Someone asked me the other day "Do you think that things have improved for the better for disabled people?" and even though I try to promote equality I had to think about it. I think you could ask a hundred disabled people and you would get a different answer every time, I think it depends on a persons circumstances.
I know in recent years people with disabilities have become the targets and victims of physical and verbal attacks in public and I consider myself very fortunate that I have never been a victim of such behaviour.
My parents removed me from Charlton Park school at the age of nine and from that day I never looked back. My parents were never overprotective and they encouraged and taught me that I could be anything in life I wanted to be. Because of my parents I have lived an active and fulfilling life and I have done so many things that others dream of. I have met some amazing disabled people along the way who have succeeded against the odds. While others I knew from my childhood who I have caught up with in recent years through social media have just stagnated.
If you want change (equality) to happen you have to want to do something about it. Too many people just sit back on their laurels and watch others do the hard work to try and make change happen and that makes me fed up to the back teeth that it is always the same few. It annoys me when I hear someone moaning about lack of accessibility and then does nothing about it.
It is only in the last year or two that I have found a passion for disability awareness and equality because of increasing frustration at the shoddy way people with disabilities are treated by society and I want make a difference; no matter how small my contribution. For a long time I never gave accessibility a second thought but as I have deteriorated it has become more prevalent to do so.
Having spent a considerable number of nights in both standard and accessible hotel guestrooms over the last two years I discovered they are not always equal in facilities but I was expected to pay the same rate. Typically you will find that a sofa, comfy chairs and coffee table are often removed from the accessible guestroom; giving an illusion of space. Hotel chain Premier Inn state on their websites that their older hotels sometimes have smaller rooms it has been necessary to replace a king size bed for a double, I find this unacceptable and again you would be expected to pay the same room rate.
At many hotels a discerning disabled guest is not offered a choice of guestroom grades; accessible guestrooms more often than not are standard. As a rule disabled guests are unable to stay in executive rooms or suites that give them extra facilities, comfort and access to private facilities that are reserved for the higher grade rooms. So where is the equality there?
My own research shows there is a lack of accessible guestrooms especially somewhere like London were hotels have between 0.60% and 3% of their guest accommodation is accessible. The Building Regulations state it should be 5%. One hotel the Crowne
Plaza Birmingham NEC have the correct number of accessible rooms but offer only bathtub facilities which is no use to someone like myself who needs a wet room. When I recently enquired if they had any guest accommodation with a shower cubicle they informed me they hadn't and they considered a reasonable adjustment to be for a disabled guest to use their on site gym facilities where there was an accessible shower facilities. The Building Regulations state that disabled guests should be given the choice of bathroom with a bathtub or wet room facility. This hotel had 12 accessible rooms most hotels offer just a couple if your lucky, but again I have been denied this as a hotel to use because they do not have wet rooms.
Am I equal to my friends I would honestly say that I do not feel equal. It seems that when I am with other people I get ignored as if I have been taken along for the ride. The thing that annoys me the most is people see my disability suddenly slow their speech as if I will understand them better. I don't why they do it but I have seen it happen it and experienced it all my life. A couple of weeks ago I went into a branch of WH Smith and the first floor was not accessible and spoke to a female assistant who said that she would get anything I wanted. I was just so annoyed that I felt like giving her a list of 50 items! This happens all the time places are not accessible and these businesses do not realise what disabled people can bring to their businesses.
Being disabled means a part of us does not work properly so some of us use wheelchairs while others use sticks or crutches but it does not stop us having a voice. My answer is yes things have improved in parts but there is still a long way to go.
My parents removed me from Charlton Park school at the age of nine and from that day I never looked back. My parents were never overprotective and they encouraged and taught me that I could be anything in life I wanted to be. Because of my parents I have lived an active and fulfilling life and I have done so many things that others dream of. I have met some amazing disabled people along the way who have succeeded against the odds. While others I knew from my childhood who I have caught up with in recent years through social media have just stagnated.
If you want change (equality) to happen you have to want to do something about it. Too many people just sit back on their laurels and watch others do the hard work to try and make change happen and that makes me fed up to the back teeth that it is always the same few. It annoys me when I hear someone moaning about lack of accessibility and then does nothing about it.
It is only in the last year or two that I have found a passion for disability awareness and equality because of increasing frustration at the shoddy way people with disabilities are treated by society and I want make a difference; no matter how small my contribution. For a long time I never gave accessibility a second thought but as I have deteriorated it has become more prevalent to do so.
Having spent a considerable number of nights in both standard and accessible hotel guestrooms over the last two years I discovered they are not always equal in facilities but I was expected to pay the same rate. Typically you will find that a sofa, comfy chairs and coffee table are often removed from the accessible guestroom; giving an illusion of space. Hotel chain Premier Inn state on their websites that their older hotels sometimes have smaller rooms it has been necessary to replace a king size bed for a double, I find this unacceptable and again you would be expected to pay the same room rate.
At many hotels a discerning disabled guest is not offered a choice of guestroom grades; accessible guestrooms more often than not are standard. As a rule disabled guests are unable to stay in executive rooms or suites that give them extra facilities, comfort and access to private facilities that are reserved for the higher grade rooms. So where is the equality there?
My own research shows there is a lack of accessible guestrooms especially somewhere like London were hotels have between 0.60% and 3% of their guest accommodation is accessible. The Building Regulations state it should be 5%. One hotel the Crowne
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| Crowne Plaza Birmingham NE |
Am I equal to my friends I would honestly say that I do not feel equal. It seems that when I am with other people I get ignored as if I have been taken along for the ride. The thing that annoys me the most is people see my disability suddenly slow their speech as if I will understand them better. I don't why they do it but I have seen it happen it and experienced it all my life. A couple of weeks ago I went into a branch of WH Smith and the first floor was not accessible and spoke to a female assistant who said that she would get anything I wanted. I was just so annoyed that I felt like giving her a list of 50 items! This happens all the time places are not accessible and these businesses do not realise what disabled people can bring to their businesses.
Being disabled means a part of us does not work properly so some of us use wheelchairs while others use sticks or crutches but it does not stop us having a voice. My answer is yes things have improved in parts but there is still a long way to go.
