[Ohio-talk] Deborah Kendrick Column Please read

Debra Baker bakerdebra53 at gmail.com
Tue Oct 6 20:16:48 UTC 2015 

I wouldn't be surprised at all if that were their thinking.  Injury or not, as a result of the escort's help.  They're seeming to run scared of being fired; thus, liability.

Debbie Baker


-----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 3:52 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
Cc: Marianne Denning
Subject: Re: [Ohio-talk] Deborah Kendrick Column Please read

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

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