Sometimes living with a disability in a world designed for those without reminds me of turnstiles.
There's just no good way to get through a turnstile in a wheelchair.
I don't have to be able to go through a turnstile to live a productive life. But if there's no physical way to get around a turnstile, it's a problem and it can exclude me from getting some places which can be an obstacle to living a productive life.
It gets very personal and can be very subtle, the way a turnstile works differently for me as a wheelchair user than for someone who can walk through it, assumes he can walk through it and doesn't think about the fact that he can walk through it.
So if I sat in front of a turnstile protesting its existence when there are so many other possibilities for ingress and egress that wouldn't block wheelchair users and others, those who can walk might think that to be absurd, never having experienced the turnstile as anything but an object. They wouldn't see the turnstile as a barrier, nor would they necessarily understand that it would build a bridge toward understanding for them to acknowledge that tearing down that turnstile is the fair and right thing to do for everyone. Because some day maybe they, too, might experience mobility issues.
Perhaps they haven't stopped to consider that there were times I chose to crawl under turnstiles while someone lifted my chair over it rather than be left out. That was when I was closer to my years of living as an able bodied person, when I felt crawling was worth it. That changed when I realized that having to crawl was not acceptable, nor physically advisable.
I began instead to question why we had to have turnstiles.
Not to mention revolving doors.
4 comments:
I'm just back from trying to vote. I was sent a ballot that said my voting place was accessible and since I moved I relied on that. I had to crawl in and carry my wheelchair up steps but I voted.
Some people will never see the barrier until it stops them. Its post like this that help educate individuals.
Well said, Greg.
When I see modern buildings with revolving doors, I just shake my head. I don't understand why anyone would think they make sense. They waste energy, and you have to install a normal door too!
Turnstiles are also something I don't get. What's wrong with a regular barrier?
There are so many things I see where I think "Who designed this?", not just from our point of view, but from the point of view of people with baby carriages, heavier people, people with service animals...
I dislike turnstiles and revolving doors too. Even when I can walk, many of those are difficult for me because of hip, spine problems and the pressure required--you have to turn kind of sideways with some of them, and I can't always apply enough pressure with my hands instead.
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