 2007).
As the US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg ruling on the decision in Tennessee stated—it is a right and that sometimes you have to treat citizens differently to give them equal dignity. In order to treat all citizens with equal dignity you sometimes have to treat some citizens differently to attain equal dignity and equal rights.
I fear my PA hours will be cut so drastically under the Disability Act 2005 that I would not be able to continue to live independently any more.
Throughout the boom years the government neglected to ring fence funding for people with disabilities.
Now with the economic downturn the government is looking at cutting costs by taking vital services away from people with disabilities.
The Disability Act 2005 is very draconian in nature by insisting that people must apply to their local HSE to keep the services they already have let alone applying for any extra services needed. Under the Disability Act the decision about individual services rests with the head of the local HSE.
I had my hours increased in April 2007 with direct funding from the HSE because up until that time I had to give the PA, who worked on Sundays, 6 hours off while I had to be collected by Accessible Community Transport Southside Transport to spend those hours with my elderly parents.
This was against the Health & Safety Regulations because my parent’s house is not equipped to cater to my needs.
Because of having Personal Assistants, people with significant disabilities in Ireland have been employed and ARE employable.
Also people with Disabilities should have a right to a door-to-door transport, which should be subsidised by the government due to the fact that the public transport isn’t safe or fully accessible. Also it has to emphasised that the ‘normal’ taxis are not accessible or safe and that people with significant disabilities cannot avail of those. Accessible Community Transport Southside (ACTS Ltd.) and Vantastic should be fully subsidised by the government.
I was hoping that someone would make the government realise that most people with disabilities cannot use public toilets because there is no ceiling hoist equipment which would allow my personal assistant to help me safely with the toileting. It is an embarrassing matter for me and millions of people with disabilities who cannot use the public toilets for that reason.
Hope that we will succeed in making vital changes in our public buildings and footpaths and general infrastructure.
Universally designed buildings would provide access to all people.
By providing access for people with disabilities you are also providing access for elderly people and for women with children in the buggy.
At this point in time I feel that I have no right to access certain buildings and amenities which makes me feel less of a person or less important.
I feel that I have no right to use the public toilets because public toilets don’t have a ceiling hoist.
I fear that I have no right to use the local public swimming pool because it has no ceiling hoist. I have no right to be fit and healthy. I only have a right to medical card and drugs.
I want to have a right to access public buildings and public infrastructure just like everybody else.
I propose universal design and access for all people to all buildings.
Thank you for listening to me,
Mary Collins
My name is Mary Collins and I am a member of the Jack Fitzgerald branch in Dun Laoghaire.
I have Cerebral Palsy and chronic pain and I’m confined to a wheelchair since birth.
Ireland is one of the few countries within the EU which does not have the Human Rights Commissioner for people with disabilities. The Irish government has failed to ratify the law, which would bring the Human Rights Commissioner into existence for people with disability.
I have been living on my own since August 2000 with the help of 3 personal assistants who help me in every aspect of my daily life.
Without them I would be in an institution and feel like a prisoner with no dignity and freedom. One of my first experiences of adult respite institutionalisation was that I was put to bed at 4pm not because I wanted to go to bed at that time but because I was forced to go to bed at that time. I can recall countless numbers of situations of similar nature.
I was among the first 30 people to get a PA service through the Centre for Independent Living in 1993 so that I could go to Trinity College.
I have since then graduated with a Masters degree in February 2009.
Now most of the PA services are administered through the Irish Wheelchair Association and other service providers.
Through having PAs I have also been able to do voluntary community work.
The Personal Assistants have enabled me to live independently and keep my dignity.
The most recent External Review of the Assisted Living Services states that there are 7000 possible service users yet to be assessed and it is likely that a significant number of these people will be in need of personal assistance. Also there are 600 people waiting for the Personal Assistant Services (Vincent McCarthy, Irish Wheelchair Association External Review 2007).
As the US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg ruling on the decision in Tennessee stated—it is a right and that sometimes you have to treat citizens differently to give them equal dignity. In order to treat all citizens with equal dignity you sometimes have to treat some citizens differently to attain equal dignity and equal rights.
I fear my PA hours will be cut so drastically under the Disability Act 2005 that I would not be able to continue to live independently any more.
Throughout the boom years the government neglected to ring fence funding for people with disabilities.
Now with the economic downturn the government is looking at cutting costs by taking vital services away from people with disabilities.
The Disability Act 2005 is very draconian in nature by insisting that people must apply to their local HSE to keep the services they already have let alone applying for any extra services needed. Under the Disability Act the decision about individual services rests with the head of the local HSE.
I had my hours increased in April 2007 with direct funding from the HSE because up until that time I had to give the PA, who worked on Sundays, 6 hours off while I had to be collected by Accessible Community Transport Southside Transport to spend those hours with my elderly parents.
This was against the Health & Safety Regulations because my parent’s house is not equipped to cater to my needs.
Because of having Personal Assistants, people with significant disabilities in Ireland have been employed and ARE employable.
Also people with Disabilities should have a right to a door-to-door transport, which should be subsidised by the government due to the fact that the public transport isn’t safe or fully accessible. Also it has to emphasised that the ‘normal’ taxis are not accessible or safe and that people with significant disabilities cannot avail of those. Accessible Community Transport Southside (ACTS Ltd.) and Vantastic should be fully subsidised by the government.
I was hoping that someone would make the government realise that most people with disabilities cannot use public toilets because there is no ceiling hoist equipment which would allow my personal assistant to help me safely with the toileting. It is an embarrassing matter for me and millions of people with disabilities who cannot use the public toilets for that reason.
Hope that we will succeed in making vital changes in our public buildings and footpaths and general infrastructure.
Universally designed buildings would provide access to all people.
By providing access for people with disabilities you are also providing access for elderly people and for women with children in the buggy.
At this point in time I feel that I have no right to access certain buildings and amenities which makes me feel less of a person or less important.
I feel that I have no right to use the public toilets because public toilets don’t have a ceiling hoist.
I fear that I have no right to use the local public swimming pool because it has no ceiling hoist. I have no right to be fit and healthy. I only have a right to medical card and drugs.
I want to have a right to access public buildings and public infrastructure just like everybody else.
I propose universal design and access for all people to all buildings.
Thank you for listening to me,
Mary Collins
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