I never used the local area disabled-only call for a ride program because of rules like this. You have to schedule well in advance, and you get badly penalized if you cancel. Since I am very much of the good days and bad days and no predictability sort of disabled, what good does that do? Plus, how do I schedule well in advance for something like groceries? How do I know how long I'll be at the store? And if I have to sit around at the store with my groceries, losing energy while I wait, that isn't very helpful.
So, while they get to say they have this nifty service for the disabled, it actually looked remarkably useless to me. Sure, it's better than absolutely nothing. And you could use it to get to a doctor's appointment... but not back. Which is better than nothing for some people, I suppose. But it's hardly disability-friendly.
I think it's mostly there so that able bodied people can feel good about themselves and say that they set up a service to help the disabled without doing the difficult things the disabled would really
I would rephrase "I think it's mostly there so that able bodied people can feel good about themselves and say that they set up a service to help the disabled without doing the difficult things the disabled would really need." as
I think it's mostly there so that the agency to say that they have a service TO COMPLY WITH THE LETTER OF THE LAW, without doing the difficult things the disabled would really need to make the program work in practice. :(
That could be. I don't know the laws in these matters. But if so, I think the laws were written that way so able-bodied people could pretend they were helping, feel good about themselves, and not have to do the hard work of writing laws that would really help.
I think for most Public Transit systems, at least in the US, are required by the ADA to have some sort of special para-transit for disabled people. But why spend the money actually helping people when you could implement a sub-par system that is so discouraging, the people who need it can't use it.
I never used the local area disabled-only call for a ride program because of rules like this.
Same here. I was actually eligible for the paratransit service locally due to distance from the nearest bus stop served on weekends, but I don't think I used it even once because my executive functioning is so screwy I often have no idea when I'll even be ready, much less how long the errand will take.
(Also, my auditory processing disorder doesn't help matters on that front either! Of course there was no e-mail form-- it had to be done by phone. Granted, the transit center actually knew how to answer relay calls...but still, why go through relay when I could just contact them directly?)
So, while they get to say they have this nifty service for the disabled, it actually looked remarkably useless to me. Sure, it's better than absolutely nothing. And you could use it to get to a doctor's appointment... but not back. Which is better than nothing for some people, I suppose. But it's hardly disability-friendly.
I think it's mostly there so that able bodied people can feel good about themselves and say that they set up a service to help the disabled without doing the difficult things the disabled would really
Reply
I think it's mostly there so that the agency to say that they have a service TO COMPLY WITH THE LETTER OF THE LAW, without doing the difficult things the disabled would really need to make the program work in practice. :(
Reply
Reply
I think for most Public Transit systems, at least in the US, are required by the ADA to have some sort of special para-transit for disabled people. But why spend the money actually helping people when you could implement a sub-par system that is so discouraging, the people who need it can't use it.
Reply
Reply
Same here. I was actually eligible for the paratransit service locally due to distance from the nearest bus stop served on weekends, but I don't think I used it even once because my executive functioning is so screwy I often have no idea when I'll even be ready, much less how long the errand will take.
(Also, my auditory processing disorder doesn't help matters on that front either! Of course there was no e-mail form-- it had to be done by phone. Granted, the transit center actually knew how to answer relay calls...but still, why go through relay when I could just contact them directly?)
Reply
Leave a comment