Anonymous wrote:I don't think people are tearing down people with disabilities. I think OP, who knows someone who knows someone who uses a wheelchair is trying to be a busybody.

-Someone who has a disability, who actually does accessibility planning for a living.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am well-meaning, but I do not know what makes a bldg. accessible. For example, someone just posted that even one step means it is not wheelchair accessible. I did not know that. I tip my daughter's stroller up and down multiple steps so, on the spur of the moment, if someone asked me, "Is that place accessible?" I want to seem eager and willing to help so I would probably say, "Yes! Absolutely! You can go there!" I feel riuder when I say, "I do not know. You might have to call and ask," because then it makes me feel like here I am thoughtlessly not keeping this issue in mind and/or making them now go through an added step (no pun intended) that an able-bodied person would have to do. (Although, quite frankly, just why *should*'I be keeping this in the forefront of my mind at all times? I do not always expect people to keep child-related concerns at the forefront of their minds if they do not have kids, so I do not pepper them with questions such as, "Does it have a changing table in the bathrooms? How about in the men's? Do they give out coloring pages to the children while we are waiting for the food so my kids do not go beserk and bother everyone? Do they have a children's menu?" No, I feel the onus is on me to ensure that this location meets our needs. . . .

PP, you seem like a thoughtful person, but how would tipping a child's stroller up a step be similar to a quadriplegic managing a power chair that weighs a couple of hundred pounds on his own? This is really ludicrous thinking.

Anonymous wrote:Why the eye roll? Seems like we are damned if we do (attempt to give guidance) and damned if we don't (say, sorry, I do not know). I am talking about individual people here who may just run across this occasionally, not a business or a restaurant or something.

Seriously, what else would you be telling me to do?

Anonymous wrote:I am well-meaning, but I do not know what makes a bldg. accessible. For example, someone just posted that even one step means it is not wheelchair accessible. I did not know that. I tip my daughter's stroller up and down multiple steps so, on the spur of the moment, if someone asked me, "Is that place accessible?" I want to seem eager and willing to help so I would probably say, "Yes! Absolutely! You can go there!" I feel riuder when I say, "I do not know. You might have to call and ask," because then it makes me feel like here I am thoughtlessly not keeping this issue in mind and/or making them now go through an added step (no pun intended) that an able-bodied person would have to do. (Although, quite frankly, just why *should*'I be keeping this in the forefront of my mind at all times? I do not always expect people to keep child-related concerns at the forefront of their minds if they do not have kids, so I do not pepper them with questions such as, "Does it have a changing table in the bathrooms? How about in the men's? Do they give out coloring pages to the children while we are waiting for the food so my kids do not go beserk and bother everyone? Do they have a children's menu?" No, I feel the onus is on me to ensure that this location meets our needs. . . .

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am well-meaning, but I do not know what makes a bldg. accessible. For example, someone just posted that even one step means it is not wheelchair accessible. I did not know that. I tip my daughter's stroller up and down multiple steps so, on the spur of the moment, if someone asked me, "Is that place accessible?" I want to seem eager and willing to help so I would probably say, "Yes! Absolutely! You can go there!" I feel riuder when I say, "I do not know. You might have to call and ask," because then it makes me feel like here I am thoughtlessly not keeping this issue in mind and/or making them now go through an added step (no pun intended) that an able-bodied person would have to do. (Although, quite frankly, just why *should*'I be keeping this in the forefront of my mind at all times? I do not always expect people to keep child-related concerns at the forefront of their minds if they do not have kids, so I do not pepper them with questions such as, "Does it have a changing table in the bathrooms? How about in the men's? Do they give out coloring pages to the children while we are waiting for the food so my kids do not go beserk and bother everyone? Do they have a children's menu?" No, I feel the onus is on me to ensure that this location meets our needs. . . .

"Accessible" is a legal term. Would you give other legal advice, even if you weren't sure because you want to be helpful? I hope not.

Ok, so I see my feelings are misplaced. I will just blithely reply, " I am sorry, but I do not know!" from now on!

You do that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am well-meaning, but I do not know what makes a bldg. accessible. For example, someone just posted that even one step means it is not wheelchair accessible. I did not know that. I tip my daughter's stroller up and down multiple steps so, on the spur of the moment, if someone asked me, "Is that place accessible?" I want to seem eager and willing to help so I would probably say, "Yes! Absolutely! You can go there!" I feel riuder when I say, "I do not know. You might have to call and ask," because then it makes me feel like here I am thoughtlessly not keeping this issue in mind and/or making them now go through an added step (no pun intended) that an able-bodied person would have to do. (Although, quite frankly, just why *should*'I be keeping this in the forefront of my mind at all times? I do not always expect people to keep child-related concerns at the forefront of their minds if they do not have kids, so I do not pepper them with questions such as, "Does it have a changing table in the bathrooms? How about in the men's? Do they give out coloring pages to the children while we are waiting for the food so my kids do not go beserk and bother everyone? Do they have a children's menu?" No, I feel the onus is on me to ensure that this location meets our needs. . . .

"Accessible" is a legal term. Would you give other legal advice, even if you weren't sure because you want to be helpful? I hope not.

Ok, so I see my feelings are misplaced. I will just blithely reply, " I am sorry, but I do not know!" from now on!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am well-meaning, but I do not know what makes a bldg. accessible. For example, someone just posted that even one step means it is not wheelchair accessible. I did not know that. I tip my daughter's stroller up and down multiple steps so, on the spur of the moment, if someone asked me, "Is that place accessible?" I want to seem eager and willing to help so I would probably say, "Yes! Absolutely! You can go there!" I feel riuder when I say, "I do not know. You might have to call and ask," because then it makes me feel like here I am thoughtlessly not keeping this issue in mind and/or making them now go through an added step (no pun intended) that an able-bodied person would have to do. (Although, quite frankly, just why *should*'I be keeping this in the forefront of my mind at all times? I do not always expect people to keep child-related concerns at the forefront of their minds if they do not have kids, so I do not pepper them with questions such as, "Does it have a changing table in the bathrooms? How about in the men's? Do they give out coloring pages to the children while we are waiting for the food so my kids do not go beserk and bother everyone? Do they have a children's menu?" No, I feel the onus is on me to ensure that this location meets our needs. . . .

"Accessible" is a legal term. Would you give other legal advice, even if you weren't sure because you want to be helpful? I hope not.

Anonymous wrote:I am well-meaning, but I do not know what makes a bldg. accessible. For example, someone just posted that even one step means it is not wheelchair accessible. I did not know that. I tip my daughter's stroller up and down multiple steps so, on the spur of the moment, if someone asked me, "Is that place accessible?" I want to seem eager and willing to help so I would probably say, "Yes! Absolutely! You can go there!" I feel riuder when I say, "I do not know. You might have to call and ask," because then it makes me feel like here I am thoughtlessly not keeping this issue in mind and/or making them now go through an added step (no pun intended) that an able-bodied person would have to do. (Although, quite frankly, just why *should*'I be keeping this in the forefront of my mind at all times? I do not always expect people to keep child-related concerns at the forefront of their minds if they do not have kids, so I do not pepper them with questions such as, "Does it have a changing table in the bathrooms? How about in the men's? Do they give out coloring pages to the children while we are waiting for the food so my kids do not go beserk and bother everyone? Do they have a children's menu?" No, I feel the onus is on me to ensure that this location meets our needs. . . .

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I didn't know that the person was handicapped, my first thought would be whether it was accessible via public transport.

Right, but when you answered "yes, we are on the Red Line, two blocks from the Silver Spring station," the person would probably follow up with "I mean ADA accessible", and you would answer accordingly.

I have actually found that there is so much confusion about what constitutes accessible under the ADA that I am better to ask about specific elements: do you have an elevator, do you have ASL interpreters or captioning available, etc.

Even if someone asked me, "Is it ADA-accessible?" I do not know the legal ins and outs of what exactly ADA mandates, so I would not know.

You're probably not the right person to ask then!

Oh don't be ridiculous. NP here. It's quite possible to not know the nitty gritty rules yet also be accommodating & willing to find out the info the person needs. For instance, if I worked in a store and someone called asking how wide our door was. I do not need to know the ADA rule in order to be a helpful person and go measure the door for her.

But surely, if you can accommodate someone by measuring the door, aisles, toilet and distance to the handicap spot, you could also accommodate them by doing one of the following:

1) Asking your supervisor if you're ADA compliant

or

2) Saying "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know whether we're ADA compliant, if you tell me the accessibility features you need I can tell you whether we have them."

Demanding that other people change their language seems like an odd solution to not knowing whether your work location is ADA compliant.

This is what I just said.

I don't care what language people use. Every special need is going to be different, so just be specific about what you need.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not understanding why people need to be cryptic and unnecessarily difficult.

"I am X (blind, in a wheelchair, etc.) and need accommodations Y. Does your building have that?"

What is so difficult about that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I didn't know that the person was handicapped, my first thought would be whether it was accessible via public transport.

Right, but when you answered "yes, we are on the Red Line, two blocks from the Silver Spring station," the person would probably follow up with "I mean ADA accessible", and you would answer accordingly.

I have actually found that there is so much confusion about what constitutes accessible under the ADA that I am better to ask about specific elements: do you have an elevator, do you have ASL interpreters or captioning available, etc.

Even if someone asked me, "Is it ADA-accessible?" I do not know the legal ins and outs of what exactly ADA mandates, so I would not know.

You're probably not the right person to ask then!

Oh don't be ridiculous. NP here. It's quite possible to not know the nitty gritty rules yet also be accommodating & willing to find out the info the person needs. For instance, if I worked in a store and someone called asking how wide our door was. I do not need to know the ADA rule in order to be a helpful person and go measure the door for her.

But surely, if you can accommodate someone by measuring the door, aisles, toilet and distance to the handicap spot, you could also accommodate them by doing one of the following:

1) Asking your supervisor if you're ADA compliant

or

2) Saying "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know whether we're ADA compliant, if you tell me the accessibility features you need I can tell you whether we have them."

Demanding that other people change their language seems like an odd solution to not knowing whether your work location is ADA compliant.