Column
In August I attended the APA Conference in Boston. This was my first trip to the US and I was excited to be travelling to that great mythical place to see it in reality. I was mostly excited about travelling to the home of the American With Disabilities Act; had the land of the free really become the land of access and inclusion? How would it compare to the land of the Human Rights Act where access and inclusion are tolerated so long as they are reasonable?
It was in registering for the Conference that I got my first taste of what it was going to be like. Disability was just catered for. It was no big deal. It was just done. Click on the disability link and one was directed through to the apparatus set up to deal with disability issues. In terms of accommodation, one just clicked the ADA box on the “special requirements” and, to my delight, my rooms in both San Francisco and Boston had roll in showers and toilets just at the right height for easy transfer. Here, in the land of the long reasonable grudge, one can never be sure if that “accessible” motel room is indeed accessible. And then there is rarely more than one or two ‘accessible” units available.
While the buses all appeared to be accessible and many of the underground stations were accessible, it was the relative plethora of accessible taxis in Boston which really impressed me. Invariably at a taxi rank there would be a hatch back cab which had been converted to take a wheelchair. They were not up to Rolls Royce standard, but did the job efficiently and effectively. And this is in a city of about 600,000. How well are mobility impaired people catered for in similar sized cities in the land of reasonableness?
So I guess it’s all a matter of mindset. In America disabled people have rights enshrined in legislation. This legislation is enforced and mobility impaired people get service with a smile. Or this one did on his admittedly short stay in two American cities. One felt normal, natural, welcomed and included in this environment. This is not always the case here in New Zealand where, on occasions, I feel as if I am only reluctantly admitted because our Human Rights Act says I have to be admitted so long as it only imposes reasonable costs on the proprietor. It is difficult to feel welcome and fully included under these circumstances.
It was in registering for the Conference that I got my first taste of what it was going to be like. Disability was just catered for. It was no big deal. It was just done. Click on the disability link and one was directed through to the apparatus set up to deal with disability issues. In terms of accommodation, one just clicked the ADA box on the “special requirements” and, to my delight, my rooms in both San Francisco and Boston had roll in showers and toilets just at the right height for easy transfer. Here, in the land of the long reasonable grudge, one can never be sure if that “accessible” motel room is indeed accessible. And then there is rarely more than one or two ‘accessible” units available.
While the buses all appeared to be accessible and many of the underground stations were accessible, it was the relative plethora of accessible taxis in Boston which really impressed me. Invariably at a taxi rank there would be a hatch back cab which had been converted to take a wheelchair. They were not up to Rolls Royce standard, but did the job efficiently and effectively. And this is in a city of about 600,000. How well are mobility impaired people catered for in similar sized cities in the land of reasonableness?
So I guess it’s all a matter of mindset. In America disabled people have rights enshrined in legislation. This legislation is enforced and mobility impaired people get service with a smile. Or this one did on his admittedly short stay in two American cities. One felt normal, natural, welcomed and included in this environment. This is not always the case here in New Zealand where, on occasions, I feel as if I am only reluctantly admitted because our Human Rights Act says I have to be admitted so long as it only imposes reasonable costs on the proprietor. It is difficult to feel welcome and fully included under these circumstances.
Martin Sullivan
