Monday, March 7, 2011

Finding things out with Google it's about Accessibility

I happened to be with a professor today whom decided they were going to be smart and they googled my name.  To her surprise there seems to be pages of information.  I've never been a private person.  I honestly don't see the point on making it a challenge for people to find out anything about me.  Can't be blackmailed with something if everyone knows about it.  Also I try to make a point of doing things that wouldn't get me into a situation like that in the first place.

Anyhow, we came across an article a journalism student, Gurpreet Ghag, wrote for the Humber College News paper HumberEtc Issue dated Thurday, October 29, 2009.


http://issuu.com/humberetc/docs/20091029-humberetcetera

It's about the stink made by the outcome of a Human Dimensions Assignment we had to do.  As many know my husband is blind, I have a small child and my Mother-In-Law uses a walker (She's often around as she lives in the same apartment building as us and is an angel sent from heaven.) 

Anyhow, this article got action I'm happy to say.  This semester signs for washrooms and elevators have been finally posted all over the campus'.  This was seriously needed, but it took over 120 students to test things out and make it publically known that there were serious issues to get something done.

But, if we can do this within a College atmosphere, isn't it time we do this within our communities and homes?  Don't we all deserve a chance to function at our best without every minute of the day second guessing how we are going to get anything done and how much longer it will take.  The effort some days to find utilities that should be right in front of us, because it's not asthetically pleasing to people that don't need to use them.  It's time for this to change and acceptance to change be celebrated.

I'm watching the TTC(Toronto Transit Commission) rebuilding subway station after subway station to make a fully accessible Transit System.  No more having to book a special bus that may or may not arrive on time.  If you miss it you're stuck.  No more cancellations a day before your doctor's appointment, because their bus broke down. 

This is a life of a person in a wheelchair alone in Toronto, having to spend more on Accessible Taxi's and always having a backup plan to get home.  These are people that live on Disability Pensions or Old Age Pensions.  Most are barely at the poverty line. 

I just want to see Interior Decorating and Design to see that there's a big varied world of people out there and they are in a position to make the best of everything. 

This is an aging society that's even more active than generations before.  We can't expect them to stop living in the style they are accustom to just because their health has changed a little.  Today, there are waiting lists for homes designed just for the aging, but then you miss out on those with disabilities that are young.

As a society we assume that they have the same lives as us.  Grow up, get married, have children, etc.  More today are.  More are having careers and with careers often comes social obligations.  Entertaining collegues, associates, friends and family within their own home.  These people need a working environment everyday for themselves, but they also need to feel that their environment is also comfortable for those entering their home.  That means a blind husband who brings a client home for dinner, wants to know that he can trust that his condo is tasteful decorated and safe for him to move about in.

Close your eyes and see how many things you knock over and bump into in your own home.  Spacing between furniture.  Secure three dimensional art.  Colours that work together.  Textures to identify one thing from another.  A place for everything.  A scooter is large but does it need to sit at the front door?  Does the place it's stored actually have the ability to charge it?  Can a wheel chair move easily through the space?  What about the counter heights?  I have family whom are considered dwarves.  You can only carry a stool around so long or climb on so many chairs before someone gets hurt or something gets damaged.

Okay, enough about my rant.  I just had a long day on the TTC where I could not reach the rail above my head and it was a LONG ride.

1 comment:

  1. That is some inspirational stuff. Never knew that opinions could be this varied. You need to sing with all your heart if you want to sing the gospel song.
    hair loss after pregnancy

    ReplyDelete