On the Hustings
Many people move freely and successfully through their daily lives, traveling from work to home or the grocery store, appointments or events with little or no concern about the process.
As we navigate outside our familiar community or visit a new business within it, we usually map out the best route. We secure our directions and mode of travel and away we go.
There are many people whose daily travel involves many more considerations. Having a route to the destination is just the beginning. There additional questions that need to answered:
• How will I safely travel to and from my destination?
• How will I enter and exit the destination?
• Are there automatic doors, elevators, ramps and an accessible washroom?
• Will I be able to arrive on time and leave when I am ready?
When I worked as an occupational therapist, I helped people solve various mobility challenges. Like many, I have also cared for family members and friends who have faced both temporary and lifelong mobility challenges. My nephew required multiple surgeries on his legs and feet over the years presenting him with various levels of mobility at different times. My husband was skiing with our son and broke his leg. As the only dentist at our clinic, we had to implement immediate plans to address his ability to return to work as quickly as possible, the care of our patients and the livelihoods of not only our family but all of our staff were going to be impacted.
In today’s world when people are faced with restrictions to freely navigate their world they take corrective action to remove the restriction. I recently spent a week with my aging parents who are experiencing new mobility challenges. My mother has recently started using a walker for any trips outside her house. On a recent vacation, she had to address all of the above questions before she felt ready to book her trip.
Together we navigated various modes of transportation as well as various types of environments. There were some people we encountered in our travels who eagerly stepped up to remove barriers and there were others who seemed completely oblivious to anyone else’s needs.
My parents have always been extremely self-reliant, they were surprised at how often they had to rely on others to help them along their way. In this day of social media calling people out for not being compassionate, you would expect that society would embrace the opportunity to help those who need support. At one point as we arrived at the chaotic international airport at our destination, my mom was almost run over by a couple hauling their luggage and large golf club cases as they rushed to grab the next available taxi and begin their holiday. I am glad my son and I were there to buffer their rapid approach towards my mom and avoid a collision.
In an effort to try to be part of the solution to mitigate these challenges for people who need support, I put my name forward to be part of the Board of the Manitoba League Of Persons with Disabilities. MLPD has created a social enterprise to provide education and training for businesses and government organizations about how to ensure they providing barrier free environments in public workplaces and spaces.
They are working with the provincial government to ensure the standards of the Accessibility for Manitobans Act are being followed in the 5 key areas
1. Customer service
2. Employment
3. Information and communications
4. The built environment
5. Transportation.
There are things that all of us can do to help keep our community accessible. At both our home and our business, we work to make sure our stairs, ramps and sidewalks are safe and accessible. My husband travels to work ahead of the snow clearing company on mornings that there is fresh snow in order to shovel and de-ice to make certain there are no risks or barriers to our clients as they arrive.
We can all take a moment to look at the people around you and the state of your environment and ask yourself: “If I had an accessibility challenge, would I be able to get THERE from HERE?”
Nancy Cooke works for the provincial government.