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Sunday, October 5, 2008

An example of accommodation


So many of the accommodations I need as a person with quadriplegia go beyond physical access, such as ramps or accessible bathrooms. Due to dexterity issues, I commonly ask employees for other kinds of assistance - for example, when I go into Starbucks to get a beverage, I ask them to put a straw in it for me since I can't get the paper cover off of the straw, etc.

Often I have to ask numerous times because employees pass the request by word of mouth and it becomes like the telephone game, where by the end of the line the request is lost. But today I saw an employee handle it very well. On my cup, a Starbucks employee wrote the words Put straw in (a closeup on the right is shown and a photo of the cup on the left is pictured). I appreciated this since I didn't have to repeatedly ask for assistance in a crowd, where it can be difficult to be heard. A simple, but effective, solution.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Makes sense since they already put all those other letters on the cups for what you're ordering!

Greg (Accessible Hunter) said...

too cool, I also have to ask for a straw. Starbucks has great straws....lol

Ruth said...

Greg - They do LOL they're indestructible too...have rolled over them and doesn't even dent 'em with the power chair..

Penny L. Richards said...

Sharpie markers are among the finest tools ever invented. Right up there with the lever, the fulcrum, the wheel... Nearly every situation is better with a Sharpie, used wisely.

Ruth said...

Penny-
This is true! LOL