In the Spina Bifida and disability groups I am in on Facebook,
we often talk about issues of discrimination because of our disabilities.
Personally, I have rarely experienced any discrimination, but recently, I
experienced something that I cannot shake off.
I had a meeting at the local
Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) office. The office is located in a building
that houses other offices and agencies. While I was waiting to be called back, I needed
to use the bathroom. I left the office and went down the hall where I was told
the bathroom was. When I got there, the door was locked. I had to go BACK
DOWNSTAIRS to use the bathroom. Why was the door locked? Why do I have to go
downstairs when there is a bathroom right here on this floor? What if I had an
“accident” before I got the bathroom because of having to go downstairs?
When I got back
upstairs, I saw men in business suits entering the bathroom with keys on a
giant key ring. When I mentioned this to
the people at DVR, they brushed it off as if to say they didn’t want to comment
on the reason the bathroom was not open to the public. As mentioned earlier, I
don’t easily get offended over stuff, but I just can’t seem to let this go.
Here is an agency who is supposed to advocate for people with disabilities and
yet they tolerate inaccessibility to bathroom facilities to their clients!
Seriously????
I am debating whether to write a letter to the state asking
why this is allowed. What about all advancements we have made where
discrimination against people with disabilities? Is there a certain protocol I
am unaware of?
I really want to pursue this. Who is with me? I realize we
all live in different parts of the country and in some cases, the world, but I
am willing to do the research for this.
I would need your
stories of discrimination too, not just mine. This is how the ADA (Americans
with Disabilities Act) started, with a few people having mutual issues with how
the disable were being treated and now, although we still have a ways to go, we
have come a long way.
This kind of thing is everywhere. A couple of months ago, I took Anna into the Walmart in Pennsville. She needed to use the bathroom. I wheeled her in, but then had to leave her to move TWO shopping carts which were blocking the way to the "handicapped accessible" bathroom. By the time we got into the bathroom, she had wet herself. I should have said something right then, but didn't. Yes, Jim. Write that letter.
ReplyDeleteYou are right Pam. People who are mobile can walk through mazes (carts in the way.). It is harder or impossible for people with disabilities to get through them to use the bathrooms in stores!
ReplyDelete