Disabled protest for housing

Posted by greg
March 31, 2009

The Birmingham Post has a story about a group of wheelchair bound people locking their wheelchairs together with chains and locks to stop people from getting into governmental offices. The protesters complained that it takes too long to get paperwork through to have an existing house refitted and newly built houses are not built with the disabled in mind. After several hours, city officials agreed to meet with the protesters to find out why refitting homes is taking so long.

It is truly sad that the disabled have to go to these extremes to get their voice heard. In the US there are laws that now force hoe builders to make sure that someone in a wheelchair has access to the entire first floor of a home. This should stop the crazy designs of stairs to get into the front door, back door, as well as the garage. It also assures the disabled that at least one bathroom is accessible from a wheelchair and that all hallways and doorways can easily accommodate a wheelchair. Unfortunately in the UK where this story comes from,the disabled do not have an ADA type law in place to force businesses and home builders to build structures that everyone has access to. It is much cheaper to build the access in from the start rather than working out how to tear out existing stairs and pull out door to replace them with ramps and automatically opening sliding doors. Folks that are wiling to create a disturbance to gain attention to these problems are the first step in letting the public know that we have the same rights as everyone else to get around. Locking the disabled out of stores, restaurants, and public buildings is a violation of civil rights as shown in the latest document on the matter from the United Nations. Keep up the heat so that we can get around as easily as any able bodied person can.

Outside America, Roaring Mouse (advocacy)

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