[Ohio-talk] Deborah Kendrick Column Please read

Tue Oct 6 19:51:59 UTC 2015

I wonder if they insist that we ride in a wheelchair because of
liability if their escort injures us in any way?  It is crazy but just
a thought.

On 10/6/15, Deborah Kendrick via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Cheryl,
> If you could locate that block of text, I would be inclined to send it to
> the offending airline along with my column.
> I didn't name them because I was already over allotted length and to name
> the bad guy would have led to naming the goodguys, too, and there just
> wasn't room.  But it has occurred to me that I should figure out how to get
> this info to the folks who might do something about it.
> And Marianne, do please tell us the Philadelphia story!  Reading your last
> comment has me on the edge of my proverbial seat!
>
> Deborah
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cheryl
> Fischer via Ohio-talk
> Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 3:09 PM
> To: 'NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List'
> Cc: Cheryl Fischer
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Deborah Kendrick Column Please read
>
> What about the line(s) in the ADA that say that a person with a disability
> should have say in what accommodation they receive, if any, and that no
> accommodation that the person with the disability says is inappropriate for
> them may be forced upon them?  I wonder if a page or so of the ADA with this
> part highlighted might help, if not at the moment we are treated wrongly,
> then afterward if we make a public issue of the incident and/or the ongoing
> problem.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Marianne
> Denning via Ohio-talk
> Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 12:14 PM
> To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> Cc: Marianne Denning
> Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Deborah Kendrick Column Please read
>
> You are so right about that Barbara.  I don't think the Philadelphia airport
> will ever let me back in again because of the reputation I earned on my last
> trip through there.  (smile)
>
> On 10/6/15, barbara.pierce9366--- via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>> This is a home run. I love the way you capture the exhaustion and
>> desperation. These things never seem to happen when we are fresh and
>> patient.
>>
>> Barbara
>> Barbara Pierce
>> President Emerita
>> National Federation of the Blind of Ohio Barbara.pierce9366 at gmail.com
>> 440-774-8077
>> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
>> characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
>> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create
>> obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life
>> you zwant; blindness is not what holds you back.
>>
>>> On Oct 5, 2015, at 10:26 PM, Marianne Denning via Ohio-talk
>>> <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> This is excellent and so true.  Next step, what can we do about this?
>>> I have had the same thing happen on many occasions.
>>>
>>> On 10/5/15, Eric Duffy via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>> This is a good read. The problem Deborah describes continues to be a
>>>> problem for many of us. Spread the word. Let people know that
>>>> Deborah’s experience
>>>> is not an    isolated incident. .
>>>>
>>>> Eric
>>>>
>>>> Deborah Kendrick commentary: Airports can mean humiliation for some
>>>> travelers. A recent midnight flight from San Francisco to Cincinnati
>>>> held the elements all blind travelers dread most: The moment when
>>>> one disability is mistaken for another, and deep-rooted
>>>> misconceptions engender humiliation. When the last plane landed, I'd
>>>> been traveling for 13 hours.
>>>> It
>>>> was 11:00 a.m., and I was exhausted. Here is the scenario. My ride
>>>> home is in the cell phone lot. I ask the gate agent if someone can
>>>> walk with me.
>>>> This is a simple enough request and one I have made hundreds of
>>>> times in dozens of airports. I am a blind person carrying a long
>>>> white cane. My request is for someone to walk with me who knows the
>>>> way. The gate agent is smart, courteous, eager to assist. She makes
>>>> the call. ... And another.
>>>> ...
>>>> And another. When five minutes has gone by, I am impatient. At ten,
>>>> I am agitated. At twenty, with a red-eye flight behind me and the
>>>> knowledge that my ride home is just a few minutes' walk away, I am
>>>> close to meltdown. I hear the agent say into the phone, "No, she
>>>> doesn't need a wheelchair.
>>>> Just
>>>> needs someone to walk with her. At 25 minutes, the somewhat
>>>> embarrassed gate agent comes over where I am leaning on the wall,
>>>> trying not to cry, wishing I weren't so tired and could just start
>>>> walking, exploring, figuring it out.
>>>> "The problem," she informs me, "is that they won't come unless you
>>>> will sit in the wheelchair. She is apologetic, sees the folly of
>>>> this supposed "rule". But I am ready to disassemble with fatigue and
>>>> humiliation and thus I acquiesce. The young woman who comes with the
>>>> wheelchair tells me that if I don't sit in it, she will be fired.
>>>> She will either leave me here or I will ride. I sit down. For the
>>>> half-mile distance from gate to exit, I pray no one sees me who
>>>> knows me. Don't get me wrong. There is no shame in using a
>>>> wheelchair. For my friends who use them with purpose, the wheelchair
>>>> is a tool of freedom and flight and euphoria. No, for me, the shame
>>>> was rooted in the fear that others would think me a shirker, a
>>>> faker, a jerk able to walk who commandeered some deserving
>>>> passenger's wheelchair. The subtext here, the message conveyed, is
>>>> this: Because I happen to be blind, I am not worthy of the same
>>>> respect as any other paying passenger. If I need assistance, I will
>>>> shut up, sit down, be addressed like a child (or piece of
>>>> furniture), and be grateful. This, regrettably, is not an isolated
>>>> incident. I have scores of stories from others - blind lawyers,
>>>> athletes, and CEO's -- recounting similar nightmares. Kaiti Shelton,
>>>> a University of Dayton music therapy major, returned from a college
>>>> abroad trip in June. The emotional high sparked by success in
>>>> another country, the joy of having been treated as an equal by the
>>>> residents there and her fellow college students, plummeted quickly
>>>> in an American airport. She, too, was given the ultimatum "no
>>>> wheelchair, no assistance. Eric Duffy of Columbus, president of the
>>>> National Federation of the Blind of Ohio, says the wheelchair
>>>> argument has happened more times than he can count. "I can be coming
>>>> back from a powerfully positive experience, meeting with members of
>>>> Congress on Capitol Hill or participating in negotiations with other
>>>> leaders, and then the [emotional] balance shifts at the airport. The
>>>> disrespect leaves me feeling insulted and angry. The only
>>>> consistency in flying, if you happen to be blind, is inconsistency.
>>>> Sometimes, the curb to curb process is rich with encounters of
>>>> mutual respect, jumpstarting your business trip or vacation with a
>>>> general love of humankind. Another time, the misconceptions held by
>>>> airport workers result in degradation. You are grabbed, pulled,
>>>> talked about in the third person, and given inappropriate
>>>> "assistance". One TSA worker might allow you to move through the
>>>> line without any particular notice, while another wants to hold your
>>>> hands and talk to you in the sing-song tones reserved for
>>>> preschoolers. One flight attendant might order you into the bulkhead
>>>> row while another just as quickly orders you out of it. One day you
>>>> might ask for someone to walk to the gate with you and the employee
>>>> who arrives is so engaging that you have exchanged life stories by
>>>> the time you arrive. And another day, the request results in a
>>>> stripping of dignity.
>>>> Disability awareness varies widely from one airline/airport to another.
>>>> Not
>>>> surprisingly, that difference seems to be in direct correlation to
>>>> the source of training for employees. If you want to know how best
>>>> to treat people with disabilities, ask them. And then listen to what
>>>> they say.
>>>> Deborah Kendrick is a Cincinnati writer and advocate for people with
>>>> disabilities. .
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
>>> Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
>>> (513) 607-6053
>>>
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>>
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>
>
> --
> Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
> Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
> (513) 607-6053
>
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-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053