Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

With great anticipation, Accessibility 100 – a series of 100 easy-to-implement, free and inexpensive tips for improving accessibility for people with disabilities – launches today! Joining me for the kick off are Emese Szücs, Manager of Accessibility Programs, and Karen Thompson, Project Coordinator, from Social Planning and Research Council of British Columbia (SPARC BC) to discuss the upcoming Access Awareness Day on Saturday, June 7th, and how access is everyone’s business.

Welcome Emese and Karen!

Please share a bit about SPARC BC and the work it does.

SPARC BC is a registered non-profit society and has been a leader in research, public education, and consulting regarding issues of accessibility, social justice and community development for 42 years. With over 14,000 diverse members, we see and hear about what is important to people in BC communities.

Since 1984, SPARC BC has been providing the Parking Permit Program for People with Disabilities, allowing over 97,000 people in BC to stay connected to their communities and arrive safely to their destinations. SPARC BC has been actively advocating for accessibility issues since the early 70’s.

One of SPARC BC’s many accessibility initiatives is its Annual Access Awareness Day. What is the purpose behind this annual campaign?

Access Awareness Day is a province wide campaign to increase knowledge around accessibility issues and promote access and inclusion in BC communities. This year marks the 11th access awareness day!

This year’s theme is “Access Is Everyone’s Business!” What is this campaign about?

Access Is Everyone’s Business is meant to empower businesses with knowledge about how they can make their businesses more welcoming to customers with disabilities. The objective of the campaign is to inform business owners of simple things they can do to improve the experience of their customers with disabilities.

This year we are proud to be partnering with TransLink, BC Transit, VanCity ABLED Program, Shoppers HomeHealthCare, and the Better Business Bureau’s of Mainland BC and Vancouver Island to deliver this campaign across all of BC.

Why are you targeting the business community this year?

Canadians with disabilities contribute $25 billion in purchasing power. Improving the accessibility of businesses makes good sense, for economic and social reasons, especially with the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics coming to BC. Accessible design is also appealing for all consumers because all of us benefit from accessible features such as clear aisles, legible signage, and easy-to-open doors.

How can businesses participate?

A good first step for businesses would be to visit the SPARC BC website and check out the Access Awareness Day materials.

As part of our materials, we are excited to share a great banner that also serves as an information piece. It is packed with tips on simple things that businesses can do to make accessible and welcoming environments for all customers, no matter their abilities.

Businesses can also contact SPARC BC at 604.718.7733 or info@sparc.bc.ca and ask for an Access Awareness Day promotional kit.

How can individuals participate?

Individuals can support Access Awareness Day through becoming a SPARC BC member, and by contacting us and asking for a free Access Awareness Day pin. Wear your pin and start spreading the word! Tell someone you know about our resources available on our website.

What are five tips you’re hoping businesses will take away from this event?

1. A wheelchair needs at least 36” or 91.5 cm to get through aisles, doors and hallways.
2. A gradual slope and handrails are important. 1” of rise needs a ramp that is at least 12” long.
3. Lever or loop style door handles are easier for persons with limited hand dexterity or upper body strength to use.
4. Signage with high contrast colours and large typefaces are easier to read.
5. Greet customers and ask if they would like assistance.

Thanks Emese and Karen for joining me today to kick off Accessibility 100. Wishing you a successful Access Awareness Day on Saturday, June 7th. Access is everyone’s business!

---

Accessibility 100 is a series of 100 easy-to-implement, free and inexpensive tips for improving accessibility for people with disabilities. This is a community project. Feel free to leave your comments, questions and ideas for future Accessibility 100 posts.

Get the entire series by subscribing to this blog by filling in the form in the upper right corner or by subscribing to the RSS feed.

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a chai tea latte. Thanks kindly.

(Photo credit: Vancouver Sun)

Monday evening, after waiting a lifetime, I finally had the pleasure of seeing Anne Murray in concert! Having grown up with her music, a wave of emotion with a high water level moment overcame me when walked out on stage.

Being present, in the same room, while she sunge Could I Have This Dance, You Needed Me, Daydream Believer, Danny’s Song, and, of course, Snowbird was amazing. A dream come true.

I find nothing more inspiring than watching someone do something with still so much passion after forty years – her voice, her confidence, the way she commands the stage, her joking with the audience. Inspiring.

What inspires you?

(The night was made a wee bit sweeter by Vancouver beating Ottawa’s standing ovation for Anne. Yes!)

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a chai tea latte. Thanks kindly.

Last night I received a Google Alert for Glenda Watson Hyatt – one way to track what is being said about me on the web. I also receive alerts for cerebral palsy, virtual book tours and a few other key phrases; it’s like having my own research assistant.

Clicking on the link in the email, I was pleasantly surprised to see it is a video clip from the Misbehaving Women event held back in March. The clip shows Isabella Mori kindly nominating me for the award and then me give my brief speech using my laptop:

It is nice having that moment caught on video. However, I am little disappointed the camera wasn’t turned a few degrees to the right. One of the other award recipients Karen Taylor is Deaf and two of her colleagues graciously interpreted the evening for her. Had the camera included the interpreter in the shot, then this YouTube video would have been more accessible to those who are Deaf.
(The transcript for my speech is provided in an earlier post.)

It is often assumed that accommodating people with disabilities is costly, complicated and time-consuming. However, in many situations, as with this video, the resources (the interpreters) were right there. The camera only had to be turned slightly to include both speaker and the interpreter to make the video more accessible without addition cost or effort.

That is what Accessibility 100 is all about – free and inexpensive ways to increase accessibility for people with disabilities. Accessibility 100 is launching soon! Stay tuned! Meanwhile, be sure to send in your submissions for the Logo Contest.

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a chai tea latte. Thanks kindly.

A few weeks ago, Karen Putz asked this question, “For a child growing up with CP today, what are some things that we are still behind on doing for kids? What are some changes that could be made?”

Great question, Karen!

There have been so many advances in equipment and wheelchairs since I was a child. And, the relatively new field of assistive technologies has opened so many doors, particularly for children with more severe cerebral palsy. With technology, they can communicate, play music, use the computer, turn on lights and open doors, literally.

(With these advances, my cap has yet to come into being. A cap that would read thoughts and transfer them to the computer screen. Imagine how many minds, trapped within uncooperative bodies, that would unlock. One day, perhaps.)

In my opinion, what many of these children need is for the adults and decision-makers in their lives to look beyond the equipment catalogs and policy manuals and to develop solutions that work for the individual child. No two children with cerebral palsy are the same, so why are the solutions?

These children need to opportunity to reach their full potential, whatever that potential may be. As with any child, the early years are critical for maximizing development. But, when a young boy is seen only four times this year by the school district’s physical therapist – mainly to adjust his seating, not for actual therapy – because her caseload is overflowing and when the government refuses to pay for therapy outside of school unless it’s for post-op recovery, that is not acceptable. This child is not being given the opportunity to reach his full potential, unless his parents make further sacrifices to find alternative therapy for their son.

Another mother is left teaching her older son with severe cerebral palsy how to read because, last I heard, his special education teacher had not bothered to find a teaching method suitable for her child. For this particular teacher, his job was merely a paycheque. School for this child and his classmates is day care, rather than a stimulating learning environment. Their potential goes untapped.

A British father, frustrated by the lack of appropriate schooling opportunities for his daughter and worn down from fighting the system, banded together with other parents in similar situations to start their own school where their children learned and grew. Now, as their children reach adulthood and ready to transition to the next step in their life’s journey, the parents are left to battle the system to get services needed so these young people can continue growing. As the father said to me, a lot of energy is wasted in getting appropriate services, which detracts from family life and other commitments.

Imagine if these battles weren’t necessary and there was a cohesive and concentrated effort to provide children with cp with they truly needed to reach they full potential. Imagine what these kids could accomplish!

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a chai tea latte. Thanks kindly.

Preparations are under way for launching Accessibility 100 – a series of 100 easy-to-implement, free and inexpensive tips for improving accessibility for people with disabilities – very shortly. Because I am eager to launch the series – I wrote the first post today – I likely won’t wait until the National Access Awareness Week, which is the first week of June in Canada.

However, I realized today that an important element is missing. The series needs a logo! A graphic used to indicate a post is part of the series. Silly me for overlooking such a detail!

So…grab your digital crayons or paints and design:

• An original graphic 150 x 150 pixels, preferably in .jpg format,
• With “Accessibility 100” clearly legible in the graphic,
• Reflecting the inclusive goal of the Accessibility 100 series to provide tips on how to make various aspects of society (communications, customer service, employment, gatherings, business and many more) accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities, and
• Email to Glenda@BooksbyGlenda.com by May 9, 2008 midnight Pacific time.

The winner will receive an autographed copy of I’ll Do It Myself. How the winning logo will be decided is yet to be determined and may depend on the submissions. If there is one I absolutely love, then I will deem that the winner. If that decision isn’t as easy, I will post them (or a selected few) on the blog for feedback from my valued readers. Although, I retain the option of not awarding a prize if there is not a suitable submission.

Have I missed an important detail? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

Let your creative juices flow….

If you enjoyed this post, consider buying me a chai tea latte. Thanks kindly.