You know, one of my favorite memories of growing up here in Tucson is strolling up and down 4th Avenue on the weekends, and following the underpass into downtown. There were so many places I could explore. Bentley’s, Cafe Quebec, the back room of the Chicago Store—they were amazing times. Everything was accessible to me, and I took full advantage of it. Today, not so much.
Well, let me correct that. Everything is still accessible to me; however, everything is not accessible to my daughter who uses a wheelchair as her main source of transportation. Therefore my statement stands true—not so much. It never dawned on me how much Tucson excludes those who use mobility aids until I took my daughter to the Tucson Children’s Museum.
We tried to interact with some of the exhibits they had, specifically, the one where you spin a wheel mounted to the exhibit and made electricity. A typical and perfect example of cause and effect, right? Wrong. My daughter’s wheelchair couldn’t get close enough to grab the handle and spin the wheel because of the box it was mounted on. Only a slight problem, but not unfixable. I took her out of her wheelchair, propped her up on my knee, and we tried again. However, because my daughter’s cerebral palsy greatly affects her motor skills she couldn’t maintain a grip on the handle and therefore couldn’t spin the wheel that created the electricity.
Womp woooommmmppp. Game over. NO ELECTRICITY FOR YOU!
Now, there is an easy fix here, but it requires thinking outside the box. The easy fix might be having something she could stand on (with my assistance) that would simulate the transfer of energy (weight) from her body to the exhibit, and that would stimulate electricity. When I put her back in her chair, the electricity goes out. Same concept of cause and effect, and the transfer of energy to create electricity. Bada Bing Bada Boom and the kid is happy.
Sadly, that is not an offered alternative. Now, some of you might say, well she could have put her hand on the giant “hand” picture, and interacted that way. To you, I say, perhaps. Perhaps she could have, but that would mean moving her far enough from the exhibit so that she could bend over in her wheelchair and maneuver her body in such a way that she could get her hand on it, and not fall out of her chair. And still breathe.
Sounds like a lot for a small child? It is. And it shouldn’t have to be. I mean, it is the Children’s Museum, which leads one to believe it’s open to ALL children, not just able-bodied children, right? Now, before you give me the most wicked side eye in all of side eye history for pointing out a disparity at our beloved Children’s Museum, I’m not saying they are the devil.
To our benefit, there are some exhibits that she can interact with, and always has fun with. She always has a blast chasing bugs in Techtopia, picking the giant nose in Bodyology and grocery shopping, where she gets all the things. Literally: She tries to put everything in her little shopping cart. So while this doesn’t necessarily make up for the lack of adaptive scissors and art utensil aids in the Imaginarium (art is her favorite thing EVER), it does still allow her to have some fun.
I am simply saying they need to think more often about the kids who interact with the world around them a little differently.
There was also the time I had to drop my daughter off at Howell Elementary, a TUSD school, in the pouring rain. Here is a picture of the front of Howell Elementary taken from Google Earth Street View. You can see the blue curb indicating that specific area is designated for vehicles holding handicapped plates and placards. You can also see where the ramp is located to access the building, where the curbside access is to access the ramp, and the area between the curb, and the sidewalk/ramp.
Upon first glance, it is completely unassuming: Tucson’s famous sand/dirt concoction. However, if it’s pouring rain that sand/dirt concoction is now mud, and you obviously can’t maneuver a wheelchair through it. The ramp is still accessible, but now you and your child are soaking wet, because you’ve had to walk down to the curbside access, and then back up to the ramp.
Or better yet, imagine that all the spaces along the blue curb are taken, and you call the office inside the school to ask if there is an alternate entrance you can use. You are told to drive around to the back of the school where there is additional handicapped parking. You park and walk your child the 300 feet or so to the back entrance of the school, only to find that it is locked. You call the office yet again, and after a short wait someone finally comes and opens the door for you and your child. You are both cold. You are both wet. And you, the parent, are fuming.
This very thing happened to me on numerous occasions while my daughter attended pre-kindergarten there in 2013-14 school year.
It’s fairly ridiculous, don’t you think? Tucson and the world at large are less than accessible for our citizens with special needs, and I never noticed it until my child needed to access her world. Playgrounds should be for all kids, but if you can’t maneuver a wheelchair, or crutches, or even an uneasy gait through sand or woodchips, are all kids getting a chance to play? Should someone be forced to ask for help from a stranger just to use the restroom? Should parent’s have to place their children on the floors of public bathrooms because they are not equipped with adult changing tables? Should a mom have to circle a parking lot for 10 minutes looking for a space large enough to not only fit her van but also allow her the space to lower her wheelchair ramp, only because a “car” has parked in the “van accessible” parking space?
The list goes on and on folks, and I promise you I’m not trying to be Princess Complains-A-lot. I am, however, trying to get you to take a look at the city around you and see if it is truly accessible to all of our residents, or just some.
Does your neighborhood have sidewalks? If not, how easy is it for an individual using a wheelchair to navigate? If your neighborhood does have sidewalks, are they in good condition? If not, you might find individuals in wheelchairs utilizing the bike lane to make their way. I don’t think I need to tell you how incredibly dangerous that is.
Does your apartment complex pool have a wheelchair lift? Tucson summers are brutal, and we all enjoy a dip in the pool—even those of us that utilize mobility aids. How about your favorite business: Is it fully accessible to all of Tucson’s shoppers? Are prices listed with braille as an option? Does your favorite restaurant carry menus in braille? This may sound utterly silly to you, but there are many visually impaired individuals that live independently and rely on braille. Should they be left out because we haven’t thought about them as contributing members of our community and economy?
Trust me folks. I am having epiphany after epiphany even as I write this because there is just so much that I’ve never thought about (read: taken for granted) as an able-bodied individual. I’m going to continue revisiting this subject to see what can be done to make our little town as independently accessible as possible.
I love this town. I want my daughter to be able to enjoy it as much as I do. I want her to fall in love with Tucson the way I have. And I want Tucson to make itself accessible to every last dream, whim, and fancy that she has—just like it has done for me, and for you.
This article appears in Aug 4-10, 2016.
good article…all city governments need to read this. you, mom, could start a disability commission (which is actually usually run by disabled adults in conjuction with the mayor’s office, all volunteer. cant tell you more about it, as i didnt live here when they had it, but look it up at dearborn michigan disability commission. they did a lot of great work there.
Hi Adiba! I am going to cut the fluff and get down to the nitty-gritty; money. I would start small and the Children’s Museum is a great place to start. You should first approach any and all local organizations that serve all disabled peoples, not just children. With them, write a letter to the Children’s Museum offering your and their support in writing a grant proposal that could help fund the design and implementation of exhibits that are open to as many children as possible, without limiting their scientific or interactive capabilities. You can point out to the Children’s Museum that this will put them at the forefront of exhibit design, the type of thing that wins recognition and awards, and by offering to assist with grant writing you are not threatening their bottom line.
One problem at a time, and this is one that should be fixable. Could it take a year or two? Yes. But you are not doing this just for your child, you would be doing it for all kids!
While a blog post serves to help notify the general public of the problem it really doesn’t do anything to solve it. In fact, writing about the process of actually solving a problem like this would be much more enlightening and inspiring than just complaining about it. Be proactive, not reactive.
Good luck!
Just remember the ADA rules don’t apply if the cost of accommodation would hinder the business unreasonably. This is why the BOA building downtown doesn’t have handicapped bathrooms on every floor, but still complies with ADA requirements. I fully support the plight of the disabled, but the children’s museum might not have the funds to make these changes. I would suggest trying to set up a fun run kind of fundraiser to have a large donation to present to that wonderful museum which would in turn bring more publicity to your issue.
We live in Michigan in a suburb of Detroit. My husband has been a paraplegic and in a wheelchair for 34yrs. When he was hurt in 1982 and for the first 10yrs after he lived in Tucson. To this day he always talks about how much more accessible Tucson is then here. Trust me, it can always be worse and no matter where you live your community has options to make it better.
Added to the challenges for people in chairs is the plethora of those lazy posers with “handicapped” hang tags and license plates that seem otherwise quite able and unchallenged. They are selfish and simply want better parking spots when in my opinion, they could use the exercise.
I applaud you for writing this article! Accessibility is incredibly important and if you plan for access from the beginning, it doesn’t have to be more expensive. In response to the above comments, it shouldn’t be up to you personally to raise money for access — our public institutions should be designing for access. And, the fact that other places are less accessible doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to point out access barriers. That’s like saying, race discrimination is way worse in the south so people in Tucson shouldn’t worry about it. Instead we should all be able to talk about discrimination and access barriers. The conversation starts when we notice the bias and barriers and then we should ALL think of ways to address and solve it, not lay the burden on those experiencing the discrimination.
An idea to throw out there — maybe the Children’s Museum should create an advisory committee on disability access. That way, when it is adding a new exhibit, it can get input on how to make it accessible to a wide range of individuals. Again, it may not cost anything extra if one designs for access from the beginning. Regarding TUSD, are you aware that every school district has an ADA Compliance Coordinator? This would be a good person to connect with and if a violation isn’t addressed, you can get information and potentially file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
Native,
The point is that all of these places are in compliance with ADA. The author wants them to go above and beyond, and in some cases she is probably right. In other cases she is confusing public spaces with private spaces, including the Children’s Museum and apartment pools and wheelchair lifts. In order to get schools and museums to go above and beyond ADA it takes individual citizens to organize and seek out that change in a positive way, in many cases this involves doing the leg work and proving that it is possible. This is how change happens. If you sit back and complain, just expecting government or someone else to do the hard work, it is never going to happen. It would also make for a far more interesting and compelling piece of journalism, which this is not.
If the Children’s Museum is forced to do this on their own, the increased costs may be passed on to all children, potentially limiting the access to even more children who may not be able to afford it. Especially if funds have to be shifted from subsidizing entrance fees for low income children to redesigning exhibits. The museum is not publicly funded. They are a 503 c non profit and they depend on community support, not tax dollars. Getting involved and helping them raise this money is community support!
TUSD? The district that is perpetually short on money, in a state that underfunds the education of all children as it is? The picture of the portable says it all. They cannot afford to build the structure they already need for all students let alone improving access for disabled students. I wish this were not the case but again, to see this kind of change it would involve either robbing Peter to pay Paul, raising taxes, or individual citizens organizing and raising the funds themselves.
If this were simply a case of non-ADA compliance all you would need to do is find a lawyer and sue, but that does not appear to be the case with any of these complaints. The money to go above and beyond ADA has to come from somewhere and that is the direction that we need to look in.
What are our options? Raise taxes, cut funding from somewhere else or let individual citizens organize and raise the money themselves.
Hi humanbean! A few things. I’m sorry you don’t find my article compelling or interesting. It’s a first step in making the public aware that these issues exist. That is how change comes about – you make people aware of a problem. So this was step one. Towards the end of the article I did state that I will be revisiting this issue. I should have clarified that to say that this will be an ongoing Series where I will continue looking at places and talking to people. So, steps will be made to rectify the problem or at least attempt to. I am wholeheartedly committed to effecting change in our community. Not just for my kid, but for all kids – and for adults because one day she will be one of those as well. This is a matter of being proactive, not complaining. Proactive by saying ‘hey, this is something that’s happening’ and then going and talking to people that can help me rectify.
I appreciate you taking the time to read the article, and I definitely appreciate some of the tips that you suggested. Have a wonderful day!
Also, Ronko…that’s a pretty bold generalization. There are plenty of illnesses, disorders, and diseases that can render you disabled, partially disabled, temporarily disabled, or racked with immense pain that makes mobility excruciating. The only thing is, you can’t see them. Like lupus. Like diabetes. Like ehlers-danlos. Like erythema nodosum. Like cancer. Like AIDS. Like leukemia. Like arthritis. Like Fibromyalgia. So….there’s that.
When ADA first started, I was going to PCC and hung out with a variety of other disabled people. Though I can walk, not all disabilities are visible to the naked eye. (for those of you who think people who can walk shouldn’t have disabled driver’s tags) I learned quickly to see though others eyes when it came to accessability and have been fighting for wheelchair accessability every since, especially when it comes to disabled parking vs ramp location. I’ve found that once you point it out, many places are willing to fix the problem. Others, not so much. Offer to put the owner of the business in a wheelchair for the day (be sure to mention you’ll tie them in with velcro) and often that will get them to change whatever needs changing.
Hello Abbey and Daughter
Reading your comment on the lack of disability friendly areas in Tucson. Something has to be done! Lack of money is a popo excuse. Starting at this moment I will make notes and comment on all areas in this city that are non handicap friendly. Awareness Provokes Actions so thank you
Hi Adiba,
I really wish I had the benefit of an editor sometimes because the free flow of ideas that I post do not always reflect the tone I intended. I do commend you for writing this piece, I do think this is a legitimate issue and I know that changes can be made if it is done right. From my perspective that means enforcing ADA from the top down and going above and beyond ADA from the bottom up, with community involvement and support.
It would definitely help to create a label or means of advertising that this is going to be a part of an ongoing series, because that is missing, and I think it makes a huge difference. I know I am looking forward to reading about your progress, the barriers you end up facing and how you overcome them.
I think that as this unfolds many groups in the community will find that this process of change applies across the board and not just to disabled peoples. This really can turn into an impressive and difference making series, and, dare I say, piece of journalism.
I look forward to reading about your progress and maybe even I will get involved 🙂
Thanks!
I support Adiba’s call for access, regardless of whether something is an ADA violation or not. The ADA is not as comprehensive as many imagine, unfortunately, and even when it is comprehensive, it is often not followed. (I see a violation in almost every restaurant I visit: ramps are too steep or not constructed correctly, ramps are blocked with chairs or potted plants, hallway access is restricted with crates or shelves, etc.) Because the ADA is complex, it can sometimes be unclear whether something is a violation, so I would still encourage any parents at TUSD schools to consult with the TUSD ADA Compliance Officer and, if necessary, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, to get information. Not all ADA violations or access issues are expensive to correct, and a student should not have to continue facing an access barrier because schools are underfunded. We all need to do everything we can to increase funding for education at the same time, absolutely. When it comes to the Children’s Museum, I don’t think it’s a case of either/or. Should we support the Children’s Museum if we can with fundraisers and grant writing? Yes. Are there steps the Children’s Museum can take now to increase access, like creating an advisory group on disability access if they don’t already have one? Yes. Adiba is doing us all a great service by sharing her experience and getting this conversation started.