[Sca-cooks] I quit

[Bronwynmgn at aol.com]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
In a message dated 3/28/2002 12:08:27 AM Eastern Standard Time,
melcnewt at netins.net writes:


> It is also disgraceful that his local area
> groups wouldn't at least try to make a ramp for him. A sheet of plywood and
> someone to help to push or at least steady him would be acceptable.

Uh, no, it wouldn't necessarily be acceptable!  It would only work for a
curb, or at most a few steps in a large area.  If the ramp rises more than
1-2 inches per one foot of length, it becomes extremely difficult to get a
wheelchair up or down safely because of the steepness.  And plywood, unless
it is supported underneath, will NOT take the weight for long, unless it is
very thick (and therefore very heavy and hard to move around).  The rise:run
ratio means that you need a 20 foot long ramp or at least 15 feet, to be able
to get up 20 inches - which is about three steps or less.
This is part of the problem.  People think they know how to accomodate, but
they really don't.  I've seen a bathroom labeled as handicapped accessible,
in a restaurant no less, that had such a poor entranceway and was so narrow
that the only disabled person who could have accessed it was someone who
walked with a cane or possible crutches.  No wheelchair could possibly have
gotten closer than 6 feet from the toilet.


> We are
> way to unforgiving in the SCA of the mobility challenged, if you don't have
> two legs it seems at times we don't want you.


Oh, come on.  We've got people who fight in wheelchairs, and knights with one
leg.  We routinely provide sign language interpreters for court, if we can
find one.  Blanket statements don't help.  Some areas are good at handling
this issue, and others are not.  Often the reason they are not is because
people don't really know what to do, and don't want to admit it.  The other
problem is, we'll do anything to make sure the people we already know can
continue to participate if something happens to them, but won't give the same
effort to a newcomer.  That's deplorable.

Oh, I don't blame Gorgeous for being pissed.  He's found himself, in a year,
denied all sorts of things and not found anyone to help him.  I think we'd
all be pissed inthat situation.  And, as he says, fighting this sort of thing
is his mundane job; it's quite understandable that he doesn't want to have to
fight it in his leisure time.

The East Kingdom has a kingdom officer called the Disability Porter.  So does
Aethelmearc. Atlantia does not, or at least it is not listed in the Acorn.  I
have no idea if Gorgeous' kingdom does or not.  The purpose of this officer
(and it is often a person with a disability themselves) is to help with just
this problem.  To advise groups on accessibility issues and how to get around
them, how to decide if a site is accessible, etc.  I suspect that one could
also go to this officer to complain that one's group was not trying to
address this, or actively refusing to address it.

Brangwayna
(Really Barb, who is a physical therapist)