Disabled parking rules should be enforced

(From UK)
I Sympathise with Jane Ogilvie and Paula Caulton over their problems with Blue Badge parking (Letters January 1 and January 7) Unlike them I have never felt discriminated against or asked why I am parking there.

I actually look disabled as I am an elderly a wheelchair user with one leg.
For me it is a necessity to park in a Blue Badge bay and like Jane and Paula I have problems when these bays are abused by people without a Blue Badge because it prevents me from shopping independently.
Today, thanks to the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, disabled people are now being treated as equal members of society. We have dropped kerbs, automatic doors, wide shopping aisles, lifts, etc.
The service provider is at last beginning to value the customer with a disability, but not yet realising how important it is to be able to park their car. The spending power of the customers with disabilities is £70bn so why not help us spend it?
Monitor disabled parking bays and fine people using them without a Blue Badge.
John Coxhead.

Pay Toilets Welcome Wheelers

New York City opened its first of 20 wheelchair-accessible, self-cleaning, public pay toilets in Madison Square Park in December. The usage fee is 25 cents for 15 minutes, after which the automatic door swings open and a 60-second self-cleaning cycle begins.

Since the 1800s NYC has had public pay toilet problems. The city outlawed public toilets in 1975 because they discriminated against women — there were no stalls. Subsequently, the city won a class action suit in 1993 that originated because of complaints by a homeless group about the lack of public toilets. Cemusa, the Spanish advertising company that won the bid to install the new toilets, will also add hundreds of news stands and bus shelters. All surfaces of the outdoor furniture, even the toilets, will be sold for advertising.

Source: NewMobility.com

Doctors refuse mother's request to remove disabled daughter's womb 'because of charity backlash'

A mother has lost her battle to have her severely disabled daughter's womb removed.

Alison Thorpe had hoped surgeons would operate on 15-yearold Katie, who has cerebral palsy, to prevent her from the "pain, discomfort and indignity" of menstruation.

But disabled rights groups said the teenager - who cannot walk or talk and is incontinent - would be put through unnecessary pain.

Yesterday it emerged that doctors have told Miss Thorpe, from Billericay, Essex, they would operate only if there was a medical reason to do so.

"This means that if and when Katie does start her periods she could endure months and months of pain and discomfort before anything is done," she said.

Katie's plight echos the controversial case of nine-year-old Ashley X in America who underwent breast bud removal and hormone treatment to keep her in a child like state, small and manageable for her parents who care for her.

But Miss Thorpe believes the Mid-Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust has been swayed by the outcry from some quarters, including the cerebral palsy charity Scope.

She said: "I think the Trust has bowed down to what they perceived to be public opinion.

"But I have had overwhelming support from the public, both able-bodied and disabled people.

"The only opposition has been from disabled rights movements but I would say to them, 'Come and spend a week with me, walk in my shoes'. I've spent 15 years with my daughter, as a mother who loves her dearly I am trying to do the best I can for her.

"I think the Trust has bowed down to what they perceived to be public opinion, that is my personal belief. I have had overwhelming support from the public, both able bodied and disabled people.

"I feel the trust misread the so-called lack of support from the minority, groups such as Scope.

"I have not had any contact with any (disability) organisation, they do not know me or Katie. They have not provided any support or help for us as a family.

"I am not surprised by what they said but in in the way they said it. They have not been made aware of any of the facts in his case, they made up their mind before hearing the other side of the story, without referring to us.

"I don't want to take away disable people's rights, I want to give them choice."

Doctors initially suggested contraceptive pills and injections to stop Katie's periods but Miss Thorpe ruled them out because of the risk of thrombosis for her wheelchairbound daughter.

Consultant gynaecologist Phil Robarts, from St John's Hospital in Chelmsford, had discussed the options with Katie's mother.

Miss Thorpe hoped doctors would also remove Katie's appendix as it might not be apparent if she suffered appendicitis.

The Trust now says it cannot justify surgery on the grounds suggested by the mother.

However, Miss Thorpe, who lives with partner Peter Reynolds, 52, and has another daughter, 12-yearold Melissa, has written to the Trust's non-executive directors asking them to put a plan into place to operate as soon as Katie starts her periods.

She added: "It's one of those things, life with a disabled child is one long battle and this is just another step down the ladder."

"It was not unexpected. It means we move to stage two and carrying on fighting."

Sharon Collins, an executive director at Scope, said: "An irreversible procedure of this nature that is not clinically necessary is not the right way forward."

Source: DailyMail-January 17, 2008

The Mobility Project: Local Group Bringing Wheelchair Mobility to Disabled

Photo courtesy Lisa Murphy The Mobility Project not only provides wheelchairs but also a variety of mobility devices to developing countries. Here, a child in Afghanistan receives a walker.

While in Afghanistan in 2002, Lisa Murphy was approached by a 10-year-old boy dragging his mother behind him on a board. The boy's mother cradled an infant in her arms as she laid there helpless. She appeared to have multiple sclerosis, although Murphy couldn't be sure.

The boy came to Murphy because he had heard she was distributing free wheelchairs. Murphy and her companions promptly fitted the woman to a wheelchair and trained her to use it. They also gave the family food and clothing.

Murphy still remembers how proud the boy was as he wheeled his mother away. Experiences like these are life-changing, said Murphy, and she has nearly a decade of them.

Murphy is president and CEO of The Mobility Project, a nonprofit humanitarian organization located in Bremerton that refurbishes used and discarded wheelchairs and delivers them to disabled people in developing countries.

In addition to Afghanistan, the organization has distributed chairs in Thailand, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan and Costa Rica, to name a few. In many of these countries, the people helped by The Mobility Project have never seen a wheelchair or even know that wheelchairs exist.

Often joining Murphy on these trips is her husband, Jeff, a wheelchair seating and positioning specialist for more than 17 years. Jeff Murphy is part owner of Sound Mobility, a wheelchair distributorship based in Bremerton, and also serves on The Mobility Project's board of directors.

With just two other staff members, Lisa and Jeff Murphy distribute anywhere from 400 to 1,500 wheelchairs a year. They also make return trips to previous locations to make any necessary repairs — such as replacing wheels or seat cushions — on wheelchairs they've donated.

At the Bremerton warehouse, The Mobility Project takes in wheelchairs and parts as well as walkers, crutches and other mobility devices. At any given time, there might be as many as 200 wheelchairs undergoing repairs.

"We actually have the chance to take our garbage and turn it into gold for someone else," said Murphy.

The Mobility Project next month will make a return trip to Thailand, thanks to the generosity of the Poulsbo/North Kitsap Rotary Club. The Rotary has supported the organization for many years, Murphy said, but this year pulled out the stops to help underwrite the Thailand trip.

Through private donations and a matching grant from Rotary International, the local Rotary donated $37,000 to the project.

Rotary is providing The Mobility Project with physical assistance as well. A handful of Rotarians will be accompanying Murphy to Pattaya, Thailand, to help fit disabled individuals to their wheelchairs and provide training on how to use them.

Both groups will be met by the Thailand Rotary, which will help them distribute 200 wheelchairs, including sports and pediatric wheelchairs, which were shipped to Thailand last month.

Part of the 20-day project in Thailand will involve setting up a sports camp to teach individuals how to play games such as tennis and basketball from their chairs. The Mobility Project is the only wheelchair organization in the United States to provide sports chairs and training to disabled people in other countries.

Gayle Heller, international director for the local Rotary Club, is among those who will be making the Thailand trip. Heller recently moved to Poulsbo from Sequim specifically because she wanted to be part of the service-oriented Poulsbo Rotary.

"There are four or five of us going and paying our own way," Heller said. "I'm excited."

If Heller is like volunteers in the past, the trip to Thailand won't be her last. Murphy noted that she receives calls all the time from people who have accompanied her on past humanitarian missions and want to sign up for another go-round.

They say they need a "reality check," says Murphy.

At the helm of the organization, Murphy spends a lot of her time recruiting help from churches, civic organizations and other groups. She can't promise volunteers any luxuries on their trips abroad, but she can guarantee them a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"We always say we feel selfish," said Murphy, "because it's so rewarding to pick people off the ground and give them the dignity and freedom and independence that they so deserve."

Help The Mobility Project:

The Mobility Project is in constant need of donations. Every $150 can seat one person in a wheelchair. Every $200 can help refurbish 10 wheelchairs. Every $3,000 can send one shipping container to Mexico. To make a financial donation or to volunteer to help, contact the organization at 692-6122 or e-mail info@mobilityproject.org.

Author:
Tammy Adamson-McMullen
For the Kitsap Sun
Friday, November 23, 2007

2007 Person of the Year: Chantal Petitclerc

January 2008
2007 Person of the Year: Chantal Petitclerc

Paralympic athletes have always been popular role models, but one woman stands out not only for her achievements on the track, but also because of her personal integrity and commitment to excellence in everything she does. In 2007, Canadian Chantal Petitclerc, in the course of preparing for this year’s Paralympic competition, once again dominated women’s wheelchair track events, setting no less than three world records. Meanwhile, her activities off the track continue to elicit respect and admiration, reinforcing her role as ambassador on wheels to the larger world.

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