[blindkid] ADA accommodations guidelines

[Richard Holloway]

Albert,

Thanks for the post. That looks familiar but is in a more convenient  
presentation than what I read before. I will keep that handy for  
future reference.

That (unfortunately) also seems to support the problem we ran into (at  
our pool) being excluded-- the commerce issue being the key. I don't  
think there is a valid argument for commerce being in connection with  
a private pool owned exclusively by members of a neighborhood  
association which is not run for profit in any way, but we solved this  
nonetheless by simply pressing forward and TELLING them it was illegal  
and if it comes back up we'll start there once more. What they really  
needed to hear / know though was that they were working from a false  
assumption that somehow a blind child was at greater risk around (or  
in) a pool than a sighted child, especially when the child in question  
was better trained about swimming than most of the other (sighted)  
kids at the pool!

My main point was that those who started our situation were seemingly  
trying to do the right thing and I think that is often true, so I find  
it harder in these cases to know how to respond. I think the woman in  
the other situation (the commissioner, was it?) may also have intended  
to do the best thing for all concerned but she surely wasn't. Given  
her oblivious position on how others might feel or react (or words to  
that effect) to a blind child being involved, I still think the  
speediest result might come from getting her to see how outrageous  
that comment was. Maybe it is just my take on it, but is seems as  
outrageous as someone saying they don't want any Black people (or  
Jewish people, etc., name the race or religion of your choice)  
involved in something-- after all, what would others think?!!!  The  
difference here is that her comment was no less appropriate but I  
suspect she didn't realize it when she made the comment... Catch  
someone on that sort of situation and I expect they're likely to  
backpedal rapidly!

My thought is to get them backing down from an undeniable blunder and  
then to address the other things that they might otherwise have made a  
fight over while they are in "retreat mode". It is worth a shot,  
right? Could one sue and win? Sure, probably so, but if this solves  
the problem faster and cheaper, why not start there, right?

Just to clarify one other thing-- my liability comment before was not  
suggesting that having a blind child involved increased liability for  
her but rather discussing my thought that any child engaged in  
sporting activities is generally considered to be at risk for injury  
and the people running the activity (etc,) typically have to be pretty  
flagrantly negligent to be liable for such things. For me, that came  
up when my (sighted) daughter broke her arm in a gym class some years  
ago though we had no intention of legal action in the first place. She  
went to do a handstand (on a mat no less!) and her arm snapped,  
breaking both bones. It was nobody's fault, just a crazy thing that  
can happen sometimes. If you're in sports, you can get hurt-- it  
doesn't matter if you or the others involved are blind or sighted...

Richard



On Apr 10, 2010, at 7:10 PM, Albert J Rizzi wrote:

> Here is a copy of what was sent to me by a friend at the department of
> justice. I think it will provide insights into what people are not  
> legally
> permitted to deny those of us who are disabled. I hope it attaches  
> properly.
> Here goes.
>
>
>
> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
> CEO/Founder
> My Blind Spot, Inc.
> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
> New York, New York  10004
> www.myblindspot.org
>
> PH: 917-553-0347
> Fax: 212-858-5759
> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one  
> who is
> doing it."
>
> Visit us on Facebook
> <http://www.facebook.com/home.php?filter=pp#/pages/My-Blind-Spot/ 
> 19374068832
> 8?ref=nf>   <http://www.linkedin.com/pub/albert-j-rizzi/13/142/0>  
> LinkedIn
>
>
>
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