Trouble Is Everywhere

As most people who know me already know, Don is a full-time wheelchair user. In addition, he is a regular user of our medical system - he needs to have regular tests to ensure that his heart is still healthy, for example, and he needs to have various levels of things checked regularly in order to ensure that his thyroid replacement drug is working properly and his blood pressure isn't wonky. These are the sorts of tests he needs to keep him alive.

Since moving to Ontario, Don has been referred to two different medical clinics for evaluation of these. He was referred to both of these clinics by doctors who were aware he was a wheelchair user since they physically saw Don in his wheelchair when referring him, and also because they were referring him for things that need to be checked because of his Marfan's Syndrome, which is why he uses said wheelchair.

Don has been to two different medical clinics in Toronto, exactly zero of which have been wheelchair accessible.

A few months ago he needed to get into one clinic for a blood test and urine test. Most people can complete them both in the clinic. Don had to take things home and pee in a cup here because the washroom was completely unsuitable for people with mobility issues or people using wheelchairs, which meant Don had to make two trips - trips that take far more out of him than they would out of a non-disabled person.

The clinic today, which was ultrasound for his aorta, was not only clumsy in dealing with people who have unusual heart conditions (like, say, someone with Marfan's Syndrome), but their washroom was inaccessible to people with mobility-related issues or using wheelchairs, as well as having narrow hallways and doors that made navigating very difficult for someone in an electric chair.

The common response of people who are afraid of the Access for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and similar legislation in the US is that if there's a need, things will be taken care of. Everyone "knows" that people want to be accessible they just lack the knowledge or ability or something that will make this happen. You just need to ask nicely and it will be provided.

Medical clinics serve people with disabilities on a regular basis and they can't even get it together on accessibility. That's why we need these sorts of laws, because frankly it's too long to wait.

Over 50% of the buses that Don & I have tried to take in Toronto have refused him service because he is disabled.

Of the five bus drivers who have refused us service, only one has followed the protocol that was outlined to us by TTC Customer Service yesterday. Today, a bus driver threatened to trap Don on the bus and force him to wait for the firetruck to come rescue him if I did not stop insisting that he follow TTC protocol in situations regarding broken ramps on buses. That same bus driver was reprimanded by the bus driver that finally accepted us on his bus because apparently the TTC is deliberately putting buses with broken ramps on wheelchair-accessible routes with wheelchair-accessible stickers on the buses and just telling wheelchair users to wait for the next bus. This will obviously allow them to say they have 100% of wheelchair accessible buses on routes when those buses are not wheelchair accessible.

Two bus drivers have not strapped Don's wheelchair into the bus, as they are required to do, and one driver did this improperly. This puts Don's life at risk. Without training, I cannot strap Don into the bus for them. I am not Don's caregiver, and should not be expected to do this work without pay, and while having to pay to be on the bus. When this sort of work is required of me on airlines or trains, I get a free fare.

The TTC has been taken to court at least twice for failing to obey accessibility requirements. I had been under the mistaken impression that being required to pay a huge fine and still have to follow accessibility guidelines would cause TTC to consider that accessibility is something they are required to do. Apparently this is not the case.

Because we were kept waiting for three buses at the last stop we were at, we are unable to call TTC customer service to complain about this situation. Again, we have been in Toronto for two weeks, and have been taking buses together on two days. I do not have the time and energy to call TTC to complain about this every single day that Don and I want to go out. I do not want to have to call TTC customer service every day. But now I am considering getting a cell phone that much sooner just so we can call TTC customer service when these things happen rather than having to wait till tomorrow morning.

I wish I could say I cannot believe this is happening in the bustling metropolis of Toronto, but frankly, I am not. After years of fighting for basic accessibility requirements in Halifax, and foolishly thinking that things would be easier in a busier city with more resources, and a strong disability rights community, I am really really tired of this shit.

*headdesk*

I fell asleep at 9:30 and then woke up at about 2 a.m. and so I went on twitter so I could check the news and what the shit is this?

University Decision To Withdraw Student With Down Syndrome Sparks Outcry

When officials at an Oregon university decided that a 20-year-old with Down syndrome could no longer audit a ceramics class, the woman’s peers responded in force.

Eliza Schaaf was auditing a ceramics course at Southern Oregon University until she received a letter from the school Nov. 8 indicating that her need for extensive one-on-one assistance “resulted in a disruption of curriculum delivery and interfered with the teaching and learning environment for the instructor and other students.” University officials informed Schaaf that as a result she would be withdrawn from the course.

That didn’t sit well with Schaaf’s classmates who said that she was not a disruption and that her inclusion added to their college experience. All 19 of the other students in Schaaf’s class signed a petition asking that she be allowed to remain in the course. What’s more, the university’s student senate voted to oppose the school’s decision.

So, let me see if I get this straight:

The university administration says Eliza is a disruption to her classmates.

Her classmates respond with "lol no". Every single person in the class signs a petition saying she's not disruptive. The student union votes to back her inclusion in the class. There have been student protests saying she's not disruptive. But hey! Let's kick her out of school 3/4s of the way into the term because .... Why exactly?

We have a word for that, you know.

I'm looking more into this case, but it looks pretty shitty to me.

This post is full of curse words.

( lots and lots of curse words )

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I will calm down and write a proper letter to some people. Tomorrow. After I kick something.