[Ansteorra] Responsibility

Sun Jul 17 21:29:56 PDT 2005

Thank you for your post Sir Jean Paul. I too post with some trepidation. We
need to take responsibility for our needs. The ADA only requires reasonable
accommodations, there is still an argument as  to who is responsible for
this. We are not going to be able to settle this argument here. I understand
that the BOD will be making ruling on this after reviewing all the legal
stuff.

I have seen many argument started from assuming too much. The event fliers
usually say if there is electricity, running water, or not. Not all camping
sites have the creature comforts of home. Camping comes with its risks.
Groups often share sites and hold multiple events a year at them. There is
no harm in calling, or e-mailing, the event steward and cook if you have
questions. Planning ahead does not mean you will definitely go to that event
(best laid plans, you know). I have missed my share of events due to sick
kidos.

Being an event steward can be an education in itself. It can be a great help
if individuals with special camping needs call ahead, or send friends ahead
to scout out the best/easiest places to camp.

Groups are always looking for event stewards to put in bids. The main part
of being a steward is organizing and talking to people. If your group is
hosting an event volunteer. This is were the rest of the sponsoring group
comes in. Help with setup and tear down. It can be so easy to just pack up
your own camp and leave on Sunday morning. Check to see if anyone needs
help. With only one action, like taking trash to the dumpster, could help
make the event easier for the staff. There was a time that the we would
claim to leave a site cleaner than we found it. l hope we still do. Sorry
for the tangent. I have been to a small number of events where there were
only a handful of people left to clean up. When a call goes out at a meeting
do not assume someone else will be there to help if you leave. If your group
is hosting an event volunteer. Many of us do, we just need to remember that
the event is not over until the site is cleared.

Meraud (Getting off her soapbox now)

-----Original Message-----
From: ansteorra-bounces+meraud90=yahoo.com at ansteorra.org
[mailto:ansteorra-bounces+meraud90=yahoo.com at ansteorra.org]On Behalf Of
Carl Chipman
Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2005 1:40 AM
To: Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc.
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] What is "Reasonable Accommodation"?

Like many others, i have been timid about replying to this topic due tofears
of being labeled insensitive or uncaring. However, your phrase

"A person should not have to call ahead of time to request access to
electricity for their powerchair or medical equipment, it should be
available."

Struck a cord in me.  I too require electricity for medical equipment.  I
have a CPAP  machine, and pretty much must use it nightly.  However, it is
my need, which I plan for (http://www.cchipman.com/cpap_on_batteries.htm)and
do not require others to do my work for me. I understand that myneed is not
as severe as others, but I still feel that I take thepersonal responsibility
for what I need to do the things I want. I feelit is unfair to demand from
volunteers that in addition to arrangingthe site, the cheap camping, the
cheap food, the free service, and theorganization of recreational
activities, they should also try toimagine any foreseeable disability and
plan for all of them.

People in the SCA are helpful and kind, and if notified of needs will work
to assist.  People can not read minds, nor can they plan for every possible
contingency.

With trepidition,
Sieur Jean Paul de Sens

Carl Chipman
Nomadics, Inc.
http://www.nomadics.com

----- Original Message -----
From: Lisa <silvina at allegiance.tv>
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 19:11:16 -0500
Subject: [Ansteorra] What is "Reasonable Accommodation"?

> It has been posted that the SCA has changed it's policy to require all
events to
> be legal under the ADA.  Now comes the question... What is Reasonable
> accomodation????
>
> To explain my perspective on this I would like to digress a little.  we
recently
> had a discussion as to what a reasonable attempt at period garb was.  This
is
> very subjective and pretty much the decision of what is reasonable lies on
the
> individual making the attempt correct?  With reasonable accomodation, the
ADA
> does give us some guidelines, but it is impossible for them to give
specifics on
> every possible situation.  What needs to be done is to take those
guidelines
> (and there IS a secion on building codes and what is acceptable for
facilities)
> and use a little common sense.  For example, if a site is pretty much
nothing
> but sand and swamp a golf cart is not an unreasonable request if the
person is
> normally confined to a wheelchair and it is obvious that their manual or
power
> chair is unable to traverse the terrain.  Hopefully, with this new ruling,
we
> won't have that issue as people will become more attentive to the sites
chosen
> and look at them for ADA compliance and accessability.  A person should
not have
> to call ahead of time to request access to electricity for their
powerchair or
> medical equipment, it should be available.  With cabin reservations, if a
> disabled person requests a cabin ahead of time, they should have first
priority
> regarding accessible cabins rather than being told "it's on a first come,
first
> serve basis and all of the cabins are full because you didn't call/contact
me
> fast enough."  I'm not saying that a person who calls at the last minute
needing
> a cabin because of a disability should be able to boot someone out, but
perhaps
> open the reservation process a little early for those with disabilities to
> contact instead of all 15 (number picked out of the air) cabins being
filled in
> 15 minutes and a disabled person and their family/household being unable
to
> attend the event because of lack of accomodation.  An event steward
looking at a
> site for an event should print out the ADA requirements for facilities and
make
> a checklist.  I realise that this is a lot to ask, but look at what a
disabled
> person goes through when a facility is not accessible and they attend the
event.
>  For example, no electrical access... my husband would not be able to
recharge
> his power chair and would be not only stuck in the camp, but also unable
to get
> back into the van to go home unless some strong individual was kind enough
to
> push his chair up the ramp into the van.  Why not bring a manual chair as
a
> backup?   He has severe rotator cuff damage and cannot push a manual chair
> without ending up in severe pain.  His power chair is one of the "lighter"
ones
> on the market and it weighs around 300 lbs, he weighs around 170 lbs.  I
am 5'4"
> and weigh around 100 lbs... I cannot manhandle the weight of his chair and
him
> very far at all, and definitely not up a slope or through loose sand.
Even
> pushing his manual chair is difficult for me for long distances.
Reasonable
> accomodation is using common sense, and doing what is right instead of
coming up
> with excuses of how hard it is or how there are no facilities that fit the
> requirements that are affordable.
>
> Elizabeta of Rundel
> _______________________________________________
> Ansteorra mailing list
> Ansteorra at ansteorra.org
> http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/ansteorra
>

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